Spanish

The USC Centre for Modern Languages offers Spanish as a Foreign Language (ELE) courses to international USC students in mobility programs, as well as to any interested individuals over the age of 18. These courses are adapted to levels A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, and C2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). 

Each course consists of 100 hours (40 in-person teaching hours and 60 hours of supervised independent work). Courses are available in a semester-long format (September–December, February–May) or as an intensive two-month program (September–October, November–December, February–March, April–May).

Groups have a maximum of 15 students.

Assessment is continuous. The final grade is based on class attendance and participation (30%), completion and submission of assignments (30%), and performance on the final oral and written exams (40%).

To obtain the course certificate and ECTS credits, students must achieve a passing grade in the assessment and attend at least 80% of the class hours.

Students from countries where Spanish or Portuguese is not an official language must certify their proficiency in Spanish or Galician with a B1 or B2 level qualification, depending on the case, according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), in order to pursue undergraduate or master's studies at USC.

Applicants for a permanent teaching position at USC who are not nationals of countries where Spanish is an official language are required to certify their proficiency in both official languages. Spanish proficiency must be accredited with a Diploma in Spanish as a Foreign Language (DELE) at level B2 or higher. If they do not hold this qualification, they will have a period of two years from their hiring or appointment to obtain it.

To certify your Spanish proficiency at USC, the university offers several options:

• Submit a title or diploma recognized by the USC.
• Pass a Spanish course at the USC Centre for Modern Languages (CLM) that completes a level of the CEFR.
• Take the CLM Spanish language proficiency test before starting your studies. If you do not pass the test, you are required to take a CLM course and retake the exam on the next available date.

In undergraduate studies at USC, credits can be recognized for transversal skills, such as language training activities.

Completing Spanish as a foreign language courses at the CLM for individuals from non-Spanish-speaking countries grants the right to earn ECTS credits in undergraduate studies, ranging from 3 ECTS for B1 level to 6 ECTS for C2 level.

Completing ELE courses may be recognized with 4 ECTS credits at the home university.