what a difference between a foreign language major and minor?

Question

Say for example a Spanish Major/Minor
What are the typical average units or credits for each and averages classes to take for a major or minor in Spanish. Whats the goal of a minor in a foreign language. Do you become fluent with a minor or not neccessarily?

Answer 1

I did a Spanish major with a French minor for my Bachelor's degree. Obviously, with a major you have to take a broader range of courses, while a minor generally skims the surface of the different areas, such as grammar, composition, Latin American literature, and Spanish literature.

The number of units will vary by university, but I believe that at the university at which I teach, the minor consists of about 6 classes. I think the goal of a minor is basic proficiency, particularly in terms of its usefulness in job seeking.

I read and write fairly well in French but I wouldn't call myself fluent, at least not nearly as fluent as in Spanish (although I did do a Master's degree in Spanish as well.) But I can definitely communicate about fairly complex topics in French. In Spanish, on the other, my knowledge of grammar and even literature is greater than that of many native speakers (to the point that I've given up arguing with some of them because many can't be convinced that what "sounds right" to them is grammatically incorrect!) :)

Here are a few links to different universities which might help to answer your questions about units and such.

http://www.uwstout.edu/programs/minors/spanish/

http://www.csusm.edu/Academic_Advising/majorsminors/2006-2007/majorsminors/SPAN/06-07%20SPANminor.pdf

http://www.usfca.edu/catalog/languages_spanish_minor.html

http://www.languages.umd.edu/SpanishPortuguese/spanminor.html
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