1. Make More Friends! If you learn Spanish, you’ll be able to communicate with about 500 million native and non-native speakers of Spanish around the world. According to Wikipedia, Spanish is the second most natively spoken language in the world, after mandarin Chinese.
2. Enjoy a Vibrant, Zesty Culture You’ll be able to better appreciate Hispanic cultural contributions in literature, art, and music. From writers like Miguel Cervantes Saavedra and Lope de Vega to Nobel literature prize winners like Mario Vargas Llosa and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. In painting, from the portraits by Diego Velazquez and Goya to the surreal paintings of Dalí and Picasso. In music, from Celia Cruz and Hector Lavoe to Juanes and Shakira. And don’t forget food-learning Spanish can be a good excuse for enjoying paella, tamales, ceviche, bandeja paisa etc.
3. Develop Linguistic Skills By learning Spanish, you’ll be able to understand some French, Italian and Portuguese because they are essentially different varieties of the same root language, Latin. Additionally, many English words are also of Latin origin; when you learn vocabulary in Spanish you will simultaneously be expanding your English vocabulary.
4. Work Internationally If you learn Spanish, you will increase the possibilities of doing business in more than 21 countries, including the United States with over 35 million Spanish speakers.
5. Earn Points on Your Resume Listing Spanish skills on your resume is very appealing to employers. Knowing Spanish can be very helpful if you work in health care or education, among many other professions. If you are bilingual, you will have more career choices than people who are monolingual.
