Spanish

Spanish is the second most spoken language on earth. Second only to Mandarin Chinese, and more widely used than English, Spanish is spoken by almost 500 million people around the world. An Open University course in Spanish takes you to all of the 25+ countries in which Spanish is spoken, including the many different accents and past and present cultures, so that you can fully embrace and understand the detail and the essence of the language.

In our modules, you will learn about the history, politics, societies, cultures and literatures of the countries in which Spanish is spoken. You’ll also be kept engaged by a range of course materials that challenge and inspire you, including videos, podcasts and interactive media such as quizzes. Because the language is so widely used, learning Spanish opens up many possibilities. Skills that benefit future academic study, employability and digital proficiency are all embedded into the curriculum, so when you’ve completed your course you can work confidently in – or with people from – countries where Spanish is spoken, or keep on learning Spanish with us to higher levels of study.

Where will your Spanish language studies take you?

With the Open University, you can choose to study Spanish at undergraduate level alongside French or German or you can combine Spanish with another subject, such as Business, Law or English, to enhance the range of your skills. You can also take Spanish modules as part of a multidisciplinary qualification, such as a humanities degree, or an Open Degree, combining it with other subjects offered by The Open University for a qualification that is designed by you around your interests and passions.

If you complete an OU degree course in Spanish, we can guide you along pathways to our MA in Translation Studies, MA in Applied Linguistics, and further onward to doctoral-level studies. And, of course, employers greatly value language and communication skills in today’s global business world; having Spanish language skills and an understanding of Spanish cultures on your CV can open up all kinds of employment opportunities.

Access the resources that work best for you

Our Spanish language students cross all boundaries of age, background and experience, and so we provide a range of course materials and audio-visual resources – all produced in-house – that you can choose to best fit with your interests and lifestyle. These include:

  • A variety of texts and audio-visual resources produced in-house to engage and motivate you
  • Small group tutorials to test your learning, build your confidence and help you thoroughly enjoy learning the language
  • Online forums and chat rooms that invite you to interact with fellow students in a friendly, supportive and safe academic community
  • Collaborative tasks with fellow students designed to promote interaction and develop your skills
  • Please note that from October 2023, level 2 languages modules will no longer offer an integrated week-long residential school in Germany; instead, the online version of the school will remain as a fully integrated and compulsory component of these modules. Students will have a choice of attending an intensive online school (which will take up one full study week), or a more extended online school (which will run over a longer period).

We conduct ongoing research into Spanish teaching practice and the societies in which the language is spoken, and this expertise is fed into the teaching materials we give to you. We follow the latest recommendations from the Common European Framework for Languages (published in 2018) and offer a community of learning that fully supports you throughout your learning journey, offering you plenty of opportunities for participation, interaction and peer-collaboration.

Short courses to whet your appetite

As well as undergraduate modules in Spanish, we also have a range of short courses to bring you up to speed on the basics of Spanish and introduce you to some cultural aspects of countries where Spanish is spoken. Short courses are 16 weeks long and are offered at Beginner and Intermediate levels. You can also try a taster version for free on OpenLearn.

I loved studying this course and discovering the world of Spanish. My tutor was an enormous support and help in my dark moments and the online tutorials were enormously helpful in securing the knowledge I had been learning solo at home.

Marianne Weekes
Beginners Spanish Course

Ready to start learning Spanish? Take a look at our Courses.