Spanish

About the Program

Spanish is the fourth most commonly spoken language in the world with approximately 350 million speakers. 

Due to the increasing numbers of Spanish speakers in the United States as well as the economic growth of Latin American countries, knowing Spanish is an even greater career asset than ever before. Native speakers of Spanish can enhance their career opportunities as they refine their spoken social Spanish into more educated or professional Spanish. 

Knowing Spanish can also be an asset when traveling to many countries and can help people develop cultural sensitivity as they experience how others think and view the world.

Develop your potential. Improve your career opportunities and enjoy your interactions with your neighbors and your travels more. Study Spanish at Foothill College.

 

Degree & Program Types

View list below for programs offered at Foothill. Then select program map for a possible schedule that fulfills program and college requirements.

For program requirements and full course listings, view degrees and certificates information.

Associate in Arts

• Spanish, AA Program Map

Associate in Arts for Transfer

• Spanish, AA-T Program Map

Courses

Foothill offers first year (SPAN 1, 2, 3) and second year (SPAN 4, 5, 6) Spanish as well as Conversational Spanish, and Advanced Reading and Writing.

Study Abroad

If you want to learn or improve your Spanish and immerse yourself in a foreign culture, you may want to consider studying in Spain for a quarter. Although Foothill's Campus Abroad program is not currently offered, other community colleges within California continue to run some programs. You may want to enroll in one of these programs and then transfer your credit back to either Foothill or De Anza. Up-to-date detail about these programs is available at www.ccieworld.org. Click on the "Study Abroad" link on the top of their page.

Credit by Exam

Students with some prior knowledge of Spanish can get credit by examination for one quarter of Spanish.

What If I Already Know Spanish? (Clearing Prerequisites) 

You may be eligible to skip certain lower-level language courses if :

• you have studied a language at another college or high school, or 
• you are a native speaker, or 
• you have other knowledge of the language 

Please note: The Spanish department does not provide certification services at this time. 

To enroll in a class higher than Spanish 1 you need to “clear the prerequisite."  

We place students based on the following: 

• SPAN 1 - no previous course work in Spanish  
• SPAN 2 - 1 year of Spanish in high school, or Spanish 1 at any college, or proficiency with present tense: regular, irregular, and reflexives 
• SPAN 3 - 2 years of Spanish in high school, or Spanish 2 at any college, or proficiency with past tenses:  preterite and imperfect.  
• SPAN 4 - 3 years of Spanish in high school, or Spanish 3 at any college, or proficiency with past tenses and subjunctive. For this level and any levels higher, we will ask that you speak with a Spanish faculty so that they can confirm your readiness for this level.  

Once you have done a self-assessment (by reflecting on your abilities and the above criteria as it applies to you) and determined the level in which you wish to be placed , submit documents.

Submit your transcripts (unofficial is fine), and a brief explanation of your level to the contacts below.  You may be required to conduct a brief phone interview to determine the best level for you, particularly if you want to enroll in Spanish 4 or higher. 

Julio Rivera - riveramontanezjulio@foothill.edu 

Patricia Crespo - crespomartinpatricia@foothill.edu