If you want to know why you should learn Spanish, let me ask you this: what would you think if I told you that Spanish is one of the top three most-spoken languages by native speakers in the world? It has more than 400 million native Spanish speakers in 21 countries, and other places such as the USA has adopted and integrated Spanish into their culture and everyday life, due to the huge presence it commands in many states.
Regarding education, as a recognition of the importance of Spanish as a world language, it is one of the three languages in which students can study on the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme, alongside English and French. Similarly, the Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE Languages curriculum offers Spanish as both a foreign language and as a first language. In fact, Spanish has emerged as the most important second language for the UK in an analysis made by the British Council, and is becoming of increasing importance in Europe and all over the world.
A number of aspects of culture in the Spanish speaking world have become world-renowned and famous. Artists such as Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Fernando Botero, and Frida Kahlo have produced some of the most famous pieces of artwork in the modern era. Writers from Cervantes to Vargas Llosa and García Márquez, have enriched world literature. In fact, a total of eleven Spanish-speaking writers have won the Nobel Prize for Literature: five from Spain and six from Latin America. Moreover, as you have probably noticed, Spanish is also a relevant language in the world because millions of people know and sing songs by Camila Cabello, Shakira and Luis Fonsi.
Spanish and South American sports, such as football, have heavily influenced and have led to the development of the study of Spanish all over the world. Examples of well known sports successes in Spanish speaking countries have included Spain’s victory in the World Cup in 2010 and as European Champions in 2008 and 2012. The Argentinian football player Messi has won the FIFA Ballon d’Or three times, and in tennis, Rafael Nadal has won 20 Grand Slam titles.
The admiration for the Spanish language is also evident in popular culture. I am sure that you know someone who has watched the series Money Heist or Elite on Netflix, or that you have enjoyed these series yourself. As you can see, the Spanish language is within reach and we can see it everywhere. Oh! And if you think that Spanish speakers talk very fast, don’t be shocked, because it has been proven that Spanish is the fastest language – just in front of Japanese.
For another reason, knowing Spanish improves your English. This is because much of the vocabulary of English has Latin origins, since many of these words came into English by way of the French. As a result, since Spanish is also a Latin language, you will find, as you study Spanish that you have a better understanding of your English vocabulary. In fact, learning Spanish helps you to learn other languages, too: 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 to learn Russian and German, since they too have Indo-European roots and have some shared characteristics. Learning Spanish might even help you learn Japanese or any other non-Indo-European language.
Spanish is easy and fun: it is one of the easiest foreign languages to learn, because much of its vocabulary is similar to that of English. In addition, written Spanish is almost completely phonetic – look at almost any Spanish word and you can tell how it is pronounced.
Beyond education, knowing Spanish may help you to find future work: when you finish university, you will find your opportunities will be expanded through knowing Spanish. And wherever you live, if you’re in any occupation that involves international trade, technology, communications, or tourism, you’ll find opportunities to use your Spanish language skills.
We, Sr. Poli and I, recommend that you study Spanish at SJIIM. Not only for the reasons above, but also because it is an important part of the process of becoming more internationalized; because you will learn about a worldwide language; and because you will be very proud of your ability to communicate with a wide variety of people in the world.
