Why Should You Study Spanish?

WHY SHOULD YOU STUDY SPANISH?

Our American heritage owes its richness and diversity to peoples of different language background from every part of the globe, yet most Americans remain monolingual. In today's interdependent world, the need for knowledge of foreign languages is greater than ever before.

Events of the recent past have made it clear that we live in an interdependent world that demands a knowledge of the other languages and cultures of the world. In 1979 President Carter's Commission on Foreign Language and International Studies report, Strength Through Wisdom, received widespread media coverage. It called the lack of foreign language competence in the U.S. "scandalous," and directly linked to this language incompetence was a lack of understanding of world affairs, with grave implications for American National Security and business interests.

Therefore, if you want to get on in today's modern world, using just English is not enough any more. It really pays to learn at least one more language. The obvious choice is Spanish, the next most widely spoken language globally. By learning Spanish, you can communicate with another half a billion people.

Let's look at some facts.

Spanish is the second world language as a vehicle of international communication the third as an international language of politics, economics and culture.
About 330 million people in the world speak Spanish as their first language.
The demand for Spanish courses has doubled worldwide in ten years. In the United States 13% of the population speak Spanish as their first language. In the United States and Canada, Spanish is the most popular foreign language to learn.
The Latin - American countries are expecting strong economic growth and because of that, are becoming more important as trading partners. A number of large Latin American countries are on the verge of signing to NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) set up by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The facts above indicate that you stand a better chance in the labor market when speaking Spanish. There are, of course, many other reasons to learn Spanish. Spanish culture has made a large contribution to architecture, the art and to world literature. What could be better than to be able to read Lorca, Vargas Llosa, Cervantes or García Marquez in their own, rich language? Wouldn't Picasso, Miro, Dali, Goya, and Velasquez be much more interesting if you were familiar with their culture?

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NOTE TO STUDENTS