The reason that finding someone speaking Spanish is so familiar is quite apparent: Spanish is a prevalent language. There is a huge possibility that you listen to someone speaking Spanish at least once a week. You hear Spanish at the supermarket, on the bus while you are back home, or at any travel destination you choose for your holidays.
Spanish is spoken by more than 559 million people worldwide, and 460 million are native speakers. Moreover, this exciting but complex language is the fourth most spoken language in the world, behind English, Hindi, and Mandarin Chinese. Considering these statistics, we do not need to say that learning Spanish as a second language is a beautiful idea.
Suppose you want to start learning Spanish to increase your job opportunities or just to be able to communicate with more people and know new cultures while traveling. In that case, you must understand that there is a wide range of options to acquire a language. Having so many possibilities makes it easier to find the right Spanish course that perfectly matches your needs and schedule.
Why so many options?
Before starting a course, you should think about what is the best choice for you. You can pay for a private tutor, join a group class, go to a language school, pay for online classes, or if you are a bit more adventurous, you can even travel to a Spanish speaking country and take a Spanish course right there.
No, you did not misunderstand anything. Traveling and learning a language is one of the most effective ways of acquiring a second language. If you feel that going to a foreign country to learn its language is the perfect plan for you, we suggest you choose a Spanish language school Madrid. In that city, you will not only learn from great teachers, but you will also live in one of the most amazing cities in Spain.
Even though any type of language learning has pros and cons and learning Spanish is a wise decision no matter your age, we believe that starting to learn Spanish at school is the best way to do it.
Why is it essential for schools to teach Spanish?
In the last decades, people have paid more attention to respect and learning from other cultures in the previous decades. New generations are more willing to learn new languages, travel worldwide, and build strong bonds with people from other countries. Thus, schools should include Spanish as a subject since it will come along with this new way of thinking and will also have a tremendous impact on children’s development.
- Bridge the gap: nowadays, many Latin people living in English-speaking countries, and including Spanish as the subject will make Latin students feel part of the institution and ease communication between students from different backgrounds.
- Sponge effect: elementary children learn far more quickly than teenagers or adults, so at that stage, they will discover a second language faster due to the ease of their brains to accept and process new input.
- Open mind: being exposed to different cultures, languages, and subjects at a young age enables students to have a wider view of what they can do in the future without being limited by a small context.
- Increase of understanding: being in contact with a new language makes people understand different ways of thinking, discover new points of view of the same reality and be more empathetic with people from other countries. Growing up with these values and soft skills builds a better society.
This new trend and the internet have increased multicultural educational and working environments erasing countries’ boundaries. Nowadays, you can work anywhere from anywhere, communicate and share experiences with people from different countries and backgrounds. We are culturally richer than before and now need to develop communication skills and acquire new tools, apart from the technical ones, to succeed in this new competitive and cosmopolitan world.
Living in a modern and globalized working world leads people to learn more than one language and be fully aware of what is happening in other countries. Unluckily, this opportunity to learn and open new opportunities is only available to those with extra time and money. Those who work many hours a day, have a family with whom they share quality time, and find it hard to make ends meet will not have the chance to learn Spanish and become more competitive for new job openings.
This huge obstacle would never exist if all schools included Spanish in their curricula. If Spanish were taught at school, everybody would grow up learning a second language, learning different customs and acquiring knowledge that will be useful for adult life. Moreover, everybody will grow with the same possibilities of studying, traveling, and working abroad.
Edmund De Waal said, "with languages, you are at home anywhere.” Learning Spanish will give you a home in many parts of the world and allow you to see life from other’s shoes, and that experience will change your view forever.
Everyone realizes the significance of being bilingual, the benefits of connecting with different people, and the magic of discovering the world almost as a native. Students must be encouraged to know more about other cultures and speak Spanish to understand and build meaningful relationships with Latin people with whom they share their daily life. Schools should be an active part of this path of learning.
Learning is always a great experience; no matter how hard it can be, the results will always be rewarding. If you have already started the path of Spanish, you may be confused about yo, tu, and the plural of adjectives. However, we are sure that every day you want to know more, speak better, and travel somewhere where you can breathe the language. Relax, you will do it!
