When I first started learning Spanish, I didn’t understand why exactly I was learning the language. At first, I was learning Spanish because my parents said it was best. As I got older, I started to understand why it is important for me to learn Spanish. Here is a helpful post discussing why it is important to learn Spanish.
So, why is it important to learn Spanish?
- One of the most popular languages in the world
- Communicate with more people
- Able to Understand English Better
- Easier to learn other Latin languages
- Appreciation for Hispanic culture
- Easier to Travel
- More Career Opportunities
- Improved Memory
- Improved Health
- Easier to Teach Your Children Spanish
How exactly do these items apply and show the importance of learning Spanish? Continue reading to develop a better understanding.
Why is it Important to Learn Spanish and What are the Benefits?
There are many great reasons why you should learn Spanish. These reasons can be more beneficial than you may initially think.
To start us off, here is a link to a Ted Talk on why you should learn a new language from Columbia University professor John McWhorter.
Below we will take a more in-depth look into the items listed at the beginning of the article to get a better understanding of why it is important to learn Spanish.
1. One of the Most Popular Languages in the World
Spanish is one of the most popular languages in the world. According to the Cervantes Institute, 572 million people speak Spanish in the world. After Mandarin Chinese, Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world.
In the United States, there are 35 million Spanish speakers and that number continues to grow. Soon, the US will soon be the second-largest Spanish speaking country in the world behind only Mexico.
And if you still needed convincing that Spanish is becoming even more popular in the US, Hispanics are the largest minority in the United States with the majority of them being Spanish speakers.
2. Able to Communicate With More People
If you can speak English and Spanish, then you are able to communicate with more people. The statistic above references that there are 572 million Spanish speakers in the world. If you are able to learn even more languages, then the number of people that you can communicate with will continue to grow.
By being bilingual, you can spread your horizons to meet new people, find new cultures, and discover new experiences.
3. Able to Understand English Better
Believe it or not, learning Spanish will help you better understand English. Both languages have Latin roots, so they are similar in some respects.
Plus, the process of learning Spanish can help you learn English better. The lessons applied to learn Spanish can cross-over to your understanding of English, which means that the lessons from one language can apply to the other.
4. Easier to Learn Other Latin Languages
As we discussed above, once you know Spanish it is easier to understand English. It is also easier to understand other Latin based languages, as well. By learning Spanish, you will see similarities in languages such as French, Italian, and Portuguese. Learning any of these languages should be much easier to do if you already know English and Spanish.
Even if you do not speak these languages, you will be able to understand them on a basic level due to their Latin roots. Seeing similar words and phrases in French, Italian and Portuguese will appear often if you already know English and Spanish.
Plus, knowing English and Spanish makes it much easier for you to learn a third or fourth language because your brain is already trained to learn additional languages.
5. Appreciate the Hispanic Culture
Learning Spanish will allow you to also learn about the Hispanic culture. It is only natural for the Spanish language to be intertwined with the culture. As you learn Spanish, you will grow to appreciate the Hispanic culture.
There are many holidays and festivities that are a great part of the Hispanic culture. Plus, the holidays and festivities vary from country to country. As you get to know the holidays and festivities of each country, you will get to experience more and more parts of the Hispanic culture.
6. Easier to Travel
Learning Spanish makes it easier to travel. You can better travel through the United States, Central America, South America and parts of Western Europe. By learning Spanish, you will be better able to familiarize yourself with the Spanish speaking countries so that you can understand where you are going, what to eat, and other basics needed when traveling.
And like we discussed above, knowing Spanish will allow you to travel in other parts of Western Europe due to the Latin roots of French, Italian, and Portuguese.
Further, there are 21 countries in the world where Spanish is the official language. By speaking Spanish, you can easily access these countries. Below is a list of the 21 countries where Spanish is the official language.
- Puerto Rico
- Argentina
- Bolivia
- Chile
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Cuba
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- Equatorial Guinea
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Mexico
- Nicaragua
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Spain
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
Also, although Spanish is not the official language, it is commonly spoken in the United States, Belize, Andorra, and Gibraltar.
7. More Career Opportunities
Speaking Spanish allows you to have more career opportunities. By being bilingual in English and Spanish, you are speaking two of the most popular languages in the world. Being able to speak both languages will open several career opportunities for you because bilinguals are highly sought after. The more career opportunities you have, the higher your value will be, which hopefully improves the amount of money you receive.
Further, by speaking both English and Spanish, you are able to work abroad in places like Spain, Central America, and South America.
8. Improved Memory
Research has shown that learning a new language, such as Spanish, improves your memory. Being able to learn both English and Spanish means that your brain is able to compartmentalize things in English and Spanish. When your brain is able to effortlessly pull information from its English compartment or Spanish compartment, this drastically helps your memory.
9. Improved Health
Research has also shown that learning a new language improves your health. By being bilingual, studies have shown that the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease can be delayed. Further, being bilingual in English and Spanish can help you recover faster from a stroke and lower your stress levels.
10. Help Your Children Learn Spanish
Studies have shown that the best way to learn a new language is through social interaction with live one-on-one conversations. If you are a parent or caregiver, then being bilingual in English and Spanish means that you are also able to teach your kids those languages.
Because you speak Spanish, then you are able to speak that language with your kids to help them learn it.
I believe this is one of the biggest advantages to being bilingual so that you can help your kids get a leg up in today’s society.
Related Questions
Is Spanish the second most important language in the world after English? Many people believe that Chinese is the second most important language in the world. Chinese is spoken by over 1 billion people, but most of those people live in China. Spanish is spoken by 572 million people, but Spanish is more widespread in parts of the US, Central America, and South America.
If you speak English, is Spanish a difficult language to learn? If you speak English, then it is easier to learn Spanish. What makes Spanish easy to learn is that it has a common alphabet, a similar vocabulary, and pluralizes words similar to English. Another thing that makes Spanish easy to learn is that the words are spelled the same way they are pronounced.
What percentage of the world speaks Spanish? According to the Cervantes Institute, 7.8% of the world population speaks Spanish. That is roughly 572 million people in the world that speak Spanish. It is also the second most spoken language in the world after Mandarin.
