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[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_message color=”custom” tcolor=”#333333″ bw=”1″ br=”5″ close=”” bgc=”#ffff99″ bc=”#e5e597″]All our tutors are qualified, native and experienced. Do you want to start speaking Spanish from day one? Book a free trial now![/vc_message][vc_gap height=”20″ hide_under=””][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]#1 – Numbers & the Prevalence of Spanish

It is estimated that over 470 million people worldwide speak Spanish. In addition to that, learning Spanish as a second or third language is very prevalent in Western society, adding to the number of speakers.

Spanish is the 3rd most spoken language in the world, behind only Mandarin Chinese and English. It is spoken by over 20 different countries, millions of people, and is an official language of the United Nations, as well as being an official language of many other multinational entities. The cultural and linguistic impact of Spanish is felt especially in Western society and in the Americas. Spanish-speaking countries often leave fingerprints on the culture of their neighbors, like the United States, Canada, Brazil, and many others. Understanding Spanish not only makes it easier to understand these people, but easier to relate to their cultures.

#2 – Education Opportunities

It’s no secret that learning a different language looks good on a high school or college transcript. Learning Spanish seriously tells universities that you have goals, you’re driven, you’re what they call “well-rounded”, and that you have interests outside of the purely academic. The use and the willingness to use Spanish in your education makes you stand out from other applicants in all fields.

Studying Spanish, or having an interest in Spanish, often leads to travel and travel opportunities. Studying abroad in a Spanish-speaking country for your own sake, or for the purposes of improving your Spanish is a glowing mark on your academic career. It not only makes you stand out from others, but it also shows a hunger for learning, and a fearlessness in applying yourself.

#3 – Travel Plans

In terms of traveling without necessarily looking for educational opportunities, being able to speak Spanish while traveling to a Spanish-speaking country is invaluable. In addition to not having to play the harried foreigner tourist, you understand more, and you can engage with others more. You’re much more likely to have a pleasant experience from other native speakers if you at least attempt to speak to them in Spanish, rather than trying to trudge and bludgeon your way through a conversation with English. The effort and the willingness to make that effort goes a long way.

The ability for someone to communicate what they want without having to resort to a game of charades helps foster understanding. Learning Spanish also entails learning about history and cultural cues, which are especially useful if you happen to be traveling. Those not familiar with the culture, and even some who are, experience something known as “culture shock”. Being in a different country can be disorienting for a lot of people, but having a mastery of the language surely helps.

#4 – Work & Business Opportunities

Those looking to pump up their résumés or CVs should consider mastering a foreign language. As far as business is concerned, employers are more likely to see fluency in a foreign language as useful and something that sets you apart from all the other applicants.

Insofar as it pertains to Spanish, it remains one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. This makes you stand out from other applicants, and it makes you relevant and useful in business settings, especially when a job application includes a note such as “bilingual preferred”. Those who are good at their job and good with a language are frequently called upon and highly prized. Whether you happen to be a doctor or nurse who can calm a patient down in their own language without having to wait for a translator to arrive, or being the employee who gets to fly to a different country for a business meeting, knowing a language and being able to use it go a long way in the business fields.

Those who are bilingual in the work place often get paid more and take on more executive roles, and that has been the case for more than a decade.

#5 – Bonuses to Being Bilingual

In addition to the regular perks of being bilingual like just being able to understand something spoken, written, or seen… there are other very useful perks to being bilingual.

Bilingual students typically are better at memorizing things. With so much study, students of languages are often better equipped when it comes to studying other things because they realize how they learn best. Visual students learn to make flashcards, and start to understand that if they make charts and graphs and take notes to look at in other aspects of life that they will understand more. Auditory learners realize that they learn best when information is heard. They repeat things to themselves; they listen to things over and over, or make up songs and other mnemonic devices. There are some who favor more kinesthetic approaches like drawing things or writing them down many times in a row until it sticks.

Everyone has their own approach to learning, and bilingual students learn what theirs is more quickly than others.

Bilingual students learn how to study well and retain information, and typically learning how to express yourself in different ways makes you think more quickly. Experiments done with monolingual and bilingual individuals has shown some evidence that those who are bilingual have an easier time with cognitive abilities like problem solving and mental tasks.

Another important and useful side-effect of studying a language is that you make it easier to understand other languages of the same linguistic family. For Spanish as a Romance Language, it makes it that much easier to learn or at least understand the other Romance Languages like French, Italian, Portuguese, and Latin, among others. You start to understand more academic and Latin-derived words, useful in academic and professional aspects. And it may even improve your native language.

For me personally, learning Spanish made it much easier to understand things that had always confused me about English… like the difference between “who” and “whom”. For other Romance Languages, that is more magnified: those who study Spanish and, say, try to learn Italian next can push past the beginner confusions over what different tenses are, what direct objects are, what reflexives are, what subjunctive mood implies, and other linguistic stumbling blocks that you have a greater understanding of due to having learned that before.

Another more unexpected but very useful trait I’ve noticed is that those who study Spanish (or any language) become much more patient for those who stumble in another language. They become more compassionate, and more humbled by their own experiences, and reflect it outwards. Learning a language can be a truly humbling experience, and it makes it imperative that you leave your ego at the door so you can actually learn something. It’s a truly unanticipated trait that I find more useful than most others.

Learning a language is really fun and very rewarding. And of course, with all of the new technology and vast resources available, learning Spanish had never been easier.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_gap height=”20″ hide_under=””][vc_message color=”custom” tcolor=”#333333″ bw=”1″ br=”5″ close=”” bgc=”#ffff99″ bc=”#e5e597″]Want to start learning Spanish from day one? Book a free trial now! No commitment and no credit card required.[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]