Arabic and Spanish

Arabic and Spanish is a language combination with remarkable range and cultural depth. Arabic is the language of the Middle East and North Africa, spoken by more than 400 million people and the vehicle of a literary and intellectual tradition that stretches back over a thousand years. Spanish carries you into the world of one of the most widely spoken languages on Earth, spanning Europe, Latin America, and beyond, a community of hundreds of millions of speakers with an equally rich and diverse cultural heritage.

Together, the two languages give you access to regions of enormous political, economic, and cultural significance.

At St Andrews, which combines research strength in Arabic with strong expertise across modern languages, this four-year full-time degree allows you to develop genuine competence in both languages alongside a broad understanding of the cultures, histories, literatures, and contemporary societies associated with each. A year abroad is embedded in the programme, giving you immersive experience in one or both of the language communities. Arabic is by far the most commonly used language of the Middle East, and combining it with Spanish offers the opportunity for comparative analyses between different languages, literatures, cultures, histories, and political and economic systems.

The typical entry tariff of 184 points reflects the academic demands of studying two major and very different languages simultaneously at a research-intensive university.

Graduates go on to careers in diplomacy, international business, journalism, translation and interpreting, the civil service, international organisations, and many other fields where this unusual combination of Arabic and Spanish proficiency is a genuine professional asset. Many graduates also continue to postgraduate study in Arabic, Spanish, comparative literature, area studies, or international relations.