The minor in Spanish for the Professions at UNC-CH by the numbers:
8 semesters in existence
65 new students each semester = 520 students
7 courses rolled out (6 of them new starting from fall 2007)
4 profession-specific tracks: business, medical, journalism, law
3 service-learning courses offered per semester
30 hours of work in the community per student = 1,800 hours of community service per semester
2 minor programs served by the courses (students in the minor in entrepreneurship can take "Venture Creation in the Spanish-speaking World--SPAN 327--as their workshop course for that minor)
Monday, February 28, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Spanish for the Professions: Past, Present and Future
PAST:
Over the course of 8 semesters the Department of Romance Languages at UNC-CH has rolled out 6 new courses to accommodate students in the new minor program in Spanish for the Professions. Prior to fall 2007, the only course already in existence was the Business Spanish course (SPAN 320).
The program has been successful in accommodating the specific needs of relatively large numbers of students from professional schools (business, journalism, etc.) who were previously taking Hispanic studies courses in the department.
It took five semesters to roll out all the courses and adjust for student demand for the four different professional tracks: business, law, journalism and medicine.
PRESENT:
This semester the focus has turned to better articulated the courses in the minor so that students can transition more smoothly through the three-semester sequence of courses.
To better prepare students for the rigors content-based profession-specific courses the first course, Spanish for the Professions (SPAN 265) is being taught with a significant grammar component for the first time this semester. The text "Manual de gramática" by Iguina and Dozier has been added to the curriculum.
To better prepare students for the research component of the third and final course in the minor, La comunidad hispana (SPAN 335), a research project has been added to Spanish for the Professions this semester. Students must identify a professional field and geographic region (presumably aligned with their personal goals). Then they research the Latino demographics of that region, gather existing Spanish-language resources for clients and practitioners in that field, write an analytic essay comparing and contrasting the information they found so that they can identify an unmet need that they could potentially fill. That unmet need is their final presentation--presented in a poster session format as would be the norm at a professional conference.
To better integrate the service-learning component into the profession-specific courses (business, medical, law and journalism), we have added the only Spanish-language textbook on community service learning, Comunidades by Annie Abbott to those curricula.
FUTURE:
The minor will offer the entire minor--medical track only--in Summer School for the first time in 2011. This is to accommodate the exceedingly high demand for the medical track.
Aside from a few isolated courses (Spanish for the Professions in Seville, business in Madrid, medical in Guadalajara and Santiago de Chile), it is hard for students to complete minor courses abroad. In the future, we would like to collaborate with UNC's Study Abroad office to offer more of the minor courses abroad in order to encourage more students in the minor to participate in immersion experiences.
The service-learning component of the minor continues to evolve as we seek to collaborate with organizations who can maximally use students Spanish-language and Hispanic cultures skills while providing students with opportunities to practice. We strive to develop long-term collaborations that cross semesters and student groups, but it is always a challenge to complete meaningful community projects in semester-long chunks of time given the resources community partners, students, and professors possess.
Over the course of 8 semesters the Department of Romance Languages at UNC-CH has rolled out 6 new courses to accommodate students in the new minor program in Spanish for the Professions. Prior to fall 2007, the only course already in existence was the Business Spanish course (SPAN 320).
The program has been successful in accommodating the specific needs of relatively large numbers of students from professional schools (business, journalism, etc.) who were previously taking Hispanic studies courses in the department.
It took five semesters to roll out all the courses and adjust for student demand for the four different professional tracks: business, law, journalism and medicine.
PRESENT:
This semester the focus has turned to better articulated the courses in the minor so that students can transition more smoothly through the three-semester sequence of courses.
To better prepare students for the rigors content-based profession-specific courses the first course, Spanish for the Professions (SPAN 265) is being taught with a significant grammar component for the first time this semester. The text "Manual de gramática" by Iguina and Dozier has been added to the curriculum.
To better prepare students for the research component of the third and final course in the minor, La comunidad hispana (SPAN 335), a research project has been added to Spanish for the Professions this semester. Students must identify a professional field and geographic region (presumably aligned with their personal goals). Then they research the Latino demographics of that region, gather existing Spanish-language resources for clients and practitioners in that field, write an analytic essay comparing and contrasting the information they found so that they can identify an unmet need that they could potentially fill. That unmet need is their final presentation--presented in a poster session format as would be the norm at a professional conference.
To better integrate the service-learning component into the profession-specific courses (business, medical, law and journalism), we have added the only Spanish-language textbook on community service learning, Comunidades by Annie Abbott to those curricula.
FUTURE:
The minor will offer the entire minor--medical track only--in Summer School for the first time in 2011. This is to accommodate the exceedingly high demand for the medical track.
Aside from a few isolated courses (Spanish for the Professions in Seville, business in Madrid, medical in Guadalajara and Santiago de Chile), it is hard for students to complete minor courses abroad. In the future, we would like to collaborate with UNC's Study Abroad office to offer more of the minor courses abroad in order to encourage more students in the minor to participate in immersion experiences.
The service-learning component of the minor continues to evolve as we seek to collaborate with organizations who can maximally use students Spanish-language and Hispanic cultures skills while providing students with opportunities to practice. We strive to develop long-term collaborations that cross semesters and student groups, but it is always a challenge to complete meaningful community projects in semester-long chunks of time given the resources community partners, students, and professors possess.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Study on Dangers of Computer Translations
HealthDay reporter Dennis Thompson has written an article about the dangers of computer translations of instructions for use of prescription drugs.
This is an excellent example for students studying Spanish for the Professions--it highlights the need for bilingual and bicultural professionals and warns of the dangers of short cuts.
The examples of bad computer translations in the article include one problem made famous by an episode of the tv show "ER": the English "once" and the Spanish "once" could create huge problems on a prescription bottle since taking something once a day (in English) is completely different than eleven times a day (in Spanish)!
This is an excellent example for students studying Spanish for the Professions--it highlights the need for bilingual and bicultural professionals and warns of the dangers of short cuts.
The examples of bad computer translations in the article include one problem made famous by an episode of the tv show "ER": the English "once" and the Spanish "once" could create huge problems on a prescription bottle since taking something once a day (in English) is completely different than eleven times a day (in Spanish)!
Friday, February 18, 2011
Pre-Resgistration for Fall Sections of Spanish for the Professions
Pre-Resgistration for Fall Sections of Spanish for the Professions (SPAN 265) will begin the week of April 4, 2011.
When the pre-registration form goes live on the minor website a blog post, Tweet and Facebook status update will be posted. Because the posting of the form requires collaboration across departments (ie we submit a request to post the form and it is done asap), we cannot guarantee any exact day or time.
The posting of the pre-registration form will coincide with the registration date of rising juniors since current juniors and seniors cannot possibly start the minor (it requires a minimum of 3 consecutive semesters on campus to complete the minor).
When the pre-registration form goes live on the minor website a blog post, Tweet and Facebook status update will be posted. Because the posting of the form requires collaboration across departments (ie we submit a request to post the form and it is done asap), we cannot guarantee any exact day or time.
The posting of the pre-registration form will coincide with the registration date of rising juniors since current juniors and seniors cannot possibly start the minor (it requires a minimum of 3 consecutive semesters on campus to complete the minor).
Thursday, February 17, 2011
"Darse cuenta de que" = "to realize"
Remember to use the expression "darse cuenta de que" for the equivalent of the English "to realize something."
The verb "realizar" does exist in Spanish, but is used only in the sense of to realize a dream to to carry out a transaction. Just one of the many "amigos falsos" to watch out for!
The verb "realizar" does exist in Spanish, but is used only in the sense of to realize a dream to to carry out a transaction. Just one of the many "amigos falsos" to watch out for!
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Private Language Immersion Abroad
CHICLE Language Institute, a private language school in Carrboro, N.C., offers language immersion programs abroad. The trips are designed to be an alternative to university-sponsored study abroad trips, designed for students who don't have time to spend a whole semester abroad and who want to focus on language immersion more than course credits and grades.
This is a particularly good fit with the minor in Spanish for the Professions program at UNC-CH. Few of the required courses for the minor are offered through university-sponsored study abroad. This means that students in the minor who do go abroad often cannot count much of that coursework toward the minor program. However, immersion experiences are vital to language development and everyone who minors or majors in Spanish ideally should spend time abroad in a Spanish-speaking country. These short, immersion-focused programs are one possible middle ground.
The CHICLE program offers programs from one to four weeks in length in two places: Academia Hispana Americana in San Miguel de Allende, México and Centro Panamericano de Idiomas (CPI) in Flamingo, Costa Rica with prices ranging from $1,200-$2,500 (not including airfare).
For more information, visit www.chi-cle.com and go to "study abroad" (in purple box on right frame of website) to see the full-length brochures for both programs. Or call 919-933-0398 or email chicle@chi-cle.com
This is a particularly good fit with the minor in Spanish for the Professions program at UNC-CH. Few of the required courses for the minor are offered through university-sponsored study abroad. This means that students in the minor who do go abroad often cannot count much of that coursework toward the minor program. However, immersion experiences are vital to language development and everyone who minors or majors in Spanish ideally should spend time abroad in a Spanish-speaking country. These short, immersion-focused programs are one possible middle ground.
The CHICLE program offers programs from one to four weeks in length in two places: Academia Hispana Americana in San Miguel de Allende, México and Centro Panamericano de Idiomas (CPI) in Flamingo, Costa Rica with prices ranging from $1,200-$2,500 (not including airfare).
For more information, visit www.chi-cle.com and go to "study abroad" (in purple box on right frame of website) to see the full-length brochures for both programs. Or call 919-933-0398 or email chicle@chi-cle.com
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Premios...Awards
It's awards season throughout the world!
Last weekend was the Goya Awards ceremony in Madrid on the same night as the BAFTA awards in London. The BBC covered the red carpet in Spanish. You will recognize all the same stars from the awards shows in the US, but be sure to read the captions in Spanish.
If you prefer music awards shows, look at these images and Spanish-language captions from the Emmy's (also on BBC's site).
Last weekend was the Goya Awards ceremony in Madrid on the same night as the BAFTA awards in London. The BBC covered the red carpet in Spanish. You will recognize all the same stars from the awards shows in the US, but be sure to read the captions in Spanish.
If you prefer music awards shows, look at these images and Spanish-language captions from the Emmy's (also on BBC's site).
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