from Henning
Henning lived for several years in El Salvador, working as a teacher. He is Co-Founder of the SAY ZONTE! project. Writing for this blog is his way to give s.th. back to “el pulgarcito.”
The 5 best reasons to learn Spanish
Do you ask yourself why to learn Spanish?
Do you still need a motivational push to learn (or improve) your Spanish in 2021?
Here you go!
I will provide you 5 good reasons to learn Spanish!
¡Vamos! and SAY ZONTE!
Spanish is an important language
My research showed that 538 million people worldwide spoke Spanish in 2019, either natively or as a second language.
If you speak Spanish AND English, for example, you will be able to communicate with about 1.8 billion people worldwide. That’s quite a number! Not even Chinese and Hindi speakers together can’t beat this (1.75 million active speakers).
How many Spanish-speaking countries are there? I counted 21 countries worldwide where Spanish is the primary or most used language of communication of the vast majority of the population:
- Argentina
- Bolivia
- Chile
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Cuba
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- Equatorial Guinea
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Mexico
- Nicaragua
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Puerto Rico
- Spain
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
Additionally, a lot of Spanish-speaking people live in the USA (about two million Salvadorans, by the way!). There’s also a lot of Spanish-speaking people in Belize, Andorra, and Gibraltar. No other language is as prevalent as the Spanish language!
Globalization – One of the best reasons to learn Spanish
The world is getting more and more multicultural, especially in the USA, Europe, and Canada. People move from other countries to another seeking for a better future, for a job, or for safety reasons.
Companies operate worldwide, having multicultural teams and customers in different countries. By learning Spanish as a foreign language, you will find a better way to understand Spanish speaking people’s culture and mentality. It’s an essential qualification these days: intercultural competence.
Why learning Spanish?
Be an open-minded traveler!
If you’re a traveler, and you don’t care about globalization, it’s always a good idea to speak at least some chunks of the country’s language anyway.
Why?
Because, first, it’s a matter of respect and second, it’s a different (and better) type of traveling. You will make more friends during your travels. You will have experiences that you won’t have had without speaking Spanish.
I give you an example: You are a tourist in El Salvador, and you love surfing. Who do you think will make more friends in the water? You, speaking Spanish with the locals, or the “gringo” catching one wave after another in front of the local surfers?
You could make a good start by learning some easy Spanish phrases (read more here), and I am sure that you won’t regret it!
The beautiful and rich culture of Spanish speaking countries
You will see that this is one of the most beautiful reasons to learn Spanish. If you are learning a language, it doesn’t only mean studying grammar and vocabulary. It means getting immersed into other countries’ culture, history, music, art, etc.
Well, where to start?
There are the “big places” like “Chichen Itza” in México or “Macchu Picchu” in Peru.
Some other historical places are less known but absolutely worth a visit. Why don’t you read more about the civil war in El Salvador (click here to read more)? There’re many hidden historical and cultural gems in Latin America that will give you the best reasons to learn Spanish.
From México to Chile, each country is rich in culture, music, art, literature, and food, of course. Don’t miss it!
We believe that you will fall in love with the Latin American Countries and probably discover your favorite one! And we haven’t even mentioned Spain, by the way!
Learning Spanish is a door opener to other languages
Spanish is a Roman language, which means that other languages like French, Italian, and Portuguese will be easier for you to learn after learning Spanish.
Especially Portuguese is very similar to Spanish, adding another 252 million people you will be able to understand (at least in a fundamental way).
One of the most intersting reasons to learn Spanish is that you might be on your way to becoming a real “polyglot.”
Spanish is truly a beautiful language
Ok, ok, that’s more of a personal point of view that you can share or not. But I believe that Spanish is a gorgeous language (#languagenerd).
The pronunciation of the Spanish language usually is not as difficult as in other languages (French, for example).
But to be honest: Spanish is getting more and more complicated the higher your Spanish level gets. Anyway, you will make rapid progress if you start learning Spanish.
You will also discover many beautiful and funny lyrics in songs, amazing poems, and interesting Spanish books that you have never heard before. Don’t’ miss it (we must repeat it!).
Why don’t you start watching some Spanish movies on Netflix (maybe with English subtitles first.) If you’re interested, please click here to read more about our top five Spanish Netflix movies!
Are those enough reasons to learn Spanish for you? We hope that you found at least one good reason why you want to learn Spanish. If you haven’t started yet, maybe you are motivated to do so now!
Please leave a comment if we forget something! Why are you learning Spanish? What is your favorite reason to learn Spanish?
