Spanish lessons

Why is it important to learn Spanish?

Communicate with 580 million people

There are few places in the world where the rich sounds of the Spanish language cannot be heard. In South and Central America, Spanish is the national language in the majority of the countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay and Venezuela. With more than 33 million speakers, Spanish is the second largest language in the United States. In Europe, Spanish is spoken in not only Spain, but also in Andorra and the British territory of Gibraltar. The language is also spoken in Africa, including in Equatorial New Guinea and Morocco.

Spanish is an easy language

Spanish belongs to the family of romance languages and is thus easy to understand if you already speak Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Latin or Romanian. Spanish is particularly similar to Italian and Portuguese at both the syntactical and grammatical level, meaning that they are mutually intelligible. It may perhaps come as a surprise that Spanish has many similarities with English as well. For instance, Spanish has a form of the progressive tense which mirrors the English ‘to be + gerund’ (i.e. I am playing). Other similarities can be found regarding sentence structure, vocabulary and the use of the Roman alphabet. Although Spanish is considered a fast language, using more words per minute than some languages, the language is highly phonetical (i.e. each letter is pronounced) so that pronunciation and aural comprehension are not as challenging.

Find the job of your dreams

If you do not speak Spanish, you will be even more limited in your job opportunities. In the United States, Spanish is often not only considered an advantage, but a requirement for many positions. Lawyers, doctors, social workers, teachers, bankers, sales professionals, law enforcement professionals and customer service representatives are just some of the jobs that increasingly ask for fluent Spanish speakers.

Cultural Explorations

Speaking Spanish allows you to visit a whole host of culturally fascinating countries. Whether its gazing at the Iguazu falls in Argentina, munching your way through tapas and sangria in Spain or sipping margaritas on a sun-kissed Mexican beach, speaking Spanish will allow you to have incredible travel experiences, devoid of the problems that often come when you do not speak the language of the locals.

Transferable skills

Learning a language requires time and dedication and is an ongoing learning process, hence why it is such a respected skill. Why you may not choose to use the language directly in your job or hobbies, the mental dexterity of learning a language can be used in a wide variety of fields.

What is the best way to learn Spanish?

Start now

Many people put learning language at the top of their bucket list and often, given the fact it is spoken so widely, Spanish is commonly the language people aspire to learn. However, the desire to learn does not always translate into actually starting lessons. Rather than putting off your learning until tomorrow, start today, beginning with the basics and progressing with manageable chunks.

Learn regularly

While intensive Spanish courses serve a purpose, becoming fluent in a matter of days is not a near-impossible task. The best way to learn a language is to instead study regularly, making lessons part of your routine. Online Spanish lessons are a perfect place to start since you can learn from the comfort of your home, without losing time on travel.

Full immersion

Once you begin Spanish lessons with a native Spanish speaker, it is important to begin speaking in the target language from day one. It is to be expected that you will not be able to understand everything. In fact, as you struggle to get your meaning across, you will be learning most effectively as having to negotiate for meaning fosters acquisition. To complement your online or in-person Spanish lessons, listen to Spanish speaking podcasts and music, or watch Spanish YouTube, television series or films.