Learning Spanish Becomes More Important In Today's Economy

Have you been to a Home Depot lately? Notice the isle signs? Everything is now in both English and Spanish. Everywhere you turn, there are Spanish language publications or publications in both English and Spanish. Spanish advertising is rising and Spanish language television audiences are increasing while most English language television audiences are declining.

In an increasingly global economy in which Spanish is the third most commonly spoken language, it is clear that learning Spanish can reward you with a number of benefits. Learning to speak Spanish can help you to create ties and keep up with the Hispanic culture, which is an increasingly important influence in the United States and throughout the world.

Speaking Spanish is also becoming more important in business and career matters. People who are bilingual in English and Spanish are in increasing demand in the market place. Knowledge of Spanish will enable you to more effectively communicate with co-workers, clients, customers and employees who speak Spanish as their native tongue. Recent marketing studies conclude that in North America, the Hispanic population of customers is the most rapidly growing segment of the market, which has many companies scrambling to attract and accommodate the Spanish speaking crowd.

This translates into improved career opportunities. Learning Spanish can help you gain promotions in your job or it can pave the way for you to move into a different career that might be more interesting to you. Just having a notation on your resume that you speak Spanish can often mean the difference between your resume ending up in the round file or getting the all-important interview. Speaking Spanish will serve you particularly well if you happen to be involved in the building trades, in the educational field or in healthcare, especially in the US.

There are well over thirty-five million Spanish speaking citizens in the US, and estimates say that over 40 percent of the increase in the US population is within the Hispanic community. This means that, as time passes, the need to learn Spanish will continue to increase. With the increase in globalization and free-trade between the US and Mexico and other countries in Central and South America, there is no doubt that the people who take the time and make the effort to become bilingual, especially in Spanish, will have a clear advantage over those who are only English speaking.

It is not only in the United States where Spanish is popular and growing is usage. In Europe, Spanish is the second most studied language as a second tongue, with English being the number one most studied second language. Around the world, Spanish is the native tongue of more than 400 million people and is the third most common native language spoken, ranking behind Mandarin and Hindi. By simply acknowledging the current widespread use of Spanish, combined with the growth rate of the Hispanic culture worldwide, it is easy to see why the Spanish language is a wise choice for a second language.

It is also a certainty that Spanish will help to expand your universe of experiences and people. With the continued growth of the Hispanic population, it will become increasingly likely that you will have more interactions with people from the Hispanic community. For example, you or a relative might marry into a Hispanic family, you might have Spanish speaking families in your neighborhood, have Hispanic employers or employees, or simply have more interactions with Spanish speaking people in the routine course of your day. I know I do. For example, my son's father-in-law is from Panama, the cleaning folks for my building are from various countries in Latin America, as well as those who provide lawn care for my yard. The fellow who build my back deck was from Bolivia. The signs in most hardware stores in my area are now in both English and Spanish.

If you are interested in having a fuller understanding of the unique and rich heritage of the Hispanic people, learning Spanish is an excellent way to do that. World culture has been greatly enriched by the contributions of artists, writers, architects, musicians and others over the centuries who herald from Hispanic roots. Add to that the wonders of the rich and flavorful food that come to us from Spanish speaking communities, and there is even more reason to embrace the Spanish language and culture.

Since those who clean my office, care for my lawn, build my deck, trim my trees, and deliver my appliances are all Spanish speakers, it might be good if I learned some Spanish myself to help increase communication. I've started, have you?