Posts Tagged ‘ Latin America ’

Friday, November 5th, 2010

Advantages For Spanish Language Learning

In today’s society you can vastly improve you opportunities if you are able to speak a language other than your native tongue. When first starting, it is perfectly familiar to make mistakes; this is a part of the procedure of learning. There are several ways of http://iwanttolearnspanish.co.uk/”>Spanish Language Learning and once you have completed it, you will have increased the range of languages that you speak, allowing you to communicate with more people.

 

Extensive Use

 

Did you know that Spanish is the second most widely-spoken language on Earth today. Choosing Spanish as a second language is a smart choice as it will allow you to convey with many millions of people who speak Spanish as their native language. A lot of Europe and Latin America speak Spanish as their master language. Even in the United States Spanish is widely used in some areas. You can notice this anywhere simply by picking up a package and looking at the directions which often include both English and Spanish directions.\

 

Emerging Economic and Political Powerhouse

 

It might be early to be sure, but Latin America could well emerge as the next European Union. These parts have much to offer like vast natural resources as well as untapped human resources. It would be unwise to underestimate the growth of Latin America. If you choose to learn Spanish you will only be doing yourself a favor.

 

Spanish is also the official language of a number of political powerhouses. Maybe professional opportunities are not what you are looking for but hold a thought to all the job opportunities that you get from these groups.

 

Cultural Benefits

 

Bakalao, paella, bullfighting, flamenco, Benicio del Toro, Salvador Dali, El Greco, Picasso, Pedro Aldomovar, Penelope Cruz, Antonio Banderas, Enrique Iglesias, Marc Anthony, and Shakira, are all cultural influences that Spanish speaking nations have to offer.

 

Many of these artists have English works, but being able to sing and dance to these tunes in their original language will give you a completely different feeling. No matter how good the translator is, something will invariably be lost in translation. Also, all languages have their very own personal sound that can’t be duplicated easily. The times when Spanish-talking singers or actors choose to perform in English, they often lose that special something that their Spanish language would give them. Often it will sound altogether different.

 

If you are thinking about http://iwanttolearnspanish.co.uk/”>Spanish Language Learning and like most people, you like to do it fast then look for a programme that allows you to be versatile as to when and where you can learn.There are several http://iwanttolearnspanish.co.uk/”>Spanish Language Learning system on the market that allow you to learn via CD or MP3 which means you can learn while on the move in the car or commuting on the bus or train.

There are many reasons why someone might want to learn Spanish. Perhaps you are planning a holiday or business trip to a Spanish speaking country or maybe you are thinking of emigrating. It could be that you don’t really need to speak Spanish at all but you just want to say that you can. Being able to communicate in another language certainly gives you a great sense of achievement.

My reasons were a little mixed. For a long time I had wanted to learn another language, and for some reason I was always drawn to Spanish. I am not entirely sure why this was. I think one reason was because the little I knew about Spain at the time somehow appealed to my sense of good living. Sun, sand, siestas, late night dinner parties and dark skinned beautiful women! Of course there is far more to Spain than this, but for me, Spain and the Spanish language held more appeal than say French or German did.

Although I had wanted to learn Spanish for a long time I guess the main reason why I finally decided to do something about it was because I was planning a long trip to Central and South America. I was about to pass through as many as 19 different countries where the official national language was Spanish. Well that was a back in 2002. Since then Spanish and all things Spanish both in Spain and in Latin America have literally taken me over. I wouldn’t have believed it then but now Spanish is a part of my every day life. I can speak, read and understand Spanish to the point where I don’t have to think about it too much.

When people ask me if I can speak Spanish fluently I am always a little hesitant to say yes. The truth is that even though I can communicate in Spanish with relative ease I still don’t feel that I know enough. I am not really sure if I ever will! There are always new words and phrases to learn for example and of course these vary from country to country.

I think one of the biggest tests for me is being able to sit in front of the TV with una cerveza (a beer) and watch a Spanish soap opera (una telenovela) or a Spanish movie and completely understand everything that is going on. After all, if I can do that in English why shouldn’t I be able to do the same in Spanish? Well I have to say I am definitely not there yet but almost! I highly recommend ‘Pasion de Gavilanes’. It’s a hugely popular telenovela from Columbia. I’ll talk more that this and others in later articles.

So, how did I get from not knowing a single word of Spanish (apart from – gracias and amigo), to being able to read a Spanish book, speak to a Spanish-speaking friend or watch a Spanish telenovel? Well the answer to that is what I intend to write about in the coming articles. I am not going to lie to you and say that the journey was an easy one. The truth is that learning a new language takes time and requires a great deal of patience and commitment. However, what I really want to convey at this point is that anybody can do it if they rally want to.

In the next article I intend to write about preparation. By that I mean thinking about what it is you want to achieve and how you intend to go about achieving it. You are not going to learn Spanish overnight and I think it makes sense to prepare yourself for the challenges ahead. Learning a new language should be fun and there is no reason why it shouldn’t be as long as you realise your limitations.

By no means do I consider myself to be someone that has a natural flare for languages. When I went to school (all those years ago!) the only subject I failed in was French. For some reason I just couldn’t get my head around it. Before I started learning Spanish I knew nothing of other languages. I started right from the beginning. I guess what I’m trying to say is, is that if I can do it then believe me anybody can.