Benefits In Learning Spanish

Different people have different reasons in learning Spanish. In the past, learning another language is mostly motivated by aesthetics (“I love how Spanish songs are sung!”) or academics (“You can go anywhere if you know Spanish.”) or by some other considerations.

Today, to learn Spanish would mean any or several of these reasons – travel, economics, business, employment, aesthetics, etc.

Travel

Since it is now easier to visit any parts of the world, tourists and travelers would like to add an extra ingredient to make their adventure more fun-filled, and that is to learn the language.

Knowing Spanish when visiting countries like Mexico or any of the Central and South American countries certainly makes the life of the Spanish-speaking tourist much easier. The locals would know how to correctly entertain you because you know and say exactly what you want.

Since these people are naturally accommodating, ordinary tourists would also get what they want, but only after an unnecessary and useless time spent on clarifying things.

Business and employment.

Today’s large companies with worldwide branches and connections already insist one other qualification from their applicants. Nowadays, applicants must be armed with knowledge of a second or third language. This requirement is over and above their present qualifications and other skills or expertise.

All over the world, the most popular second language chosen by applicants is Spanish.
If they already have a second language, they still will choose Spanish as their third language.

Because the world had become more connected, contact with people from other countries have enormously increased.  For this reason, companies need more men and women who can communicate with the rest of the world.

With the rapidly-increasing Hispanic population, many lines of businesses in the U.S. have a great need for Spanish speaking personnel. The workers that are needed most are nurses, social workers, teachers, sales and marketing people, translators, and many more.

In the international front, Spanish-speaking people have opportunities lined up for them mostly in the trade and business areas. The other choices include Foreign Service and diplomacy, interpretation and security applications which all need proficiency in another language.

This also applies in other professions in science, medicine, law and others with specialized vocabularies. The lexicon of these professions is mostly Latin-based and Spanish is a good starting ground.

Other languages

Knowing Spanish gives you an edge in learning other Latin-based languages like French, Italian and Portuguese.  It can also help you learn Russian and German because these languages have Indo-European roots. They have some similar characteristics with Spanish which are not found in English.
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This line of thinking applies to other languages that do not have any similarity with Spanish, like Japanese or Chinese. The argument is that after having learned Spanish, one has a vantage point of reference in learning just about any other languages.

Current facts

Today, more students of MBA choose to become trilingual with English, French and Spanish among the top three choices.

After English, Chinese and Hindi, the 4th most commonly spoken language in the world is Spanish. Geographically speaking, Chinese and Hindi are only widely spoken in China and India respectively. Spanish is spoken in more than 21 countries in both sides of the Atlantic.

Is it any wonder why more young people try to learn Spanish more than any other language?

Why Learn Spanish?

In an interconnected world of business and almost everything else, knowing a language or two aside from your own native tongue is definitely an advantage. Learning Spanish is one of the best choices one can make in today’s perspective.

For most people engaged in business and commerce, Spanish is the most popular choice as a 2nd or 3rd language. The reason is simple: it is 4th most commonly spoken language all over the world. By some accounts, it has more native speakers than English.

In Europe, it is getting to be the most important foreign language of choice after English. In the United States, Spanish is the 2nd largest spoken language after English. It is the official language on four continents.

Better English

For much of the American population, English is spoken without much understanding. Learning Spanish helps improve one’s understanding of English.

One reason for this is the fact that much of the English vocabulary has Latin origins by way of French incorporated into English. Spanish is a Latin language and learning its linguistic intricacies will provide a better understanding of the English language as a whole. Likewise, both Spanish and English have the same Indo-European ancestry that is shared in the similarity of their grammars.

Better understanding of the moods and tenses of English verbs can be had by learning how these verbs are used in Spanish. The study of Spanish actually forces one to reflect on how the English language is structured.

Culture 

Language is one of the best ways to understand the culture of other people. Short of living in a Spanish villa, eating their food and singing their songs, learning Spanish somehow infuses these cultural aspects in the language itself.

In learning Spanish, one imbibes the feel and spirit of the people through its rich literary traditions by way of novels and stories, modern or traditional. Whether one reads a Latin American newspaper or watches a film made in Spain, one gains that particular feel of the Spanish soul.

Travel 

In a world that gets smaller everyday because of frequent travels of people, Spanish is one language that is understood in many parts of the globe. It is almost guaranteed that you will never get lost in South and Central America, including Mexico and Puerto Rico in the north.

Moreover, because of your Spanish you will get to see more interesting places and enjoy more interesting experiences than the regular tourists who do not speak the language.

Business and employment

Many of today’s opportunities in international trade, communications or tourism are expanded by the knowledge of Spanish. There are also quite a number of promising prospects in the medical and educational professions if you know Spanish.

Fun and ease

Learning Spanish is one fun experience because it is one of the easiest foreign languages to study. Much of its vocabulary is similar to English and written Spanish is easier to read because it is almost phonetic.

Although mastering Spanish grammar is a challenge, basic grammar is straightforward. In a few lessons, a student can do basic communications right away. For most, one of the fun reasons to learn Spanish is the fact that it offers the most rewards with the least efforts compared with any other foreign languages.