Ten Reasons Why You Should Learn Spanish Essay

At the time, I signed up for spanish because it seemed the most useful considering the hispanic population in the United States and our close proximity to Latin America, but I never truly understood how helpful knowing another language could be. Over this past summer, I hosted a student from Spain for about a month. Before this experience, the language never seemed real to me. Meeting Marina and recognizing that spanish is the language she uses in everyday life changed my perspective. Spanish is exciting for me because it is an entirely new way of life that I haven’t experienced before. I spent my whole childhood speaking english and recognizing american traditions while other children spoke spanish and had different customs. Continuing to learn spanish will allow me to communicate with more people and exchange ideas with people who did not grow up the same way I

1. The point of taking Spanish or any other foreign language is crucial in education. Knowing a foreign language can come in handy when you're visiting a foreign country and it is becoming an increasingly needed skill in the diversifying Untied States. Learning a foreign language like Spanish can also help you with your English by making you think harder when reading and analyzing the context and sentence structure of things written in both languages. Employers and colleges also look for Spanish speakers because an understanding of the language not only shows your intellect and your ability to learn but it also makes you valuable in a country that has a rising Spanish population like the United States. Besides all the benefits from taking a Spanish class it is also a lot of fun to learn. For me I have always been fascinated

Speaking Spanish or any second language opens a lot of doors in life. While the little Spanish I do know is incomprehensible to most fluent Spanish-speakers, it has helped me in some situations. The article Se Habla Espanol by Tanya Maria Barrientos is the story on how she (Tanya) dealt with the tribulations of being born in Guatemala, moved to and raised in the United States, and attempting to learn her native Language once again (Barrientos 645). While many of us, including Tanya, have difficulties learning a new language and understanding others cultures, the struggle will prove to be worth it in the end.

By expanding ourselves past the comfort of the native tongue, we are able to create connections with other people. When learning another language, we may start to understand not only the language itself, but also comprehend new cultures, ways of thinking, and other people. From the very beginning of deciding to become a teacher, I knew I wanted to expand my ways of thinking so I positively benefit students of all cultures and language. I believe language learning allows people to view the world in different ways by becoming positively influenced by other cultures, people, and different ways of thinking. However, after deciding to become an ESL teacher, I truly believe that bilingual education is needed to help students develop and maintain high levels of proficiency and literacy in both their L1 and L2, while learning in the content areas. This is why I personally believe it is better for children to be raised bilingual instead of learning a second language later in life. One reason for this is that even though I was born in America, my parents wanted me to learn their language, which was Polish. Now, I am fully appreciative of the fact that my parents taught me Polish and placed me in a Saturday school where I was being taught both English and Polish. If I was taught Polish later in life, I think I would not use it to this day because I would not have made personal connections with the languages, as I was able to by being raised bilingual. There are many benefits of being raised bilingual instead of learning a second language later in life. It is important to understand that it takes on average 4-7 years to become academically fluent in a language; by raising a child bilingually, the children are able to use both languages more efficiently earlier than those students who learn a second language later in life. Since the child has been bilingual for a longer time, there are educational benefits commonly found. Bilingual children tend to have a higher concentration and are better at working through distractions while doing their schoolwork. Bilingual children also perform higher on average on tests that involve multi-tasking, creative thinking, or problem solving (Marian & Shook, 2012).

“Learning a foreign language draws your focus to the mechanics of language: grammar, conjugations, and sentence structure”(Merritt). Before I began learning Spanish, I did not even know that conjugation was a thing, but in speaking a different language, I have had the opportunity to push myself to learn about conjugation in Spanish as well as recognize it in English. “The positive effects of learning to speak a second language can train the brain to analyze and process different linguistic structures” (9 Big Advantages). In the same way a foreign language affects one’s first language, it also creates skills that are highly beneficial to those who choose to use their brains. Benefits include: improved memory, increased attention span, improved multitasking abilities, more logical and rational thought, increased awareness of surroundings, and more. “Speaking a foreign language improves the functionality of your brain by challenging it to recognise, negotiate meaning, and communicate in different language systems” (9 Big Advantages). Consequently, these cognitive benefits translate into different aspects of one’s life such as affecting their professional life.

Starting Spanish lessons at an early age allows your child to grow in so many ways. Grasping an understanding of the language and culture allows kids to grow into a much more diverse

There is substantial information about the benefits of students learning better in their primary language the book “Growing up Hispanic” by Landale, McHale and Booth has important data on the reason why the Latino students are not making adequate progress in academia like their counterpart whites, Asian and Afro-American. One of the reasons is that United States schools contrary to Canada and Sweden don’t have a consistent and systematic bilingual and second language acquisition policy in place to support students that speak other language than English (Landale, 2010). There are third world countries such Philippine that are making adjustments to their education policy because they want their people to be proficient in their mother tongue language, but also be able to compete in this global economy. According to President Aquino “Philippines should learn English to connect ourselves with the world, Filipino to connect ourselves to our country, and our mother tongue to connect ourselves to our heritage” (Inquirer, 2010). While there are international initiatives to revitalize native language and promote multilingualism United States is stock in the obtuse idea of one standard language. Although according with Melvyn Bragg the 80% of modern English vocabulary does not have English roots, which demonstrates that the power of a language is its flexibility to

I am very fluent in Spanish now and I my young children are as well. So even speaking another language is helping us grow. Diversity in society helps us grow as individuals and opens our minds to different ways of life.

Foreign languages help students compete to be accepted into top schools. Many colleges require a foreign language for admission, but more than that it teaches students important study skills needed to be accepted to and excel in college. The memory is like a muscle, the more you exercise it, the stronger it becomes. Learning a foreign language exercises the memory, thus making it easier to remember facts from other classes. Students who study a foreign language also find their English improves. By learning a language, students learn English grammar, sentence construction and parts of speech, helping them excel in English and other classes that require writing.

It has helped me understand more about the celebrations and the traditions they have in the culture. For example, it has helped me understand why each town in Mexican states hold their own unique festivals and each has its own history. It has opened doors that have led me to actually participate in their festivals and understand why they dress in the manner in which they do and how they process all the way up to church. It is an experience that is unique to me more than to a monolingual speaker because of my understanding. Overall, knowing spanish has deepened my understanding of culture in the way I read about it to get informed, communicate with my grandma to understand the background and being able to listen to many people talk about it, at the same time writing down

Knowing another language puts a person in an advantage of carrier selection. In our extreme and fast moving environment, people who know more than one language have more employment opportunities. Many professional firms require knowledge of second language. And people who know a second language have a huge advantage over those who do not.

“One of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time”, Federico Fellini once stated that “A different language is a different vision of life” and I, in my turn tend to say that he was perfectly right. A person who speaks more than one language can experience multiple personalities, visions and reflections consisting which language is he speaking. High School students should comprehend the real benefit of speaking a foreign language. Being a multilingual myself and speaking fluently four languages and studying another two, I consider that I am qualified enough to persuade that my argument is strong, plausible and not ultimately-right. In the following paragraphs I am going to address the following three reasons why should other High School students learn at least one foreign language? Firstly, learning a new language enhances performances in the academic domain and makes you smarter. Secondly, knowing a new language is a high estimated and a very valuable characteristic in your professional CV. Thirdly, international travel is more pleasant through knowing a foreign language.

While English is the most spoken language in the United States, it is not the only means of communicating in this country. Spanish is spoken by a large amount of the population; as a result, knowing how to speak both is the key to success in America. For those who came to this country and already knew this language, it is an important part of who they are. As a direct result of learning it, individuals who embrace it as a second (or even third) language grow closer to their roots, or broaden their horizons. Speaking Spanish is more than gaining a new skill; it is a great step in becoming a better person and a citizen of the world.

Finding jobs should be relatively easy to get by knowing Spanish. Imagine not needing to pay a translator to guide you throughout your vacation. When you’re able to communicate with people that doesn’t speak English, it truly is satisfying. Learning Spanish is a superb way to advance your tuition and academics. Students taking a Spanish class should be compulsory by cause of it supports you in your career, it’s neat exercise to the human brain, and vacationing around the world would be much more simple.

Learning another language introduces a new culture. It teaches about other cultures and provides you with information about how they live.