Spanish

Bachelor of Arts

Minor

According to 2020 census estimates, one of every eight U.S. residents speaks Spanish in the home. Wake Forest’s Spanish major delivers that fluency, but it doesn’t stop there. The program infuses and enriches communication with culture, literature and history.

Did You Know?

The major offers concentrations in Spanish Translation and Localization; Spanish Interpreting; Spanish for Business; and Spanish for Health Professions.
Spanish is by far the most popular second major at Wake Forest. Over the past 20 years, Spanish has accounted for one of every seven declarations of a second major.
In all, 16 Spanish majors have earned a Fulbright Scholarship. That’s the fourth-highest total among all majors declared by Wake Forest Fulbrights.

Courses

Sample courses for students studying Spanish include:

Spanish for Neuroscience
Service Learning in Spanish Language
Spanish for Business
Poetry and Song in the Spanish-Speaking World

View official major requirements »

Practical Experience & Skills

Majoring in a foreign language provides you with many of the skills in which employers are interested, although securing a job that uses your foreign language skills can be challenging. With the exception of positions in translating, interpreting or teaching, in most cases at the entry level your language fluency is seen as a secondary skill, an asset.

One option many foreign language students pursue is taking a semester to study abroad in a foreign speaking country. This will give you not only a better handle of the language, but if you are intentional with your time abroad a number of future job connections. Other possibilities to get your feet wet are available with international volunteer organizations that require translators in the field. On the local level, Wake Forest has connections with volunteer clinics and community centers in need of interpreters.

Students in this program will develop the following skills: