Spanish Minor

Learning Spanish is a solid investment in your future, whatever your career aspirations may be. In fact, a recent American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages study found that “85 percent of U.S. employers say they're reliant on Spanish, making it by far the most sought-after language.”

Beyond learning the language and strengthening your resume, as a Spanish minor you can broaden your cultural horizons by studying abroad, immersing yourself in the culture of a Spanish-speaking country.

And as you prepare to join a globally connected workforce, your intercultural experience will stand out! Our students continue to tell us stories of how impactful these experiences are.

Want to go deeper, beyond the Spanish language? Check out our minor in Hispanic cultural studies, which delves into the history of Latin America and Latinx literature and cultures in the U.S. 

Why Study Spanish at George Fox?

Student holding a Spanish to English dictionary in class laughing

What Will I Study?

As a Spanish minor, you will:

  • Develop speaking, reading, writing and listening skills in Spanish to the ACTFL Advanced Level (able to function in professional life, talk about past, present and future with some level of detail)
  • Develop professional skills and serve the Latinx and/or Spanish-speaking population through a field experience placement
  • Study representative works of literature from Spain and Latin America
  • Study the history of Latin America from early 1800s to present
  • Learn about the lives and cultures of the Spanish-speaking populations in the U.S. through required conversations with Latinx students and field experience placements

Note: You cannot start out as a first-year student in SPAN 101 and graduate with a Spanish minor in four years. Most first-year students place into SPAN 201 or 301 (through our placement test), not 101. If you haven’t yet taken a Spanish class and hope to minor in Spanish at George Fox, be sure to register for a class or two before you graduate high school.

Our Spanish minor emphasizes:

  • The unique relationship between culture and language
  • The acquisition of analytical skills
  • Familiarity with historically important works of literature, and
  • A four-skill (reading, writing, listening and speaking) approach to language proficiency
View Minor Courses

Naomi (Zimmerman) Abdilla

My Spanish degree at Fox has been an integral part of my journey and the direction that God has taken me since graduation. Upon graduation I went to Spain as a missionary for a year. I am now an elementary teacher where I teach first grade in Spanish in Denver Public Schools.

What’s after George Fox

Knowledge of the Spanish language is a valuable asset in today’s job market. It is the third-most-spoken language in the world, and the second-most-widely spoken language in the United States. As a result, the U.S. Department of Labor projects an increasing demand for bilingual workers. This should especially be the case in the fields of education, medicine, social services and interpretation/translation.

  • Director, Salvation Army
  • Language Surveyor, Wycliffe
  • Interpreter/EMT, Central Washington Hospital
  • Professor/Language Instructor, various universities
  • Nurse, Newberg Providence Medical Center
  • Bilingual Teacher/Language Teacher, various high schools
  • Social Services Caseworker, City of Eugene (Ore.)
  • Interpreter, Salem Hospital
  • ESL Teacher, Honduras, South Korea, China
  • Geneticist, U.S. Geological Survey Columbia River Research Lab
  • Habitat for Humanity, Central America
  • Mayatan Bilingual School, Honduras
  • Agua Viva, Mexico
  • Catholic Work Shelters, various Oregon locations
  • Salud Medical Clinic, Woodburn, Ore.
  • Virginia García Medical Clinic, various Oregon locations
  • Love, Inc., various Oregon locations
  • Newberg (Ore.) School District
  • Americorp, various U.S. locations
  • Peace Corps, various international locations
  • Veritas University, San José, Costa Rica
  • University of Washington
  • University of Oregon
  • University of New Mexico
  • Biola University
  • UC Davis
  • Dallas Theological Seminary
  • Johns Hopkins University
  • Willamette University