Why is learning Spanish so important?
Learning a foreign language, like Spanish, is becoming much more of a necessity in today’s society. Learning Spanish is easier and more enjoyable than ever with audio courses, online courses, study abroad, and intensive language courses.
Following are just some of the many reasons learning Spanish will benefit you and enrich your life:
More than 400 million people speak Spanish worldwide — By learning Spanish, you’ll be better able to communicate with Spanish speakers who don’t speak English. Whether you travel abroad or within the United States, you’ll likely run into more than one situation that will require you to know at least basic Spanish.
Spanish speaking countries include Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, Uruguay and Venezuela.
More than 33 million people in America speak Spanish — That makes the United States fifth on the list of countries with the most Spanish-speaking people. Spanish is also one of the most commonly spoken languages in the world, behind Chinese, English and Hindustani. Undoubtedly, at some point during your life, you’re going to find that knowing Spanish is extremely valuable.
More than 1000 Spanish-speaking immigrants come to the United States every day — That means the country gains at least 365,000 new Spanish-speaking residents each year.
Knowing Spanish enhances your resume — Employers love applicants that have fluency (or even moderate fluency) in a foreign language. Having the ability to speak Spanish will allow you to communicate with Spanish-speaking employees. If no one else at the company speaks Spanish, you’ll be even more valuable. If you’ve ever searched through the classifieds, you’ve likely run across an ad that states, “Must speak English and Spanish.”
If you want to continue your education, you’ll need to take foreign language classes — Most colleges require that undergraduate students take at least two semesters of a foreign language. If you have your eyes on graduate school, you should know that many require students to be able to read and comprehend one, and sometimes two, foreign languages. Getting a jump-start on learning Spanish will definitely pay off later, especially if you’re continuing your education.
If you love to travel, you’ll have even more fun if you go to a Spanish speaking country — Of course, you don’t need to know Spanish, or any other foreign language, for that matter, to travel overseas, but you’ll find it really enhances your experience to know the language. In fact, even if you don’t go to a Spanish speaking country, you’ll still find that knowing Spanish is an asset. Let’s say you go to Paris or Rome. More likely than not, you’ll run into Europeans who don’t speak English, but speak several other languages, and you’ll be able to use your Spanish.
Spanish is a romance language, which means if you’re in France or Italy, for example, you’ll have an easier time deciphering the language because they’re similar.
Learning a foreign language actually helps keep your memory sharp — As we grow older, our memory begins to fade. In fact, an article published by the AARP (American Association of Retired People) states, “Mastering activities you’ve have not done before, such as playing the piano or learning a foreign language, stimulates neuron activity. For best results, remember this: People exposed to positive reinforcement before completing memory exercises scored well above others exposed to negative reinforcement in a study led by Thomas Hess, a North Carolina State Univ. psychologist.”
These are only a few of the many reasons you’ll benefit from learning Spanish. You probably have a few of your own. Whatever the reason, you’ll find that learning Spanish is not only fun, but it enriches your experiences, whether at work or while traveling.
About The Author
Dorioara Pinku
Enjoy your free Spanish phrase ebook: http://www.amerispan.com/spdownload – This 30-pager is great if you quickly want to learn common Spanish phrases for travel or life in general. Also pronunciation and basic grammar. http://www.amerispan.com
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Why is learning Spanish so important?
Learn Spanish – Accent Rules
Learn Spanish – Accent Rules www.spanishbootcamp.com This is a short clip to help you learn the Accent Rules of Spanish. For more information, please visit the above website.
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Learn Spanish – Accent Rules
Synergy Spanish, lessons that makes it easy to learn Spanish quickly
If you are reading this Blog the chances are that you have attempted to learn Spanish in the past. It may been at school or at college or by a self taught method like a book, an audio course, short intensive residential course, computer course or even an online course.
Many of you have probably tried a number of these ways and methods and acheived a degree of success with them. For others the process may have been a little disappointed and may gave up.
Here is a Spanish Course which you may have a lot fun with and might make learning Spanish a lot more fruitful for you Synergy Spanish, lessons that makes it easy to learn Spanish quickly.
The creator of this course Marcus Santamaria says ” I have exciting news for anybody who wants to learn to communicate in Spanish. You can get a flying start and begin communicating in Spanish in 25 days or less. In fact, with just 138 words anyone can communicate in Spanish.
Amazingly, with just 138 Spanish words you can actually make over 88,000 Spanish sentences and say just about anything you will want to say in Spanish.
Just as 3 primary colors make all colors, 12 notes make all music and 26 letters make all English literature, 138 words are all you need to begin communicating effectively in Spanish. “
You may sceptical of these claims but Marcus offers you a free trial so what have got too lose !
Go to Synergy Spanish, lessons that makes it easy to learn Spanish quickly and try for youself.
The Learn Spanish Now Editor
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Synergy Spanish, lessons that makes it easy to learn Spanish quickly
Learn Spanish language and make friends! Spanish intensiv course
Learn Spanish language and make friends! Spanish intensiv course www.alhambra-instituto.org We offer intensive Spanish courses of all levels. Also you can learn in internet basic Spanish with our video vocabulary, Basic and common spanish words and phrases. Unlike other learning Spanish courses available online (such as Rosetta Stone, Pimsleur, Rocket Spanish, Learn in Your Car Spanish, or Michel Thomas Spanish),”Learn Spanish with Joaquin Chacon” focuses entirely on teaching the practical Spanish from Spain
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Learn Spanish language and make friends! Spanish intensiv course
Learn Spanish – Ten Reasons Why
Why learn Spanish? Almost five years ago I met the most wonderful woman in my life in Ecuador. I’m not sure we’d be married today if I hadn’t learned a little of the language before going there. Finding true love is not the only reason to learn Spanish, though. Here are ten more.
1. To understand better. Like it or not, you’ll hear as much Spanish as English at the Miami airport, and in many other places now. Wouldn’t it be nice to understand what people are saying, and what the announcements are?
2. To be able to help others. Our bank has a branch at the grocery store, and this past week a farmer who didn’t speak English was ready to leave without his money or groceries. It felt good to be able to help him out.
3. To improve your brainpower. A new language expands the range of your possible thoughts. There are concepts and expressions in each language that don’t exist in others. These can give you new ways to think.
4. To change your perspective. In Spanish, you say “I have fear” (yo tengo miedo). Psychologists tell us that thoughts like “I am afraid” create too much identification with the feeling. It’s healthier to think “I feel fear,” or “I have fear,” and in Spanish it’s automatic.
5. To improve your memory. Did you know that most people experience a general improvement in memory from studying a language? Studies prove it.
6. To age more slowly. Learn Spanish to slow the aging process? It’s true. It has been demonstrated that you can halt the age-related decline in mental function by learning a new language.
7. To get a better job. Knowing more than one language always looks good on a job application, and Spanish is the most useful one to learn.
8. So you can enjoy ALL the channels on your cable TV.
9. So you can order without help in a TRUE Mexican restaurant.
10. So you can say hello (hola) to your neighbor.
Learn Spanish for whatever reason you want, and you’ll get all the benefits above as well. There is one more reason to learn Spanish: You’ll be able to make new friends. My wife is glad I learned.
About The Author
Steve Gillman has been working on his Spanish with his wife Ana Blum, a native of Ecuador. Together they have built a website where you can get free lessons in Spanish. Visit: http://www.TheSpanishLesson.com.
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Learn Spanish – Ten Reasons Why
Common Spanish Phrases
If you’re visiting Spain or Latin America it can help if you have a hand list of common Spanish phrases to hand to help you in everyday situations. Below are listed some useful Spanish phrases and of you spend a little time on them committing them to memory you will find that you don’t need to consult a phrasebook each time you need to use them. As always a little practice will help.
Everyday Spanish phrases
| English | Spanish |
| Hello | Hola |
| Goodbye | Adiós |
| Yes | Sí |
| No | No |
| Thanks | Gracias |
| Many thanks | Muchas Gracias |
| You’re welcome | De nada |
| Please | Por favor |
| Good morning | Buenos días |
| Good afternoon | Buenas tardes |
| Good evening | Buenas noches |
| Goodnight | Buenas noches |
| How are you? | ¿Como estás? |
| Very well | Muy bien |
More basic Spanish phrases
| English | Spanish |
| My name is… | Me llamo… |
| What is your name? | ¿Como se llama usted? |
| I’m British/American | Soy británico(a)/americano(a) |
| Where is the train station/bus station | ¿Dónde está la estación de ferrocarril/estación de autobus? |
We’ll be adding to this list of simple Spanish phrases, but if there is some topic you’d like covered please leave a comment below and we’ll do our best to cover it if there seems like enough interest.
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Common Spanish Phrases
Overcome your fear of speaking foreign languages
Many people hesitate to try and speak in a foreign language . This might be because they don’t want to feel foolish, are worried about how they will sound, are scared of sounding silly and so on. As a result they remain resolutely monolingual during any trip abroad, preferring to speak loudly in English. These are the same people who are clever, articulate and never lost for words when speaking in English. The same people who are achievers in other areas of life.
But why ? It may be because many people stop learning (or never start) languages when leaving school and when they travel abroad have only haunting memories of having to learn lists of words or conjugate verbs. Yuk. It could also be because many foreign language courses are detailed, promise a lot and require to much time. Anyway, let’s cut to the chase. Who has the time or inclination to spend months learning Spanish/French/German or any other language when planning a three day visit ?
Well, maybe things have moved on or maybe not as regards language learning when still at school. I don’t know, but I do know that it is fun and possible to learn some basic language for when you travel.
By basic, I mean basic. How to start ? Learn a few key words. For example, ‘hello’, ‘goodbye’, ‘please’, ‘thankyou’. These are words that you will hear all the time and be able to use all the time. Learn them and say them as often as possible. It is a great confidence booster to do this, and once you can do this you have cleared the first hurdle.
I’m suggesting that it is always worth learning these key words because you will almost certainly have a better holiday. Try them out. Taxi drivers and waiters are great and will almost always respond positively. The moment you attempt to speak in another language you stop being a number to them and become a human being.
Almost always you will receive a positive reaction. In some cases, especially with shop-keepers it takes longer, (a few days) but most will crack eventually and reward you with some recognition that you are not just another tourist.
So, here we are, you can now speak ten or so words fluently. A good start but perhaps it might be fun to learn a few more and so how about some numbers. Start with ‘one’, ‘two’, ‘three’. Remember that the goal is not fluency, or obsessing about finishing what you start (like having to count to ten) but to have a little fun and communicate.
Everyone buys drinks on holiday. This is an ideal occasion to use the numbers you know. It doesn’t matter if you ask for the drinks in English. The important thing is to use the opportunity to ask for the number of drinks in the foreign language, or to confirm the number of drinks ordered.
Feeling inspired move onto a few phrases. A good one is ‘that was delicious’, assuming of course that you have chosen a good restaurant, and it is amazing how appreciative and surprised the owners will be.
Decide in advance what you are going to say. If you are getting a bus or if you are going to take a taxi learn ‘one ticket’ or whatever you will need, but keep it simple.
Start with the simplest phrase you can imagine. A common mistake is to make sentences in a foreign language more complicated than necessary. For example, instead of saying ‘could you tell me where the beach is ?’, it is easier to say ‘where is the beach?’. In other words skip out the non-essential.
So, don´t be shy, learn ten, twenty or thirty words and a few phrases and make sure you use them. If you want some software to help you do this, download a free demo from www.linguata.com
About the Author
Frank Middleton is a freelance author and writes occasional articles for www.linguata.com a site dedicated to the achievable goal of learning simple foreign words and phrases.
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Overcome your fear of speaking foreign languages
Languages of Spain
In addition, there is strong and growing support for other regional languages, some of them in danger of extinction. These include Asturian in Asturias and León province, Aragonese in Aragon, and Aranese, a dialect of Gascon spoken only in the tiny Val d’Aran, but enough of a live language to be co-official and used in the public schools there.
With the exception of Basque, which appears to be a language isolate, all of these are Romance languages.
Arabic or Berber are spoken by the Muslim population of Ceuta and Melilla and by recent immigrants (mainly from Morocco and Algeria) elsewhere
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Languages of Spain
"I would recommend this product to anyone who wants to improve their Spanish skills by using a range of different methods."
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- (el) zigzag = zigzagPronounced: séeg-sáhg Type: noun Example: Se fue corriendo haciendo un zigzag para que no le alcanzaran los disparos. Translation: He ran away in a zigzag so that he wouldn't be shot. Copyright 2010, GB Blanchard - Computer programs to learn Spanish: www.braser.com […]
