Before deciding to study Spanish, you might be interested in knowing what benefits this will bring about. Learning any language comes with benefits, but why learn Spanish?
Well, we’re here to give you the low down on the advantages of learning Spanish. Since the benefits are plentiful, we’ll give you the 8 most important ones. Let’s go!
1. A great language for traveling worldwide
According to the Instituto Cervantes, almost 493 million people speak Spanish as their mother tongue worldwide. Add in those who speak Spanish as a second (or third) language, and the figure jumps to 591 million.
What surprises many people is that Spain is only the fourth largest country worldwide in terms of the number of native Spanish speakers (43.64 million). The largest number of native speakers is in Mexico (124.85 million), followed by Colombia (50.64 million) and Argentina (44.94 million).
Surprisingly, the United States comes in fifth place with 41.76 million native Spanish speakers – ahead of Venezuela, Peru, Chile, and more.
So, what we’re trying to say with all these statistics is that learning Spanish means you can explore much more of the world than you could with any other language. With even basic Spanish under your belt, you’ll be able to converse with locals and find your way around some of the world’s most culturally rich countries.
If this isn’t one of the most important reasons to learn Spanish, I don’t know what is!
2. It’s great for career/business-minded folk
Whether you’re a young person making your first choices about what to study or you’re an adult looking to advance in your career (or change career), learning Spanish is a good decision – and it actually makes you more employable.
In the media, Spanish comes third in terms of most used language and it’s also one of the UN’s six official languages. You simply can’t argue the fact that Spanish is an important business language. When you take into account the position and development of lots of Latin American countries economically speaking, Spain’s GDP being the 14th highest in the world, and the number of native Spanish speakers in the big powerhouse that is the United States, learning Spanish is a no-brainer.
If you’re still not convinced, an article published in The Economist claims that learning Spanish makes you earn an extra $51,000 (£41,300) in your lifetime.
3. You can access all of the culture, art, and literature
With such a diverse number of Spanish-speaking countries, the diversity of Hispanic culture, art and literature is unparalleled.
When it comes to literature, you’ve got the famous heavyweights like Peruvian, Nobel Prize-winning Mario Vargas Llosa, Chilean award-winning author Isabel Allende, and Colombian literary prize winner, Gabriel GarcĂa Márquez to name a few.
In terms of Spanish-language films, you’re also spoilt for choice. To name a selection, you’ve got 1997’s Abre Los Ojos starring Penelope Cruz (directed by Alejandro Amenábar), 2004’s Mala EducacĂon with Gael GarcĂa Bernal (directed by Pedro AlmodĂłvar), 2000’s Amores Perros with Emilio EchvarrĂa (directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu), and the fantastic and fantastical El Laberinto del Fauno from 2006 (directed by Guillermo del Toro).
And though you don’t need to speak the language to appreciate art, learning Spanish can help you understand the minds of some of the great Hispanic artists like Salvador Dalà and Pablo Picasso.
4. Keep up to date with pop culture and trends
When someone wonders why you should learn Spanish, it’s not just about communicating. Rather, as we’ve mentioned above, learning this language opens you up to so much more than the language itself. So, you’ve got your literature, movies, and art – but let’s not forget the music!
In pre-Internet days, it was almost impossible to hear Spanish music or Spanish-influenced music outside of a Spanish-speaking country. Nowadays, the interconnectivity of the world has opened up the music and Hispanic artists are making a name for themselves all over the globe.
Before the internet was really around enough to make a difference, we experienced the likes of Enrique Iglesias, Shakira, and Ricky Martin singing their music in English to better please English-speaking audiences. But, nowadays, things are starting to shift.
When Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi’s Despacito came out in 2017, it was played worldwide – even Justin Bieber got in on the action. What many people learnt was that you didn’t need to speak a language at all to appreciate a good tune. However, as a language teacher at the time, I did have to deviate around the translation of some of Despacito’s seductive lyrics!
Though there’s still a long way to go with integrating Spanish-language music in non-Spanish speaking audiences, it’s something that continues to happen more and more – and as a Spanish speaker, you’ll be able to appreciate this music on a whole new level beyond Feliz Navidad, Macarena and La Bamba!
5. You’ll ward off dementia – yes, seriously!
Ok so this isn’t unique to Spanish but studies have shown that learning another language helps your brain become more resistant to the effects of dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease.
When Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan ran a study on 85 Alzheimer patients they discovered that those who were bilingual (45/85 patients) outperformed those who were monolingual in both long-term and short-term memory tasks.
Even though their brain scans showed their deterioration to be more severe, they were able to score between three and eight times higher on the tasks!
6. It’s good character-building
If you’re interested in learning about the culture, history, and heritage of Spanish-speaking cultures, learning their language is the way forward. When you learn Spanish, you don’t just learn a language, you learn a history.
As a beginner, you’re completely put out of your comfort zone. Likely for the first time, you’re detaching from your own identity and trying to experience what life is like in another language.
If you’re a white, English speaker, for example, the chances are this is the first time you’re veering aware from the comfort of your own language and race. As you learn, you’ll start to realize just how many words in English are borrowed from Spanish. Spanish food vocabulary has become pretty widespread in the English-speaking world, but when you ask an English person why a burrito is called a burrito or what makes a taco a taco, they’ll probably only be able to say it’s Mexican – if that.
And through your learning, you come to understand how it’s a huge revelatory experience. You begin to understand just how complex language and its integration in society is. Language learning brings up hugely important discussions about culture and race. Yes, it’s a fun thing to do, but you’ll also develop massively as a person by learning a language like Spanish. If nothing else, you’ll have a much more complete understanding of racial inclusion and sensitivity.
If you’re asking why is Spanish important and you’re in the U.S. – this is it!
7. It doesn’t take that long to learn
If you want to learn a language and would like to master it quickly then Spanish is a good choice. Regardless of how easy it is to learn compared to other languages, the fact that there are so many Spanish learning apps and other resources out there, makes accessing the language so much easier.
Added to the plentiful resources is the fact that the FSI (Foreign Service Institute) classes Spanish as one of the easiest languages to learn for English speakers. This is because it’s closely related to our own language. It’s possible to have professional proficiency in 600 hours.
Being a Romance language and a phonetic language it’s pretty straightforward – and it only has ten vowel/diphthong sounds unlike the twenty we have in English!
Also read: 10 Easiest Languages to Learn for Spanish Speakers
8. Make new friends or find love
There is a huge added benefit to learning a new language – especially one that has so many speakers – in that you can make friends ‍with others that you otherwise wouldn’t have been able to communicate with.
The number of Spanish speakers is growing all the time and if you can speak Spanish, there are so many cool people out there that you can get to know. Who knows, you might even find love this way!
‍Final thoughts: Why is it important to learn Spanish?
There’s no doubt about it, learning Spanish has so many benefits. Whether you’re interested in widening your vocabulary, meeting new people, traveling, understanding new cultures, or wanting to boost your career prospects, learning Spanish ticks all the boxes.
In this article, we’ve discussed eight great benefits of learning Spanish. But really, we’ve hardly scratched the surface! Let us know what your thoughts are in the box below!
Great read! This is the perfect blog for better understanding. You can also check out ‘Online Spanish Classes‘. You will be amazed and for sure can learn a new skill.