Our program in Spanish combines language study at all levels with coursework in Spanish, Latin-American, and U.S. Latino(a) literature and cultural studies. Many of our students also gain life-enriching experience by studying Spanish abroad for a semester or year through one of UVM's many exchange program sites in Spain or Latin America, while others participate in our 1-2 week travel-study programs abroad. Our Spanish classes offer students the small-class learning environment they need to develop their foreign language skills. In addition, our students are encouraged to participate in the many extracurricular Spanish-language social activities available or reside in La Casa de Cultura (Spanish House). Events on campus such as our weekly tertulias for Spanish conversation, Spanish-language film series, the annual Hispanic Forum on current issues, and dinners and dances sponsored by the Latin community in the Burlington area give students many opportunities to put learning into practice and to make contacts that can further their studies, travel, or career interests in Hispanic lands. Spanish is one of the Indo-European family of languages which are spoken by more than a third of the world, and can be classified further as a Romance language, a group that includes French, Portuguese, Italian, Catalan and Romanian. One of the fastest growing populations in the world, it constitutes a large community that shares different cultures and services which offer various institutions and businesses a unique growth opportunity.