Learning Spanish can improve your career, improve your health, help you learn other languages amongst other things. Read all about why you should start learning Spanish today!
Why Study Spanish?
More than 400 million people around the world got Spanish as their native language. That makes Spanish the 2nd most spoken native language in the world. Andorra, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Venezuela and Spain have Spanish as its national language.
According to the British Council, Spanish is the most important language to learn for the UK. It is also believed that by 2050 USA will be the country with the most native Spanish speakers in the world, even more than Mexico! Instituto Cervantes, the cultural organization that promotes the Spanish language claims that “If we would add the 9.7 million of undocumented immigrants to the total number of Hispanics on the census, the number of potential speakers of Spanish in the United States would rise to about 62 million people”.
It is also one of the most beautiful languages on this planet. If you don’t speak Spanish already, you should probably consider getting on with it… like AHORA (now)!
Here are some MORE reasons why everyone should learn Spanish!
Help you in the Business World
More and more employers around the world are realizing the importance of a workforce that can communicate in several languages. If you have proven to be a capable employee with the right skills and you on top of that speak another language (such as Spanish), you’ll be much more likely to get the job. Many jobs today actually even requires you to speak a foreign language at least at a basic level.
If one of your career goals are to travel and working/living abroad, learning how to speak Spanish fluently will most definitely help you achieve that. The world is becoming more and more global everyday and you will in many jobs meet people from around the world. Even if you just have some basic knowledge of a language, that might be enough to land you the job of your dreams. If you take that knowledge further, becoming fluent will help you communicate better with international clients and negotiate business deals all across the globe. Research has also shown that bilingual employees also often get paid more than those who only speak one language.
The Spanish speaking population is increasing rapidly and you can already see a multitude of career fields, not least in the USA, that need Spanish speakers. Central and South America got a lot of emerging markets and will provide for great business opportunities in the future. Mexico for example is seen as one of the most rapidly growing markets in the world. To be able to “tap into” these markets, understanding the language is crucial.
Easy to Learn
Spanish is spelled phonetically and many of the words are similar to English. For that reason it has been claimed to be one of the easiest languages to learn. Its pronunciation is relatively straightforward and the Spanish vocabulary is very similar to other Romance languages.
Gateway to learning other languages
If you want to learn other Romance languages, then Spanish can be used as a ‘gateway’ to learn them as well. It has many similarities to other European languages such as Italian, French, Portuguese and Catalan. In fact, several of the languages are so called “mutually intelligible”, meaning that for example an Italian and a Spaniard can communicate (with a bit of effort) even though they have never studied it before. French might not sound very similar to Spanish, but especially in writing you will find a lot of similarities, making it much easier to learn.
The Best Swear Words and Expressions!
The Spanish language got the best swear words and expressions! There are an indefinite amount to learn and Spaniards love to use them regularly. Perhaps the most used swear word in Spanish is ¡Joder!, which means “fuck” or “shit”.
Obviously they differ a lot from country to country. ¡Hostia! is widely used though and means something like “Christ” or “Jesus”. It is a blasphemy and literally means “host”, what the Catholics eat at mass. “Jesus” in Spanish though, can be used when someone sneezes, similar to the English “bless you”. Hostia got many meanings and ways to say it. “Darle la hostia” exactly translated “give someone the host” means “beat someone up”. “Es la hostia” (it’s the host) means that something is great!
Oh well, this was just a tip of the iceberg. Spanish slang is hilarious and worth digging into even if you JUST want to learn that!
Enhance Your Travel Experience and Make Friends Around the World
If you want to travel any of all the countries that speak Spanish, having an understanding of the language will be very useful. In fact, it will enhance your entire experience! You will get a deeper understanding of the culture, history and the physical environment. You will find that many people don’t speak English, meaning you will have a hard time to make yourself understood asking for something as simple as asking for directions or making a hotel reservation.
To speak Spanish with the locals will not only help you making friends, but also discover all those hidden gems of your destination, only known by locals.
Take at least a little time to learn some of the language before going. You will get so much more out of your travels on all levels.
Positive Effect on the Brain
Studies show that being bilingual has many cognitive benefits. Examples of these positive effects are better attention-span and ability to multitask. The reason for this is because your brain switches constantly from one language to another.
But not only that, research has shown that bilingualism can delay the onset of Alzheimer’s and postpones the symptoms of dementia. Numerous other studies suggest that bilingualism can also reduce the risk of having a stroke.
IF YOU WANT TO STUDY SPANISH IN SPAIN, CONTACT US AND WE WILL TELL YOU ABOUT THE BEST SPANISH SCHOOLS ALL AROUND SPAIN 🙂
