10. Learning Spanish is a great way to keep up with current trends.
Learning Spanish will allow you to keep up with the pace of Hispanic influence on culture which is extremely popular and becoming more and more popular. For example, can you recall the Taco Bell advertisement that had that little dog? Did you realise that his motto, "Yo quiero Taco Bell" is in fact a clever play on words? In Spanish, "yo quiero" has two meanings they are: "I want" and "I love." So, the lovely little dog was in fact pulling your chain as he said both: "I want Taco Bell" and "I love Taco Bell."
9. Learning Spanish has medical/health advantages!
Research shows that understanding and using two different languages reduces the chance of developing dementia, and also Alzheimer's Disease. A group of medical professional who studied this were fascinated by earlier studies that proved that bilingualism enhances mental ability in both young children and the elderly. Other research showed that learning a second language will increase your memory and slow the age-related decline in mental ability. By learning another language, it also makes you smarter! Your crucial thinking skills will be enhanced as you learn to see things through a different viewpoint. Studying another language actually stimulates your creativity!
8. Learning Spanish is quickly becoming a business must.
Spanish has fast become more and more important in relation to business. Learning Spanish enables yourself to better communicate and understand your Spanish speaking employees and work mates. How nice would it be to be able to offer your products and services to over 360 million people whose first language is Spanish? In North America, Hispanic buyers are the most rapidly growing market sectors. As far as job opportunities go, it definately would not hurt to have Spanish on your resume. In the United States alone, speaking and understanding Spanish can be extremely helpful if you work in medicine or education. More over, the building trade is hiring more and more Spanish speaking trades people. One thing is for certain, if you speak a second language, you will become more employable and have more career chances than your monolingual counterparts. Globalization, with it's accompanying free trade agreements is rapidly reducing the business world, and for those that understand more than one language will well and truly have an advantage.
7. Spanish is almost everywhere!
With just about over 35 million Spanish speaking people in the United States, and over 40% of the population growth set to be among the Hispanic people, the stage is ready for a huge increase in Spanish speakers in the United States alone. This has created much interest amongst US citizens, a group not particularly well known for their multilingualism. This interest is set to increase as the Hispanic population of the US quickly reaches 50 million by 2015. But it is not just in the US where Spanish is so popular. In Europe, Spanish is the second most studied second language, just after English. With roughly 400 million speakers worldwide, Spanish is the fourth most common language on the planet. Only Mandarin (Chinese), English and Hindi have more people speaking it. If you count only native speakers though, Spanish far outranks English. Spanish is an official language on four continents and is the first language in 21 countries. With the sheer number of Spanish speakers across the world and their rate of growth makes learning Spanish a very clever choice.
6. Learning Spanish will definitely increase your world.
According to a famous philosopher "the limits of one language are the only limits to ones universe." It is without a doubt that studying Spanish will increase your own personal universe. As the Hispanic population quickly grows at a disproportionate rate and speed, it has become more and more likely that you may well marry into a Spanish speaking family, or have Spanish speaking neighbours or just come across Spanish speaking people in your daily life. No longer are the Spanish speaking people in the US restricted to the bordering states and bigger cities. Today, almost every area has some sort of Hispanic population. Wouldn't it be great to say hello and talk with your fellow paisanos (countrymen)?
5. Learning Spanish will well and truly enhance your travel experience.
Even though it is certainly possible to travel to a Spanish speaking nation not understanding a word of Spanish, your holiday will in no way compare with the amazing experience that awaits the traveller who speaks or at least knows a little Spanish. If you only ever speak English, you will be forced to limit yourself to the popular tourist spots where almost everyone speaks at least some English. But if you're wanting to venture out and explore the local area and get to know some of the locals, you really need to know some Spanish. Even simple little things, like reading a sign or menus, asking for directions or letting the taxi driver know where you want to go requires at least some understanding and knowledge of the language. Hispanic people are incredibly hospitable and generous, and if you speak at least some Spanish you will find yourself welcomed in a way that would not happen if you spoke only English. Put plainly, when you travel abroad to a Spanish speaking nation, understanding the language it will let you to move more freely from being an observer to that of an active participant.
4. Understanding Spanish will allow you to help other people.
Should you be the kind of person that enjoys helping others, learning Spanish will put you in a commanding position where you are able help both Spanish speakers who speak little or no English and English speakers who speak little or no Spanish. Now that is what we call a "win-win" situation. Unfortunately, the standard of living in a lot of Spanish speaking nations is rather poor by many Western standards. Sometimes, it is shockingly bad. Without stereotyping Latin America as a poverty stricken continent (in a lot of cases that definitely is not the case) there are never the less a lot of people in a dire situation. Learning Spanish can help to prepare you for taking the next step, --- actually heading there and making the difference!
3. Learn just for the sake of learning.
It cannot be denied that by learning Spanish you will without a doubt get a better knowledge of English. Spanish is what is known as one of the "Romance" languages, which basically means that it originated from Latin, a language from the ancient Roman Empire. So many English words too are Latin origin, and so, when one learns vocabulary in Spanish you will actually simultaneously be increasing your English vocabulary too. You may also find that your knowledge of the deep rooted meaning of these Latin based English words is largely increased. And, as you learn the grammar of Spanish, you will see how it is very close to English, as well as how it is also very different. This will increase your awareness of the grammar of your own spoken language. Because Spanish is nearly phonetically perfect, you can take a look at almost every word and straight away know exactly how to pronounce it. This characteristic makes Spanish one of the most simple languages to learn. And, when it comes to studying a third language, for example French or Italian, having already known Spanish will be a massive advantage because these languages also, are the Romance Languages.
2. Learning Spanish will let you appreciate Hispanic culture and history.
For most people, developing a deeper knowledge of Hispanic culture is becoming more and more necessary. There is no more better way to get this insight than start to speak Spanish. Read Latin American or Spanish newspapers and literature and it will open a door into the Hispanic mindset. Understanding the language will ready you to better know some of the fantastic Hispanic modern and classic historical contributions. From Miguel Cervantes to Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Hispanic literary contributions abound. From the royal paintings of Goya to the surreal depictions of Picasso, Spanish influence on the arts has been a major one. And let's not go past the gastronomy! Learning Spanish can be the ideal excuse for sampling the cuisine of Spanish speaking people. Burritos, tamales, paella, papusas, arroz con frijoles, ceviche, --- the list just keeps on going, and is a tasty indication of the huge range of Hispanic culture. Is it any surprise then, that more and more people look to take part in these cultural delights?
1. Spanish is fun and easy!
Learning Spanish will open up a lot of opportunities to have a lot more enjoyment. Who else enjoys reading through a good book or watching a great movie? Music? For sure! Food? Oh Wow! The sense of achievement? It's there just waiting for you to take hold of it! For all of the points mentioned before, and a bunch more that haven't even been mentioned, learning Spanish will be one of the most enjoyable and fun activities that you can do. It doesn't matter if your motivations are practical, intellectual or sentimental, studying Spanish is something that will benefit you throughout your life!
A little about me: Peter J May, lives in Brisbane Australia with my Colombian girlfriend. I went from not speaking a word of Spanish to being able to hold a decent conversation with her family by using a simple fun and easy course. Start with a FREE 6 day Spanish course at http://www.learnspanish-lessons.com and start learning now.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Peter_J_May
