• The Open University

Intermediate Spanish: Spanish for Education and Work

Explore education systems and learn to talk about your educational background, skills, and professional experience.

A woman with dark hair and an orange dress holds her smartphone and a cup of coffee next to a road full of cars.
  • Duration

    4 weeks
  • Weekly study

    4 hours
  • 100% online

    How it works
  • Included in an ExpertTrack

    Course 3 of 3
  • Get full ExpertTrack access

    $39/monthFind out more

Advance your career and personal aspirations in the Worlds of Spanish

On this four-week course, you’ll investigate some of the differences between the educational systems in Spain and Latin America and learn how to talk about your own educational background with the use of past tenses.

You’ll explore the strong connection between education and employment by looking at the role of education, and particularly languages, in the job market.

Discover job and work experience opportunities using the Spanish language

You’ll find out about exchange scholarships, volunteering programmes, internships, and job opportunities, to help you determine whether you would like to pursue practising and developing your language skills in Spanish.

Then, this course will guide you through how to communicate effectively in professional and educational environments and will help you demonstrate skills such as how to express obligation, give instructions, and offer advice.

Make dreams of living in Spain or Latin America a reality

You’ll learn how to showcase your professional experience and talk about your skills in Spanish, discovering new structures and useful expressions to help you identify your employability skills and describe them. This will help you in interview and networking scenarios and could be the key to pursuing a new career in Spain and Latin America.

You will research different job and volunteering opportunities available online and choose one you are interested in.

By the end of the course, you will be able to put everything you have learnt into practice in order to apply for a position.

What topics will you cover?

  • Education and employment in the Spanish-speaking countries
  • Identifying and understanding skill requirements for educational/volunteering/professional opportunities
  • Asking for information related to job opportunities and job skills
  • Identifying and describing employability skills
  • Applying for a job or a volunteering position in a Spanish-speaking country

Prove you're job ready

Highlight the new, job-relevant skills you’ve gained and supplement existing qualifications with a hard-earned, industry-specific digital certificate – plus one for every course within your ExpertTrack.

  • Learn the latest in your chosen industry or subject.
  • Complete each course and pass assessments.
  • Receive certificates validated by the educating organisation.
  • Impress employers with learning outcomes you can add to your CV.
  • Make your career dreams a reality.

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Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Explore education systems and labour markets in Spanish speaking countries to discuss educational opportunities and employability
  • Produce spoken and written Spanish communication, talking about your educational background, asking for information, and expressing your skills and professional experience
  • Interpret spoken and written Spanish communication, describing educational opportunities, job requirements and working conditions
  • Develop plans for future learning, career goals and personal development

Who is the course for?

This course is designed for those with a good basic knowledge of Spanish (fully at Level A2 of the Common European Framework of Reference), who would like to improve their competence in the language and deepen their understanding of different cultures

Who will you learn with?

Ms Eva Estrany MA DPSI is an Associate Lecturer at the Open University and a member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists. She has been designing and teaching Spanish courses for over twenty years.

With a strong background in Gender and Latin American Studies, Soledad works at the intersections of language, creativity and community engagement with multilingual communities in the UK.

Who developed the course?

The Open University

As the UK’s largest university, The Open University (OU) supports thousands of students to achieve their goals and ambitions via supported distance learning, helping to fit learning around professional and personal life commitments.

  • Established

    1969
  • Location

    Milton Keynes, UK
  • World ranking

    Top 510Source: Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020

About this ExpertTrack

Take your Spanish language skills to the next level as you journey through the Worlds of Spanish, with The Open University

Start learning today - free 7-day trial

After your free trial you can:

  • Pay $39 per month to keep learning online
  • Have complete control over your subscription; you can cancel any time
  • Work at your own pace and set your own deadlines at every stage
  • Only pay while you’re learning; the subscription will cancel automatically when you finish
  • Complete online assessments to test your knowledge and prove your skills
  • Earn digital course certificates and a final award that you can share online, with potential employers, and your professional network
  • Keep access to the content of courses you complete even after your subscription ends

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
  • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
  • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

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