Please check my translation.

Question

I am trying to translate a passage which contains the following sentence.

En 1975 ingresó a la Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo donde cursó el primer año en Filosofía y Letras.

Now I translated this as In 10975 he enrolled in the Autonomous University in Santa Domingo where he did the first year of a course in philosophy and letters.

It is the last part that, philosophy and letters, doesn't make sense. I have translated it literally but I am sure it must have some other meaning.

I would be very grateful for your help.

Answer 1

Not precisely the same, but Filosofía Y Letras is similar to a Liberal Arts degree in the U.S. (note the similarity symbol used in the definition rather than a equal sign)

licenciado -da sustantivo masculino, femenino

( Educ ) graduate;
~ en Filosofía y Letras ? arts o (AmE) liberal arts graduate

Answer 2

1. (education)

•letras -> arts

•una asignatura de letras -> an arts subject

I'd translate cursó (cursar) as studied rather than did.

Answer 3

Thanks both of you. I didn't actually need that to answer the questions but it was bothering me

De nada :) - SpanishPal, Aug 28, 2011