Where in the world do you want to learn Spanish?
Home | Why IMAC Spanish Language Programs
Why learn Spanish? Why is it important in today's world?
Accordying to Instituto Cervantesinformation:
Traditionally, people educated in the United States have not been obligated to learn another language beyond English. But times have changed. Globalization, particularly in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico (due in part to the North American Free Trade Agreement [NAFTA]), has elevated the increasing importance of being able to communicate with citizens from other countries. Increasingly, the second language U.S. citizens are choosing to learn is Spanish.
Trends today show that Americans are studying Spanish in record numbers. Indeed, education in an international setting is becoming a top mandate for the American government because people need to compete economically. According to Businessweek, for example, more students studying for an MBA in today's world are choosing to become trilingual by learning English, French, and Spanish. Moreover, two of the top ten MBA schools outside the U.S. are located in Spain.
Many other reasons compel people to learn Spanish as a second language. Why is it important to learn Spanish? First, almost 500 million people worldwide speak Spanish. Even more compelling is the fact that about half of the population in the Western hemisphere speaks Spanish, making it the primary language for as many people as English in this region of the world. Most citizens in South America speak primarily Spanish (aside from Brazil), as do people living in just about all of Central America, Mexico, and Latin America—more than 15 countries in total. In addition, within the United States, Spanish is the second most widely spoken language after English—by a very wide margin. Third, Spanish is the third-most commonly spoken language in the world. In Wikipedia, English, Chinese, and Hindustani are listed as the most commonly spoken languages. But geographically speaking, these languages are only widely spoken in China and India, respectively. In contrast, Spanish is spoken in more than 21 countries.
In the U.S., employment opportunities continue to increase for those who are fluent in both Spanish and English due to ever-increasing population of Spanish-speaking people. This means that being bilingual (Spanish and English) will continue to become more valuable for people who live in the U.S. with each passing year. In today's economy, every advantage one can offer an employer is extremely important to a career.
It's fairly obvious to see why Spanish is so popular. First, phonetically, Spanish is nearly perfect, which makes it easy to learn. Second, by learning Spanish fluently you can open gateways to communicating with people who speak different languages. This makes learning Spanish a good choice, particularly because the US and Canada are in the same hemisphere and do business with many Latin American countries. In fact, as a romance language, Spanish can open the door to communicating with millions of other people who speak one of the other romance languages. Such common understandings can create bridges to the European continent as well.
Acquiring language requires special skills that, once learned, can be used to become fluent in other romance languages in much less time than it would take someone who is learning his or her first romance language. This is due to the similarities in grammatical structure and vocabulary. Understanding a language also means understanding the culturally enriching aspects of different societies. To stay competitive in today's world, it is imperative that we learn more about other cultures and how they think.
The World Speaks Spanish
The U.S. Population Speaks Spanish
Spanish Spoken in the European Union
In Europe, Spanish is an official language of Spain, the country after which it is named and from which it originated. It is widely spoken in Gibraltar, even though English is that country's official language and is also commonly spoken in Andorra, even though Catalan is their official language.
In addition to in the U.S., Spanish is also gaining importance in Europe, where it is quickly becoming the foreign language of choice after English. Spanish is one of the six official languages of the United Nations and used as an official language of the European Union and the Mercosur in South America.
Spanish is spoken in many countries worldwide. It is also spoken by small communities living in numerous European countries, such as the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. In fact, Spanish is one of the official languages of the European Union. In Switzerland, Spanish is the native language of 1.7% of the population, representing the largest minority after the four official languages spoken in that country.
Spanish is the fourth most widely studied second language in Western Europe after English, French, and German. Even in the countries where these languages are the native language Spanish is often the third most popular foreign language. Neighboring Portugal and France have considerable minorities of their population with a high degree of competency in Spanish.
Spanish in the Media
Spanish Influences the World's Economies
Spanish Education
During the past decade, the demand for Spanish language courses worldwide has almost doubled. In both the United States and Canada, Spanish is the most popular foreign language to learn. In the U.S., Spanish is the most popular by a very wide margin.
Choose Spanish!
Most people who choose to learn Spanish do so because of its popularity, especially in the Western hemisphere and in Europe. They know that learning Spanish will give them practical knowledge—in both their daily and professional lives. The facts not only support these trends, but they also show that Spanish leads other foreign languages by a wide margin for use within the Western world. They also show that the Spanish-speaking population is expanding. For example, the projections for the Spanish-speaking population within the U.S. show that it is becoming a larger percentage of the total U.S. population every year. Following are some facts that show just how widespread the Spanish language worldwide and how it is projected to grow in the near future and beyond.
Now that you know a few of the important facts about the relevance of learning the Spanish language, take a step further and start learning Spanish next Monday!
We offer locations worldwide where Spanish language is spoken, choose yours!: Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Argentina, Chile, and Spain.
IMAC Spanish Language Programs Community
Welcome to the world of imac! Click on any link to check out the various sites from videos to our latest Blog. Watch on MySpace or see who's who on Facebook. Explore the maps and view exotic sights on Pics. Have fun!!