- Who's learning
Spanish these days? For starters, residents of the
United States, a bunch not known for conquering
monoligualism, are studying Spanish in record numbers.
Spanish, too, is becoming of greater importance in
Europe, where it often the foreign language of choice
after English. And it's no wonder that Spanish is a
popular second or third language: with some 400 million
speakers, it's the fourth most commonly spoken language
in the world (after English, Chinese and Hindustani),
and according to some counts it has more native speakers
than English does. It is an official language on four
continents and is of historical importance elsewhere.'
- The numbers alone makes
Spanish a good choice for those wanting to learn another
tongue. But there are plenty of other reasons to learn
Spanish. Here are a few:
- Better understanding
of English: Much of the vocabulary of English has
Latin origins, much of which came to English by way of
French. Since Spanish is
also a Latin language, you will find as you study
Spanish that you have a better understanding of your
native vocabulary. Similarly, both Spanish and English
share Indo-European roots, so their grammars are
similar. There is perhaps no more effective way to learn
English grammar than by studying the grammar of another
language, for the study forces you to think about how
your language is structured. It's not unusual, for
example, to gain an understanding of English verbs'
tenses and moods by learning how those verbs are used in
Spanish.
- Knowing your
neighbors: Not all that many years ago, the
Spanish-speaking population of the United States was
confined to the Mexican border states, Florida and New
York City. But no more. Even where I live, less than 100
kilometers from the Canadian border, there are
Spanish-speaking people living on the same street as I
do. Knowing Spanish has proven invaluable in speaking
with other residents of my town who don't know English.
- Travel: Yes, it
is perfectly possible to visit
Mexico, Spain and even
Ecuatorial Guinea without speaking a word of
Spanish. But it isn't nearly half as much fun. Traveling
in Mexico, Central America
and South America doors can
be opened simply by speaking Spanish, allowing you to
see and do things that many other visitors can not.
- Cultural
understanding: While most of us can't hope to learn
the languages of more than one or two cultures other
than that of our own, those that we can learn help us to
learn how other people learn and think. When I read
Latin American or Spanish newspapers, for example, I
often find that I gain a sense of how other people think
and feel, a way that is different than my own. Spanish
also offers a wealth of literature, both modern and
traditional.
- Learning other
languages: If you can learn Spanish, you'll have a
head start in learning the other Latin-based languages
such as French and
Italian. And it will even
help you learn Russian and German,
since they too have Indo-European roots and have some
characteristics (such as gender and extensive
conjugation) that are present in Spanish but not
English. And I wouldn't be surprised if learning Spanish
might even help you learn Japanese
or any other non-Indo-European language, since intensive
learning the structure of a language can give you a
reference point for learning others.
- It's easy:
Spanish is one of the easiest foreign languages to
learn. Much of its vocabulary is similar to English's,
and written Spanish is almost completely phonetic: Look
at almost any Spanish word and you can tell how it is
pronounced. And while mastering the grammar of Spanish
can be a challenge, basic grammar is straightforward
enough that you can have meaningful communication after
only a few lessons.
