FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS | COURSE DIFFERENCES | PLACEMENT | COURSE CONTENT
What is a heritage language?
A heritage language is a language spoken in the home and community by parents or grandparents, family, friends, and neighbors.
Who can take these classes?
These classes are for any person in the community or any Highlands student who grew up in a Spanish-speaking environment, understands or speaks some Spanish, and wishes to develop existing language skills while learning about his or her cultural heritage.
Why do we offer Spanish heritage language classes?
The Spanish as a heritage language classes at New Mexico Highlands University allow for students with a common language experience and an emotional/cultural connection to the Spanish language to enhance their language skills. The Spanish as a heritage language classes at Highlands strive to build confidence, linguistic ability, and cultural awareness in all students and community members who enroll in the classes.
Why Spanish as a heritage language at Highlands?
As the only four-year institution of higher education serving Northern New Mexico, New Mexico Highlands University has a unique responsibility to meet the educational needs of its student and community population. Because of the Spanish language loss occurring during the past 100 years due to social and political factors within New Mexico, a Spanish language recovery program that addresses this loss and teaches Spanish in a manner that incorporates the community’s heritage is essential. Spanish as a heritage language at Highlands is a language recovery program addressing community needs to recover Spanish using a methodology that validates the students’ heritage and language experience.