Romance languages for the humanities and for language enthusiasts. Italian, Spanish, French: a contrastive introduction 7.5 credits

About the course

The course provides an introduction to Italian, Spanish, and French from a contrastive perspective. The Romance languages and their emergence from Latin are introduced as cultural and linguistic phenomena. The foundations of Italian, Spanish, and French grammar and vocabulary are established contrastively with the following objectives:

As a basis for the parallel learning of all three languages.
To accelerate the acquisition of other Romance languages if one already possesses knowledge of one or more.
To enable the navigation of texts in all three languages and activate intercomprehension.

The course consists of the following modules:

Module 1: Introduction to Romance Languages, 1.5 credits
A fundamental introduction to Romance languages as a linguistic phenomenon, also covering the basics of the linguistic systems' structures, as well as elementary rules for writing and pronunciation in Italian, Spanish, and French, from a contrastive perspective.

Module 2: Basic Contrastive Morphology and Grammar, 4 credits
Foundations are established, through a contrastive lens, for Italian, Spanish, and French regarding: articles, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions, as well as parts of the verb system and general grammatical phenomena.

Module 3: Contrastive Vocabulary, Reading Comprehension, and Translation, 2 credits
Core vocabulary is introduced and analyzed from a contrastive perspective. The comprehension and translation of simple texts in all three languages is practiced and assessed, building upon the knowledge acquired in the previous modules.

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Summer 2026
- Romance languages for the humanities and for language enthusiasts. Italian, Spanish, French: a contrastive introduction
  
  ST26 / Varied / English / Web-based (online)
  
  Submit a late application
  
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  Starts
  8 June 2026
  
  Ends
  30 August 2026
  
  Number of credits
  7.5 credits
  
  Type of studies
  Web-based (online)
  
  Mandatory meetings
  No mandatory meetings
  
  Other meetings
  None
  
  Study pace
  50%
  
  Teaching hours
  Mixed
  
  Study location
  Varied
  
  Language
  English
  
  Application code
  UMU-91404
  
  Outline for distance course
  
  Teaching is entirely online, with flexible study time. No mandatory meetings. Voluntary supervision meetings are offered online via zoom, attendance is not required.
  
  Access to a computer with broadband internet connection is required for participating in and completing the course tasks.
  
  Eligibility
  General entry requirements and English 6/level 2
  
  Selection
  
  Grade point average (34%) - Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test (32%) - Academic credits 1-165 ECTS (32%)
  
  Application
  Application deadline was 16 March 2026. Submit a late application at Universityadmissions.se.
  
  Application and tuition fees
  As a citizen of a country outside the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland, you are required to pay application and tuition fees for studies at Umeå University.
  
  Application fee: SEK 900
  
  Tuition fee, first instalment: SEK 12,075
  
  Total fee: SEK 12,075
  
  Details about tuition, fees and funding

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Late applications
Admissions to most programmes and courses typically close after the final application deadline. However, some programmes and courses may still accept late applications if seats are available. These are marked “Open for late application” on universityadmissions.se. Please note that late applications are not guaranteed to be reviewed.

More about application and admission

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