Lucía’s Experience:

I came to UMass having already decided that I was going to major in Spanish. My family is from Uruguay and I was fortunate enough to grow up speaking Spanish at home. I grew up in a predominantly Spanish-speaking community and was able to take Spanish classes all through elementary and middle school. In high school, I continued to take Spanish classes and founded the Spanish club at the high school I graduated from. To me, it was a given that I would continue with Spanish into college. When I was applying to UMass, and even after I had been accepted, a lot of people would ask why I was majoring in Spanish when I already spoke it. I explained that Spanish, and any language for that matter, is more than just grammatical structures; there is culture, history, and literature worth learning about as well.

In some classes, when I would start speaking, I would quickly notice that some students could tell that I spoke Spanish. I often worried that they would also question my place in the room. Sometimes, it could feel like I was not welcome in Spanish classes. However, I kept reminding myself that I had just as much of a right as anyone to be in those classes. Education is what you get out of it and it does not have to look the same for everyone. I take Spanish classes because I love it and always want to learn more. It does not matter how long you have been studying a language, there’s always room for improvement.

Taking Span-314, a course designed for heritage speakers, was very helpful for cleaning up mistakes commonly made by heritage speakers. It also reminded me that there is a place for heritage speakers in the department, places where we can also learn. I would also say that even though I came into UMass with a predetermined major and path, I was not shy about trying new things. I joined the marching band, I learned how to drive a bus, I added a film major and a theater minor. I would definitely recommend going beyond the major and adding something outside of Spanish or language.

Daniela’s Experience:

When I first decided to come to UMass, I was unaware of what I wanted to major in. There were so many options and I felt a bit overwhelmed about what I wanted to do, especially as a first generation student. Growing up, I had to learn a lot on my own in school because I would only speak Spanish at home with my Salvadoran parents and family – so I couldn’t receive much help from them.

I started my freshman year as a Public Health Science major in the exploratory track (I was leaning toward kinesiology). After my first semester, which had been fully remote, I realized that was not what I really wanted to do. I decided to reach out to my student success coach at UMass and we figured something out. She suggested I take Education 202 and that’s when I decided I wanted to move forward with a major in Education. However, I thought more about what I wanted to do in the Education field and that’s when I told myself I wanted to be a Spanish teacher – so now I’m a double major in Spanish and Community Education & Social Change.

I didn’t know what to expect with majoring in Spanish. Many people would say, “Don’t you already speak Spanish?” or “That must be easy for you,” but in reality, majoring in Spanish is way more than just learning the language and it hasn’t been that easy considering I’m a heritage speaker, not a native speaker. I have learned about the literature, culture, history, and of course the language itself. My first Spanish class was Spanish 314: Spanish for Heritage Speakers, and I absolutely loved it and knew I was in the right place. The more classes I took in Spanish and in Education, the more I fell in love with them both.

Being a first-generation college student who started her college career during Covid was tough. However, I learned a lot about independence and reaching out to others for support. I have met so many people along the way and have created long lasting friendships. This past year I have worked as a peer advisor at the College of Education and have loved my experience because I get to create that sense of community for incoming students. Additionally, I am gaining valuable experience as a student teacher at Northampton High School, through the Secondary Teacher Education Preparation (STEP) program for Spanish. I have also been involved in numerous clubs and extracurriculars throughout the years. These involvements include an internship at an adult education program called Partnership for Worker Education (PWE) and serving as the logistics coordinator for Latinos Unidos. I have been engaged in other organizations such as the Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies (CLACLS) and have been living in a defined residential community called El Barrio. As a Latina, immersing myself in these diverse communities has enriched my understanding of the Latinx culture. This commitment to community involvement is a passion I intend to carry forward even after graduating from UMass.

For so much of my life, I have wondered and dreamed about traveling. I knew from a very young age that I did not want to have the typical 9-5 office job, and I have curated my academic journey to fulfill my dreams of traveling the world. Some of my longest standing passions have been to learn from as many different people, and to see as much of the world, as possible. I decided on a Spanish major when I was making college decisions because I knew I wanted to enter a career that would help to fulfill these passions. Aside from loving languages, my Spanish classes at UMass have sparked an interest and love for the Spanish-speaking world and the amount of diversity that it encompasses. As soon as I learned what studying abroad meant, I knew I wanted to take the opportunity. Choosing where I wanted to study was a little daunting at first, but eventually I decided on Barcelona and I couldn’t be more excited about what’s to come. 

From talking with students who previously studied in Barcelona, and from some research of my own, I learned that Barcelona is a culturally diverse city with incredible architecture, amazing food, and new experiences. Although I am confident in my choice to study abroad and I feel excitement more than anything else, there are still some aspects of leaving that are intimidating.

One of my main goals of going to a Spanish-speaking country for an extended period of time is to push myself out of my comfort zone in terms of my Spanish abilities. Although I have studied Spanish for almost 9 years now, I still find my nerves getting the best of me and forgetting much of my vocabulary when I go to speak to someone. I can understand most conversations and know what I want to say, but when I go to put this into practice, I get nervous and would rather say nothing at all. I want to use my time in Barcelona to really expand my vocabulary and practice whenever possible, in hopes of becoming more fluent. This endeavor is slightly intimidating, but in the end I know that native speakers often appreciate the effort. 

Additionally, an aspect of studying abroad that is often overlooked is relationships from home that are being left behind. Personally, I have been in a romantic relationship for almost a year now and leaving for Spain requires a big shift in this relationship. I know that I will experience a new level of independence while away, and I am very excited about this. With that being said, it is a confusing mix of excitement and disappointment that I will be leaving friendships and relationships that I treasure so much. Because many people do not talk about this aspect of studying abroad, it has been confusing to navigate. There is no rulebook telling you the best way to go about this, and I have found that this is one of the first big life decisions that I have to manage by myself. I have ruminated and reflected on these contrasting feelings, and have come to the conclusion that, although is it unfortunate that I will be away from these relationships, it will be an opportunity to grow individually. I might never again get an opportunity to travel in the same way with the same accommodations and it is a time to take advantage of all that it has to offer. 

Being that this has been an experience that I have been anticipating for so long, I worry that I will not absorb as much as I am hoping that I will. I have set certain “goals” for myself, but I think I have turned them into expectations that I feel I need to fulfill. I worry that I won’t be living in the moment when I am there but I am actively trying to combat this feeling. In the end, I know that regardless of my expectations, this experience will be life changing. This is an opportunity to expand my perception of the world and learn about a completely new way of life. I am beyond excited despite my worries!

Apart from being a Spanish major, I also major in Film. I have taken a lot of classes that focus on international film, as well as film analysis and criticism. I took a class titled Contemporary Hispanic Cinema; the course focused on films that have been released within the last 10 years. Although it was a film course and we focused a lot on film analysis, the films had an overlying theme of collective memory. The films were from different Spanish speaking countries, and they all focused on a different history from that country. I think the course made me more curious about some of the history of Spanish-speaking countries.

I have also taken some courses in Theater because of my minor. I had no interest in acting but I was curious about lighting and scenic design. I was required to take an acting class and, honestly, I went into it thinking I would learn nothing from it. However, it made me better at analyzing text, reading between the lines to find more meaning in what characters say. It taught me to pay more attention to a character’s actions and how to explain the emotion conveyed by performances or certain choices actors make. The class also taught me how to be more comfortable with public speaking. Something that has come in handy, since I have had to present in some classes since. Overall, I would take any opportunity to learn something new, you never know how it might help you in the future.

This semester I have been volunteering in a program called Inglés Sin Limites organized by ANEP (La Administración Nacional de Educación Pública) in Uruguay. It is an entirely virtual program of “godparents.” The program’s goal is to bring English education to the rural school in Uruguay. Some of these schools are small with only one or two teachers, some of whom live in the school. These teachers may sometimes teach an entire grade level or sometimes even mixed levels. Each godparent is assigned a school for them to work with during the school year. In some cases, the godparents meet with the class via Zoom or Google Meets once a week to talk to the students. The students and teacher can ask questions, practice having small conversations, or sometimes even pronunciation. The program is made so that both the students and the teacher can learn English. There is a textbook and a series of videos created for the teacher to play to their students and the godparent is an extra support for them. The godparents are also available to the teachers through WhatsApp. Some godparents are not available during the school day and instead will make videos or send audio messages for the students for practice or extra help. 

I was assigned a school in Colonia, Uruguay made up of about ten fourth-graders. I met with them every Friday for about 30-45 minutes. It was mostly up to them that we would do in that time. They liked to ask questions to clean up their pronunciation, they would ask about sentence structure or how to express certain ideas that were common to them, but they had not learned yet. There was one day where they made a list of words in Spanish that they wanted to know in English. This was very similar to another program I worked with in High School, called the Cape Cod Literacy Council, that provided English classes for people on Cape Cod. The classes were mostly made up of Portuguese and Spanish speakers living on the Cape. Both experiences have been incredibly fulfilling and I feel somehow closer to Uruguay after participating in it. My family is from there and originally, I did want to study abroad. However, I feel like this experience was more fulfilling in that I was able to actually do something for the community instead of just visiting it.

I came into UMass as a Spanish major, not because I was set on a career specifically using the Spanish language as its primary concentration,  but because it was a topic that I knew well and that I loved spending my time studying. Over the years, I have begun to use Spanish as a tool to access new experiences and information to figure out what exactly it is I’d like to do in the workforce. Now, in my final year at UMass as an undergraduate, a career in data science seems to be the route I am taking–but how did I get here? Surprisingly, it’s all due to my election of the Spanish major. 

I have always had many interests, academic and personal alike: cooking and food science, farming, creative writing, fashion, sports, psychology, medicine; the list goes on and on.  As a Spanish major with most of my credits from high school carrying over, I had a lot of space to explore all of these curiosities. I took courses on poetry, homesteading, translation certification, and so many more. I enjoyed most all of these endeavors,  but where I really found myself and my path was in integrative experiences,  such as internships and volunteer opportunities. Here is where I used Spanish as a tool to get myself into these situations to explore my many interests. 

One of my first experiences was a translator job at a non-profit in Holyoke, which opened my eyes to a potential career in translation. Although this position was based on my Spanish knowledge, it also afforded me the chance to build relationships with many people within the organization and build on my professional skills.  Another noteworthy experience, and the main pivot point to my current career path, was an internship in a hospital for paraplegics in Madrid, as a data science intern. The position required some level of fluency in Spanish, and I had originally applied for the position in hopes of working face-to-face with the patients at the hospital to explore my interests in working in the medical field.  What I found instead was this: my love for research and data analysis. This newfound love was found through the tool of Spanish language and caused me to apply for a master’s program in data science at UMass. I’m currently in my first year of the Data Analytics and Computational Social Science 4 + 1 Masters Program, and could not be more sure that this is the path for me. 

In conclusion, my main message here is that even if you are a Spanish major not considering Spanish as a main component of a future job, this major can serve to aid in your discovery of what that ideal future looks like for you. I am forever grateful that I chose Spanish as my primary major and will take all that I learned with me as I move forward. 

By Livia Iwanicki

Within the Spanish major, there are many beneficial certifications that can be achieved by a few minor tweaks and additions to the baseline major requirements.  Personally, I have received the Undergraduate Translation and Interpreting Studies Certificate,  which was only two extra courses on top of the major requirements I was already completing. This certification opened doors for me to apply for several internships and gave me a higher level of confidence surrounding my grasp of the Spanish language. In writing this blog post, I knew that I wanted to express my gratitude and excitement over this certification offering. Through more research, I found that there are many more certifications available to Spanish majors. I did not know about these certifications  up until a few weeks ago when I did research more – I think that these are really important tools to share with those who are coming in as a Spanish major to show that you can individualize your journey within this concentration in alignment with your interests and can gain unique experiences that will help build upon a resume. 

 I had been interested in working as a translator or interpreter for some time before coming to UMass and this goal was finally realized through my completion of the Translation and Interpreting Studies Certificate. This is an interest that may not appeal to all Spanish majors,  but luckily there are many more certifications that students can lean into to personalize their experience. For instance,  those who are looking to go into the field of teaching in the future could find interest in the STEP certification offered, which prepares students for the Initial Teacher Licensure and Massachusetts State Teaching Exams. Students must complete two education courses, EDUC 524 and EDUC 513, as well as SPAN 575, PSYCH 305, and three SPANIED practicum courses. Though the requirements for the certification are a bit heavier than the one that I completed,  it may be worth the extra credits if someone is very passionate about teaching as a future profession,  as it is a quick route to receive an impressive achievement on the resume. 

Another certification that I explored was the Certificate in Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies, Which is something that my partner  for this project, Christina, had expressed interest in.  There are two different tracks that the student interested in completing the certificate can take:  Track A, with an emphasis on language  that simply adds on two beginning semesters of Portuguese,  or Track B, with successful completion of four courses with Latin American,  Caribbean,  or Latino studies content listed on the available course selection.  So many Spanish Majors choose to study abroad in Europe and concentrate on Spain style Spanish during their time at UMass.  This certification is a great way to expand horizons of Spanish use and learn more about the language within different cultures. 

 The last undergraduate certification that I looked into was one that I definitely would have taken advantage of had I known that it existed: Spanish & Health Certificate. This certification prepares individuals to work within the healthcare field as a bilingual individual. This definitely could have worked well with my Translation and Interpretation Studies Certificate,  as many interpretation jobs are in high demand at hospitals. The Spanish & Health Certificate requires all of the base requirements from the major. Add-ons include SPAN 356, one course from a selection under both the Cultural Diversity in Healthcare concentration and the Culture and Society of the Hispanic World concentration, as well as 2 to 3 credits of a practicum experiential component.  All in all, this is a very achievable certificate given the small number of additional courses that are required alongside the major,  and it is also a certificate that offers skills that are in high demand. 

 Overall, my main goal of sharing this with the future Spanish Majors coming into UMass is to remind individuals that they can make this experience their own unique journey  with certifications that cater to special interests. UMass has a lot to offer, and though I am glad I completed the Translation and Interpretation Studies Certificate, I wish I had known what more I could have added to my plate when coming in in the beginning. Hopefully this helps to share more about the wide variety of offerings within the Spanish language Department so that new students can make the most of them! 

By Livia Iwanicki

In this blog post, we aim to share our unique experiences of studying abroad in the same program, while also being placed in the same living situations. Our goal is to share about how we both ended up choosing the program (API Seville) as well as some of our highlights and advice for others considering many different programs for studying abroad. Although we both chose the same program, our day to day life in Spain looked different from each other, but we also shared a lot of the same experiences!

Carly’s Experience: 

Choosing my study abroad program was not an easy decision, in my experience. I remember spending lots of time during the summer looking through the different programs that were available for me to choose from. As a Spanish major, who can essentially study anywhere in the world that speaks mainly Spanish, there were hundreds of options. The three last choices I had narrowed down to were programs in Alicante, Madrid, and Seville. I tried writing pros and cons lists to each program, taking into consideration location, cost, residential options, etc., but they all had some pros and some cons. So how did I make my final decision to go to Seville? For starters, I liked the fact that this program was the best financial option for me. Since it was cheaper than most of the other programs, it would give me the flexibility and opportunity to spend more time traveling while I was abroad, which was super important to me. Also, the classes that I could take there all seemed interesting and pertained to the Spanish major. While I was there, I took 12 credits total, 3 of which counted solely towards graduation requirements, and the rest fulfilled Spanish requirements. I took a painting course, a teaching course, a history of wine course, and a course on Spanish gastronomy. I had a great experience with all of my classes and would highly recommend this API Seville to any Spanish major who wants to take some interesting courses while abroad. Some of my favorite parts about studying abroad in Seville were:

• Walkable, smaller city
• Lots of practice speaking Spanish with locals
• Warm weather
• I had already been to Seville and had a sense of comfort knowing a little bit about the city I would be living in
• Andalusian culture 

My week was not very busy with school, as I took all of my classes on Mondays and Wednesdays, so I had only two days per week where I was in classes. I spent the other weekdays exploring Seville and even taking other day trips to nearby cities which were less than two hours away by train. I loved having a flexible schedule while abroad because it allowed me to spend more time exploring the city. The API Seville program did not offer any classes on Fridays which was great for students who are interested in traveling to other countries/cities on the weekends. 

I highly recommend API Seville if you want to feel like you are receiving an authentic experience and I am grateful that I had the opportunity to live in this city with such a rich culture!

Ailish’s Experience:

Before I even went on the study abroad website, I decided that my best course of action would be to set a list of goals for myself to make the research process easier. I determined that the two  most important things that I wanted to be able to accomplish while I was in Spain were: to practice my speaking skills as much as possible and to take classes that were both interesting and challenging. I narrowed down my search to two cities: Granada and Sevilla, mainly because I knew that these areas were less “touristy,” so there wouldn’t be as many people in these cities that spoke English. I knew that if I was offered the chance to speak English on a regular basis, I might have leaned into it a little too much and neglected my opportunities to speak Spanish. I decided that the best way to avoid this would be to eliminate this “safety net” all together. 

Once I looked over the course offerings for each program, I decided that API Sevilla was the best fit for me because they offered a wide range of courses that included history, cooking, teaching, literature, grammar, phonology, speaking, and art. There were so many courses that catered to all different levels/abilities, and I felt comfortable knowing that I would be able to take a mix of classes that fulfilled my upper level requirements, remained manageable, and provided me with new experiences. I ended up taking 4 classes that covered contemporary history, teaching & methodology, literature & cooking, and wine & culture. 

My favorite parts of the semester were getting to experience the festivals and events that happened in Sevilla and the trips that we took. During Holy Week, I saw a number of silent processions in the street. For la Feria de Abril, I watched thousands of people line the streets in flamenco dresses and dance in ‘casetas.’ I was able to travel to different parts of Spain with my program and on my own; I went hiking in Extremadura, stayed with a friend in Barcelona, and visited the Alhambra in Granada. There were many natives from other regions of Spain that would often ask us why we decided to study in Andalucía when their accent was “difficult to understand.”  I wasn’t accustomed to the Andalusian accent before I traveled here, but I am very grateful that I understand it better now. Being in this region made my experience more authentic and fun, and I think being exposed to a new accent was an excellent learning experience. It was a little difficult to understand some words when I first arrived, but by the end of the trip, I had no trouble with it. I was aspirating my ‘s’s by the end of the semester, and my experience with it has proved to be beneficial when talking to people with similar accents here in the U.S. 

Going abroad is all about what you make of it. The best advice that I can give to any student who is trying to decide where to go is to decide what you want to accomplish while you’re there and take advantage of every opportunity that you can, no matter how uncomfortable it may be at first!

As you can see, although we both chose the same program, each of our experiences was personal and unique to us. When choosing a study abroad program, keep in mind that you have complete control over your trip. There may be some programs that appeal to you more than others, but in the end, you design your own experience.

Since I am a Spanish major, most of the courses that I have taken at UMass have been in the Spanish department. Spanish 394 PI Preparation for Programs Abroad has taught me a lot about being open-minded when traveling in view of all the different cultures/traditions, lifestyles, and different dialects of a language. This course of preparation before studying abroad connected specifically to another course I took, Spanish 350, Translation Today. Spanish 350 has provided me with the opportunity to translate several types of documents from Spanish to English and vice versa. Spanish 394 PI has opened my eyes to variations of a language spoken in a country. Whereas in Spanish 350, for example, I translated documents from the Holyoke Zoo. When I learned that they wanted the translation in Puerto-Rican Spanish, this was mind-opening for me as a native Spanish speaker, to see that not all Spanish speakers use the same name to refer to an animal. I also think that both of these classes are related because, in a way, both of them required me to see the importance of translation and variation within one language in one’s daily life. These different disciplinary perspectives have taught me that knowing or learning another language opens doors to meeting new groups of people and getting to know different cultures. In addition, these courses have shown me that there is a strong need for translation in order to take down linguistic barriers in all types of situations, whether it is in a doctor’s appointment, while shopping, or when going out to the zoo or to an amusement park, while spreading news and in communications with family and friends. Last, after taking both of these classes, I see the importance of translation as a form of inclusivity. In conclusion, learning through different disciplines in the Spanish major has helped me open my mind to the diversity of cultures, dialects, and the importance of translation to bring communities together in the Spanish-speaking world, also about the linguistic barriers that exist in our community.