9 REASONS TO CHOOSE SPANISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE:
1. Spanish is spoken by almost 400 million people worldwide.
2. Spanish is the official language in 21 countries.
3. Spanish is officially spoken on four continents: Europe, North America (Mexico and Central America), South America and Africa (Equatorial Guinea and the Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla).
4. About half the population in the Western Hemisphere speaks Spanish, making it the primary language in this region of the world for as many people as is English. Most people in South America speak Spanish, as does Mexico and nearly all of Central America (aside from Belize).
5. Within the United States, Spanish is the second most widely spoken language after English, by a wide margin. There are increasing opportunities in the U.S. for those who are fluent in both Spanish and English, due to the explosion of the Spanish-speaking population.
6. Globalization has been the big push behind the increasing importance of being able to communicate with those from other countries. Because of globalization, and NAFTA in particular, the second language U.S. citizens are choosing to learn is Spanish. Americans are now studying Spanish in record numbers.
7. Spanish is also gaining importance in Europe, where it is quickly becoming the foreign language of choice after English.
8. Phonetically, Spanish is nearly perfect, which makes it easy to learn.
9. As a romance language, Spanish can open the door to communication with millions of people who speak one of the other romance languages. After learning Spanish, one can become proficient in other romance languages in much less time than it takes to learn one’s first romance language. This is due to the similarities in grammatical structure and vocabulary.
*This information is credited to Avenues: The World School’s page on second language fluency.
Year-In-Review PHOTOS
