GSE offers a fall semester Language Studies program at UB. No language requirement exists, but it is recommended that students have taken at least one semester of college level Spanish before enrolling.

Required Language Courses

Students attending Spanish Language and Culture semester programs at the University of Barcelona are required to take a two week, 40 hour, intensive Spanish language course as preparation for semester long courses. Following the two week preparation course students will take a placement exam and be enrolled in the appropriate semester language course. Spanish language courses consist of 110 contact hours of instruction focused on conversation and grammar. Students will earn 11 semester units for the completion of the Spanish Language portion of the course.

Optional Language Electives

Students have the option of taking up to 2 Spanish language elective courses per semester in addition to the required language course. Most Spanish language elective course meets for at least a total of 20 contact hours throughout the semester. The Spanish for Economics and Business course will meet for 40 contact hours per semester.  After the successful completion of the exam(s) at the end of the term, students may earn approximately 1 to 3 semester unit per Spanish language elective course successfully completed. If both the Language and Elective portions of the program are completed, students may earn up to 14 semester credits.


Note: Interested fall semester participants may extend their semester to a year abroad by continuing their study into the spring semester in either the same city or a different city offered by GSE. Doing so would merit a discount in tuition for the second program attended. Contact us for details.