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I Really liked this article for economic reasonings as it describes how learning a second language can be beneficial for financial reasonings as well as social reasons, by learning a second language it can pay off and help one receive a second interview for jobs or even getting work as an interpreter. another great thing it talks about is it helps with career growth allowing you to improve in your work.

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6 Career Benefits of Learning a Second Language

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Learning a new language can only benefit your current or future career (and your resume). Unique career opportunities, new networks, and better salary await.

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This article Unlocking Cognitive benefits talks about the different benefits that learning a second language like Spanish can be beneficial cognitively giving certain points as to why one such being helping with problem solving as learning a language is much like learning to solve a puzzle as when one does not truly understand the word being spoken or not entirely comfortable with the language yet the brain steps in and uses deciphering to help understand what is going on and being conveyed. Another great benefit is it helps with concentration as learning Spanish makes one concentrate on what is being spoken or how it is taught.

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Unlocking Cognitive Benefits: Why Learning Spanish is Good for Your Brain

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Embark on a journey of cognitive enrichment and discover the myriad ways in which mastering Spanish can elevate your brainpower.

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I chose this for my social reasoning as it provides a lot of great insights and points as to why it can be important to study Spanish. One key point I would lake to take from this is that like the article states it is a great way to make friends and I know this from first hand experience as learning Spanish has allowed me to build connections with a lot of great people that I would have never encountered had I decided to not learn Spanish. Another great reasoning that I agree with is the ability to enjoy the Latin culture through its music and shows. There are so many artist that I have got to listen to and understand thanks to learning the language, people like Vicente Fernandez or shows like Chavo Del Ocho.

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The popularity of the Spanish language is on the rise. With 572 million speakers worldwide, learning the language could be a serious personal and financial investment. Read on to see our reasons for why you should learn Spanish.

It's easy to learn

Unlike French, Spanish is a phonetic language, meaning that there is a direct relationship between spelling and sound. Basically, what you see is what you say. Even though the grammar may be hard to master, knowing the basics requires little time and will get you far. Once you know the fundamentals, it is relatively easy to get your point across.

It could be your "gateway language"

Spanish is the most spoken of the Romance languages which include Portuguese, Italian, French, Romanian and Catalan. These languages all have Latin roots and, although very different, when you become fluent in one, you are already advancing in the learning of the others. As we said earlier, Spanish is an easy language to learn so it could be your key to learning others.

Travel smarter

Spanish is the official language in 20 countries. There are countless beautiful beaches, mountains, deserts and stunning landscapes spread throughout South and Central America as well as Spain. By speaking the local language, you'll get more of an insider's feel into what the country is really like, experience some real culture, perhaps even better food. You might also be appreciated more for making the effort and relieving the locals of the anxiety of trying to speak your language.

Make new friends

In a world dominated by English, people from non-English speaking countries are really grateful for the effort that foreigners make when they try to communicate in their local language. Spanish is the native language of almost all of the countries in South, and Central America, with an enormous presence in North America as well. If you are able to communicate in their language almost the entire continent is at your disposal. You will have the chance to encounter warm, kind, and charming people that will be delighted to share their stories with you.

It is internationally recognized

Spanish is an influential language in terms of political power in the world. Trade agreements, political strategies, Human Rights' discussions are constantly handled in Spanish. Spanish is one of the six official languages of the United Nations, the other languages being Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and English. It is also one of the official languages of the European Union. Therefore, in economic terms, learning Spanish is also a good investment.

Feast your mind on Spanish literature and cinema

Learning Spanish would also allow you to discover the richness of Spanish literature and cinema. For example, Cervantes' "Don Quijote" is one of the best selling books in the world, and is considered influential in humanity's cultural heritage. 11 Spanish-speaking writers have been awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. In terms of cinema, speaking Spanish will open up a whole new collection of motion pictures and will also be a good way to practice the language.

Are you convinced? If you're interested in learning with us in the heart of Barcelona, check out our Spanish classes.

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The popularity of the Spanish language is on the rise. With 572 million speakers worldwide, learning the language could be a serious personal and financial investment. Read on to see our reasons for why you should learn Spanish. Unlike French, Spanish is a phonetic language, meaning that there is a direct relationship between spelling and sound.

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I found this article important because it talks about how becoming bilingual will not only make you smarter but also help boost relationships. Especially for economic reasons, this article talks about how being bilingual can be very beneficial if you own a business. For example, it can make your customer service so much better because when you own a business you will interact with all kinds of people. Some of them might not be bilingual and if you are not able to communicate with them there is a chance they will leave. This situation can affect you and your business. Learning Spanish will not only make you look smarter but it will also help your business grow. If you are thinking about starting a business and learning a new language this article is for you.

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¿ Hablas español? Mastering the basics of the Spanish language provides you with a valuable tool for commerce and cultural connection. It is the official language of 20 countries. But it is by no means a "foreign" language. There are more people who speak Spanish in the U.S. than in Spain. Keep reading for some additional facts illustrating the importance of learning Spanish for business.

Spanish Is the Most Common Second Language

Although there are 6,000 languages in the world, few will be as immediately useful in your workplace as Spanish. America's Hispanic population is particularly concentrated in three regions: 55 percent live in Texas, California, or Florida. It is estimated that 18 percent of residents in the Tampa Bay area are native Spanish speakers, with a similar percentage in metro Orlando.

While already a core target market for every business in the region, what's even more compelling is that the U.S. Census Bureau projects the Hispanic/Latino population to double in the next three decades. Doesn't it make sense to speak the same language as your customers, colleagues, and competitors?

Communicating in Spanish Gives You a Competitive Edge

In other countries, a second language is second nature. For instance, 56 percent of Europeans are bilingual, compared to only 20 percent of Americans. Being able to communicate with overseas clients, suppliers, and buyers can be the difference between your company securing a contract and the deal going to an organization better trained in language diversity.

Monolingual negotiations can have a significant failure rate. The American Council on Teaching of Foreign Languages found that 25 percent of U.S. employers have lost business due to a lack of language skills.

Speaking Spanish is not only a strategic asset that will grow in importance as the international market shifts its focus away from English as the lingua franca of business; it also makes your customer service so much better for a growing percentage of your clientele. This can be more than a mere business advantage. In the case of pharmacists and pharmacy techs, communicating in Spanish about medicines, side effects, insurance, and refills can be vital to your customer's well-being.

Learning Spanish Can Actually Make You Smarter

The benefits of acquiring Spanish skills go deep - all the way to your parietal lobe. People who speak more than one language have more gray matter in this section of the brain, where vocabulary acquisition and language processing happen. Scientists have found that bilinguals tend to be more creative and better at multitasking. Most interesting as it relates to your work-life (and life-life) is this finding: Speakers of two languages display cognitive flexibility - the capacity to adapt to the unexpected.

Practicing Spanish Hones Your Listening Skills

Learning phrases, vocabulary, grammar, verb tenses, and cultural references in Spanish or another language forces you to listen very closely. That kind of attention improves your overall active listening skills and concentration, essential traits for success in fields such as psychology, education, medicine, sales, customer service, and HR.

Speaking Spanish Can Bolster Business Relationships

The buying power of Spanish-speaking customers is skyrocketing, and so is the rise of Hispanic-owned businesses. They are growing at twice the rate of other U.S. firms. It's critical to gain the skills to interact with this expanding market, where Spanish is the emerging language of economic collaboration. Learning Spanish will help you build lasting relationships with your buyers, suppliers, and partners who are more likely than ever to be native speakers.

Gaining an appreciation for Spanish culture and for the way your Spanish-speaking colleagues and customers do business can organically expand your professional network. It can enrich your personal experiences in the world and at work, giving you endless points of connection to individuals you otherwise might not have gotten to know.

Spanish Skills Can Give You the Upper Hand in a Job Search

Beginning language training will not produce instant fluency, the conversational expertise you might highlight on your résumé. But it does show your willingness to grow. Learning Spanish tells recruiters that you're working hard to expand your knowledge and that you appreciate a diverse work environment. Employers like those qualities.

It's important to note that companies often seek out employees with field-specific vocabulary and enough conversational basics for common workplace scenarios. For instance, HR professionals need Spanish to make appointments, conduct interviews, and impart safety instructions to applicants and new hires. Speaking just a few important phrases could help you land your next job.

Spanish Is Relatively Easy to Learn

The U.S. Foreign Service Institute says it takes 480 to 2,200 hours to gain working proficiency in a second language. The good news is you're not training to be a diplomat. You're training to master business basics of the Spanish language, a Category 1 language according to FSI. That means it's one of the easiest languages to learn for English speakers. There's no new alphabet. It's completely phonetic, meaning it's pronounced as it's written. Spanish grammar is fairly straightforward.

More bonuses: Spanish is full of cognates (words that are basically the same in English and Spanish, such as perfecto) and, with telenovelas on TV and co-workers and neighbors who are native speakers, there are loads of opportunities to practice your nouns, verbs, and idiomatic expressions. The single difficulty in learning Spanish is the rapid-fire delivery. Only Japanese is spoken faster than Spanish.

Spanish Proficiency Could Bump Up Your Salary

If your firm puts a premium on bilingual interaction, knowing the business basics of Spanish could help you make more money. Committing yourself to further study and practice could result in the kind of fluency that prompts employers to pay up to 10 percent more, the average increase for bilingual employees.

To gain that premium, you would need to prove your Spanish proficiency on an international standard language proficiency exam. This is essential for bilingual roles and jobs with multilingual overseas companies. For most professionals, though, completing a language immersion course establishes your ability to communicate Spanish effectively on the job.

Earn Your Credential in Immersive Spanish for Business With USF

If you're ready to engage with your Spanish-speaking customers, employees, patients, and job applicants in their first language, USF has the Spanish immersion course you need. Taught by native speakers with a focus on industry-specific vocabulary, each of these upcoming courses provides comprehensive online instruction in the Spanish basics your job requires:

Contact USF's Corporate Training and Professional Education program to speak to an advisor or to register for one of these career-changing courses. ¡ Gracias por leer!

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The Importance of Learning Spanish for Business

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To serve Tampa Bay's growing Hispanic population and to gain critical new job skills, it is more important than ever to learn Spanish for business.

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This article, Kendal on Hudson, talks about how learning a second language can be very good for our minds. It is a great workout for our brain as it will teach us how to solve problems skills, adapt to changes, understand, and create smarter thinking. The cognitive benefit of learning a second language is that our brains will adapt and become better at finding solutions. This is because our brain will get used to switching between languages that will be able to tackle any challenges.

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Cognitive Benefits of Learning a Second Language

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Learn about the cognitive benefits of learning a second language and how it can enrich your life.

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I found this article very interesting because it discusses the benefits of learning Spanish. Chi Fang talks about how living in an English-speaking country it is not necessary to learn Spanish because you can always find someone who is bilingual and can help you interpret. Learning Spanish though can truly change your confidence when you are traveling, be able to have a serious conversation with locals, create better relationships, or even find a higher-paying job. Being bilingual increases the opportunities to learn about the culture, try amazing food, and be able to communicate with others. There is more amazing information in this article on why it is beneficial to learn Spanish and all the social benefits that it brings.

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Language learning is all about motivation, and motivation means finding your "Why".

Why should I learn Spanish?

You're probably asking yourself this very question.

If you live in an English speaking country, there isn't really an urgent need to learn Spanish or any other foreign language. Even if you were to travel abroad, you would probably be fine because chances are the people at your hotel, at restaurants, or your tour guide can speak English.

So then the question becomes:

Why should I learn Spanish when I can get by without it?

Well, there is a big difference between just "getting by" and "thriving".

There are tons of reasons why Spanish is the third most popular language to study in the world (behind only English and French). Instead of asking yourself why should you learn Spanish, try asking yourself this:

How can my life become better by learning Spanish?

Well, I've just done the brainstorming for you. Here are 40 reasons why learning Spanish could make a difference in your life.

Travel

1. Experience 20 countries where Spanish is the official language

Spanish is probably the most important language to learn if you love to travel. Spanish speaking countries are extremely beautiful and diverse, with stunning landscapes and interesting cultures that are simply unforgettable.

However, very few people in these countries speak English. According to EF English Proficiency Index, 11 Spanish speaking countries placed in the "Low" or "Very Low" categories in terms English proficiency. So if you really want to get to know the people of these countries, then learning to speak Spanish is essential.

2. Travel with confidence

Being able to travel knowing that you can get yourself around and handle pretty much any scenario is one of the biggest reasons to learn Spanish. You can even travel alone, without having to rely on tour guides or other tourists. It takes away the stress and uncertainty that sometimes comes with travel. It's an empowering feeling that puts you at ease and lets you truly enjoy your vacation.

Once you've become that confident, independent traveler, you can even bring your friends and family along and almost act as their tour guide. They'll be grateful and super impressed!

3. Never get lost again

What if you took a wrong turn and couldn't find the way back to your hotel? This would be a scary scenario for many tourists, but if you know Spanish you could easily ask a local for directions.

But it's not just about getting lost, knowing Spanish lets you ask for help in a variety of situations, or talk yourself out of all sorts of misunderstandings.

4. Save money while traveling

Say goodbye to paying the inflated "tourist" prices. The ability to speak Spanish allows you to haggle and pay what the locals pay (or close to it). You'll save money on everything from fruits at the local market to gifts at souvenir stands. For accommodation, you'll be able to avoid the overpriced tourist hotels, and opt for family-run guesthouses or homestays which will give you a more authentic experience.

5. Experience the local way of life

People absolutely love it when you speak their language. Say a few words in Spanish and they'll gladly repay your efforts with smiles, warm gestures, and acts of generosity. You may get to see places and do things that normal tourists would never get to experience.

I know this from experience. I once got invited to a family farmhouse in the coffee growing region of Colombia, all because I started a conversation with the few broken sentences of Spanish that I knew at the time. I was treated as an honored guest by virtual strangers who I'd only known for a few hours. It remains one of the most memorable travel experiences of my life.

6. Try amazing food

Whether it's Tapas in Spain, or Ceviche in Peru. Spanish speaking countries have mouth-watering food. But instead of asking for the English menu, knowing Spanish lets you try the local delicacies that other tourists don't get to try. Plus, if you ever spot something delicious-but-strange looking, you can always ask what it is!

7. People will treat you better

The stereotypical tourist is an easy target. In popular tourist destinations like Cusco (starting point for Machu Picchu) or the streets of Havana, people will see you as a walking dollar sign. You'll be hassled by all kinds of shady people looking to take advantage of you.

But if you can speak Spanish, all of that changes. You'll stop being hounded by the salesmen and touts. You'll come across as more "street smart" and scammers are less likely to try to trick you.

8. Retire overseas

More and more people are making the decision of spending their golden years abroad. Every year, International Living Magazine publishes a list the top 10 best places to retire in the world. Seven of them (including the top 5) are Spanish speaking countries.

With warm weather, beautiful beaches, lower cost of living and a relaxed pace of life...it seems like a no-brainer. So if you're thinking about retiring overseas, then that's a very good reason to learn Spanish.

Career

9. Learning Spanish can help you land a job

In an increasingly globalized world, many companies are doing business in Spanish speaking countries, which in general are growing much faster than more developed nations like the US, Canada, and the UK.

Also, with the number of Spanish speakers living abroad, more and more businesses are catering to the needs of Spanish speaking customers.

That's why many people are learning Spanish to set themselves apart from other candidates, and get the dream job they always wanted.

10. Do your job better

Some jobs may not require you to speak Spanish, but it's an added bonus if you can.

For example, if you work in the medical field in the United States, chances are you'll get a Spanish speaking patient once in a while (or very often, depending on where you live).

To be able to communicate with them lets you diagnose their problems faster and make them feel at ease. You'll do a better job and feel more satisfied that you were able to help them. It could also lead to other rewards, like promotions or higher pay (see the next reason).

11. Earn more money

Knowing Spanish or another foreign language is valuable and can help you earn higher wages. The Economist confirmed this in their study on the bonuses of learning a second language:

12. Travel to different countries for work

Imagine becoming one of those jet-setting businesspeople who are always traveling to exotic destinations for work. Or maybe living and working as an expat in a cool country like Mexico or Spain.

Even in today's digital age, most business is still done in-person, so that means meeting people face-to-face or having people "on the ground" in a particular country. Becoming a proficient Spanish speaker can open up tons of new career opportunities abroad.

13. Volunteer and help those in need

In certain regions of Central and South America, millions of people continue to live in poverty. In response to this, there are many organizations that organize volunteer or missionary trips to help those in need. You could be helping build homes for local families, or educating children at an orphanage.

However, translators are often in short supply on these trips. You would get a lot more out of your trip if could speak with the people that you're helping and learn more about their lives. It can truly be a life-changing experience.

14. Gives you a chance to study abroad

One of the most effective ways to learn Spanish is by traveling to a Spanish speaking country, and enroll in an intensive Spanish course. It can be very rewarding to immerse yourself in the environment and learn from teachers and through real-life situations. In addition, studying in another country offers plenty of opportunity for adventure and discovery; it's an experience that you won't soon forget.

15. Inspire you to start a business

My Spanish journey started after coming home from an inspiring trip to South America. I desperately wanted to learn Spanish but wasn't really sure how to do it.

I tried everything under the sun...group classes, audio courses, Rosetta stone, but nothing worked. My progress was painfully slow and I often wondered whether I could really do it.

But then, I found Julia. She was a teacher based in Guatemala, and I started to take online lessons with her over Skype. In less than one year, I went from a babbling beginner to conversationally fluent.

This method worked so well for me, that it inspired me to start my own company and share this way of learning with other people. I wanted to help people who struggled to learn Spanish like me, by offering convenient and affordable lessons with the best teachers in the world (including Julia).

That's how Verbalicity was born.

So you never know, learning Spanish might just be the inspiration you need to start your own business.

Relationships

16. Learning Spanish can improve your dating prospects

Admit it. Have you been dreaming of meeting a handsome, Latino caballero while on vacation...hmm?

Even if that's not the case, knowing Spanish and delving into the various aspects of Spanish-speaking culture can really expand your social life and the number of people you connect with.

But it's not just about getting more dates. Spanish is simply a sexy language, and just knowing it can make you a more attractive, or at the very least, a more interesting person (see reason #32).

If you're already dating or even married to a Spanish speaker, then all the more reason to learn. What could be more motivating than speaking to the love of your life?

17. Become one of the family

Boy meets girl, they fall in love. Girl's parents come to visit from Mexico, and they don't speak a word of English. Boy is meeting them for the first time! What to do?

Whether it's making a good first impression or getting to know your in-laws at a deeper level, learning Spanish can really bring families closer together. Plus, you'll be able to understand what they're saying about you!

18. Get in touch with your roots

Statistics show that only 44% of second-generation Latinos in the United States can speak Spanish, and for the 3 rd generation or higher, that figure drops to 24%.

If you are one of these people, then your parents or grandparents probably still speak Spanish to each other around the house. Learning Spanish can let you communicate with them in a different manner, and add a completely new dimension to your family life. It can also be a way of taking pride in your ancestry.

19. Make new and lasting friendships

Language is the ultimate connector. If you can speak Spanish, you'll be able to communicate with a lot more people, and you'll right away have something in common with them. People take an instant liking to you when you use their native language, and it'll enable you to get to know them at a deeper level.

This makes it easier to make new friends in a variety of situations, such as when traveling on vacation, at work, or even just hanging out in your hometown.

20. Help your children learn Spanish

We all have high hopes for our children, and many parents these days want their children to be raised bilingual. Maybe you're a monolingual parent who wants your kids to experience a new dimension that you never had, or maybe you are Latino and want your children to be better in touch with their ancestry.

By learning Spanish yourself, you'll be able to help your kids learn the language too. Or alternatively, it could become a family project, something that you and your children can learn together.

21. Impress your friends

Learning Spanish is quite an accomplishment, and you might be the only person in your circle of friends who's done it. Whenever you bust out your Spanish, whether it's at a restaurant or on vacation, people will be amazed at your abilities and you'll be complimented often. In fact, you could even become a source of inspiration that motivates them to learn Spanish for themselves.

Everyone likes to be in the spotlight once in a while.

Self-Improvement

22. Learning Spanish opens the door to other languages

Spanish is often referred to a gateway language. It is relatively easy for English speakers to learn, and it belongs to the same family of languages as French, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian. If you want to eventually pick up one of these languages, then the similarities with Spanish means that you can learn them much faster. That's why people who can speak 4-5 languages, often know languages from the same family.

Even if you wanted to learn an unrelated language like Mandarin Chinese, or Russian, knowing Spanish still helps. That's because, for each foreign language you learn, you pick up learning tips, strategies and a sense of confidence that will carry over to the next.

23. Leads to a healthier brain

Many studies have concluded that being bilingual can prevent or delay the onset of dementia later in life. Having to switch between two languages helps exercise parts of the brain and makes them more resilient. Although lifelong bilingualism has the strongest protective effect, even attempting to learn a language can be beneficial. So the earlier you start learning, the better!

24. Boost your memory

Your brain is like a muscle, the more you use it, the stronger it gets. Learning Spanish involves memorizing new words and grammar rules, which help develop your overall memory. People who are bilingual have been shown to be better at remembering things like shopping lists, names, and directions.

25. Make you smarter

Speaking Spanish or any other foreign language can challenge and improve the cognitive functions of your brain. A York University study indicated that bilingual kids tend to score higher on standardized testing, even in unrelated subjects like math, while a study from the University of Chicago concluded that bilinguals make more rational decisions.

26. Help you learn other skills

In order to learn Spanish, you'll need to push yourself out of your comfort zone. You have to figure out a learning strategy that works best for you and have the discipline to follow through with it. By going through this process, you're training yourself to become a better and faster learner. Your experience can then be applied to any other skill you choose to learn.

27. Take on a big challenge

Most people will never attempt to learn a foreign language. Why?

Because doing so takes guts. By choosing to learn Spanish, you can prove to yourself that you have the courage to take on a big challenge. As you learn more and more, you'll start to feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment and self-satisfaction. You'll then be more prepared and have the confidence tackle other challenges in life.

28. Become a more positive person

Spanish is considered to be a very "emotional" language, with more words that can be used to express feelings compared to other languages like English. In particular, Spanish has a lot of words associated with positive emotions.

Researchers from the University of Vermont analyzed billions of words from 10 different languages and concluded that Spanish had the highest average usage of "happy" words. Many of these words evoke an attitude that is carefree, relaxed and optimistic. ¡Pura vida!

29. Discover a new aspect of your personality

You might come across as a totally different person when speaking in Spanish. Why is that? The term "frame switching" refers to the idea that bilingual people display different personality traits depending on which language they are speaking.

For example, one study observed that people speaking in Spanish came across as more diplomatic, and left a better overall impression. This is because interpersonal harmony and the idea of pleasing others are important in most Spanish-speaking cultures. However, when those same people were asked to speak English, they showed more "intellectual efficiency", since in American-English culture there is more of a focus on individualism.

30. Help improve your English

Chances are if you grew up speaking English, you probably don't know the rules of your own language. You speak it without ever thinking about using the proper preposition, or placement of relative pronouns (you probably don't even know what those are). Everything just seems to fall into place naturally.

But when you study another language like Spanish, you are forced to learn the grammar rules and then tie them back to what you already know about English. Doing so can actually help you catch English mistakes that you make every day.

31. Overcome your fears

Most people are afraid of rejection and social embarrassment. It's one of the biggest reasons why people spend a lot of time studying a language, but never feel quite ready to actually speak it.

But in order to learn Spanish or any other language, you have get out there and make mistakes. Maybe you'll get flustered and forget what to say, or maybe you'll tell someone that exercise makes you horny (instead of hot). There will be plenty of times where you'll look and feel silly, but you'll get used to it eventually and will become a stronger person as a result of it.

32. Become a more interesting person

Very few English native speakers know a second language. If you took the time to learn how to speak Spanish, then you can consider yourself rather unique!

As someone of Asian descent, people are always astonished (and confused) that I can speak Spanish. I don't quite fit the stereotype, so that makes me interesting to them. I get a lot of questions about how I managed to learn Spanish, and what were my reasons for learning in the first place.

If you know a foreign language like Spanish, you are guaranteed to have a lot more interesting conversations and connect with people that you wouldn't otherwise connect with, whether that's at home or traveling abroad.

Culture

33. Learning Spanish will help you appreciate the everyday

You have more exposure to Spanish than you think. This is especially true if you live in a big city, or certain parts of the United States.

Once you've tuned your ear to the language, you'll notice it more than you ever did before. All of a sudden, you pick up fragments from passers-by on the street or songs that come on the radio. You may even see and begin to understand signs or advertisements in Spanish.

All of this broadens your perception of the environment around you and allows you to appreciate how Spanish has been intertwined with your culture.

34. Makes you laugh until you cry

Every culture has a special sense of humor and many Spanish speaking cultures love nothing more than to joke around. By learning Spanish you'll get to finally get what they're laughing about.

"Cuáles son las vacas más perezosas?" (What kind of cows are the laziest?)

"Vacaciones!" (Vacations!)

Get it? Kind of lame but still funny. Here's a few more to tickle your fancy.

35. Understand the lyrics to your favorite songs

The beat is contagious, the melody is forever stuck in your head, and you have no idea what they're saying, but you love every bit of it.

Latin music has taken over the world in recent years, with Latin Pop, Reggaeton, Salsa and Bachata dominating the airwaves. If that's not your cup of tea, then there are plenty of alternatives to enjoy, such as the rock, folk, or traditional music from countries like Spain and Argentina.

Music is driven largely by emotion, and if you can understand the Spanish lyrics, you'll appreciate the songs you hear that much more. Plus, listening to music can be a really fun way to learn Spanish!

36. Enjoy amazing movies and TV shows

There are loads of award-winning movies and addictive shows in Spanish, just waiting to be watched.

But don't you ever get tired of reading subtitles? They can be distracting, and something always gets lost in translation.

If you learn Spanish, you won't have to rely on the subtitles and truly enjoy these films and shows as originally intended. Don't expect to be able to follow every word though, the Spanish in movies usually comes out really fast!

37. Have the time of your life!

From Havana, where the salsa beats can be heard everywhere you go, to Barcelona, where the party never seems to end (not even when the sun comes up), Spanish speakers really know how to party!

But even if marathon-style partying is not your cup of tea, you'll still get to enjoy the abundant energy, positive vibes, and live-your-life-to-the-fullest attitude that Latin and Spanish culture has in spades.

38. Get perspective on your own culture

In order to fully understand your own culture, you need to have a point of comparison. There are a lot of things that we do which we consider to be "normal" but in fact, are done very differently in other parts of the world.

Maybe we think that we're kind or courteous people, but you haven't experienced warmth until you've witnessed Spanish speaking cultures, where eye-contact, touching, kisses on the cheek and sentimental goodbyes are a part of daily life.

Learning Spanish offers a window into other people's customs and traditions, which in turn lets you examine your own.

39. Lets you speak to half a billion people

I'm sure you've seen the stats, but they are worth repeating. As of 2017, Spanish has over 477 million native speakers, the second most out of all languages (ahead of English). Including people who have learned it as a second language, there are now nearly 600 million Spanish speakers in the world.

Approximately 50 million people speak Spanish in the United States alone, making it the second largest Spanish speaking country in the world, and by 2050 it will become the largest. That in itself is a pretty good reason to learn.

40. Unexpected opportunities

I started to learn Spanish in 2013. Back then, if you had told me that one day, I would be running a Spanish learning company that's helped hundreds of students around the world become fluent, I would've thought you were crazy.

But you never know what life has in store. Good things happen when you expand your horizons and learning Spanish can change your life in ways that you can't predict.

That's a wrap! Do any of these 40 reasons make you want to learn Spanish?

At the end of the day, you only need ONE reason to get the ball rolling. Taking action and getting started is after all, the toughest part.

As you continue to progress, it's always a good idea to come back and revisit your reasons for wanting to learn Spanish in the first place. Use them as motivation to push yourself forward, and you're guaranteed to become fluent.

If you want to know how to get started, check out our complete beginner's guide to the Best Way to Learn Spanish.

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40 Reasons Why Learning Spanish Could Change Your Life

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Language learning is all about motivation, and motivation means finding your "Why". Why should I learn Spanish? You're probably asking yourself this very question. If you live in an English speaking country, there isn't really an urgent need to learn Spanish or any other foreign language.

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There are several economic benefits to learning a second language such as Spanish. According to this article, Spanish is the 4th most commonly spoken language in the world, with about 559 million speakers as of 2023. This means that learning Spanish can increase your global job opportunities as you have the ability to work in another country by being able to speak the language. It can also increase your job opportunities within the country you live, especially if Spanish is another language commonly spoken there. This article lists just some of the jobs a bilingual person can get, such as jobs in hospitality, interpretation and translation, and jobs in law enforcement and government.

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LTI Blog - Certify your language skills anytime, anywhere.

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Best Jobs for Bilingual Spanish Speakers - LTI Blog

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Of the more than 6,000 languages in the world, Spanish is the fourth most spoken - approximately 559 million people use it to communicate as of 2023, according to Statista.

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This article lists multiple different cognitive benefits to learning a second language for both children and adults. This is quite helpful as children and adult brains are different and so learn differently. However, even adults receive many benefits to learning a second language, so an older person should not be discouraged from trying to learn even though they are older. Learning a second language as an adult can help you prevent cognitive aging as you keep your brain thinking and making new neural connections, and it can also help prevent the risk of certain mental illnesses such as dementia.

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8 Brain Benefits to Learning a Second Language

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The benefits of learning a second language are plenty. Understanding and learning all the aspects of a language-like phonetics, writing, and speaking-is a hard task for your brain, proving them to be the ultimate brain workout. Improving your overall brain health is one of the many outcomes of learning a new language.

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There are many benefits to speaking Spanish or being bilingual. In this article, it mentions several advantages of being bilingual. Bilingual people have access to more than one culture through the knowledge of two languages, so they are able to connect with others that monolingual people cannot as easily connect with because of a language barrier. Bilingual people are also seen to be more tolerant of other cultures, which could be a direct outcome of them knowing more than one language. Additionally, being bilingual increases your opportunities to travel and makes learning a third language easier, which just further increases the social benefits to learning another language.

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This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data.

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Within this article are four different reasons why learning a new language can be beneficial in the workplace. The biggest benefit is that it sets you apart from the growing amount of workers. Being able to speak and/or understand another language means that employers are more likely to hire you and pay you more than monolingual coworkers.

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The Career Benefits Of Learning A 2nd Language

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How would you like the chance to improve your career opportunities? According to management personnel interviewed by the language learning company Rosetta Stone, learning a second language improved individuals' chances of being given an interview opportunity, being extended a job offer, getting recommended for a promotion, or earning a pay raise.

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This article talks about the effects on the brain that occur from studying another language. One of the biggest aspects is that bilingual individuals have much better problem-solving skills in comparison to monolingual individuals. Another significant effect of learning another language is that it fights mental illnesses. Overall, this article contains many, research proven, benefits of studying another language in regards to brain development and function.

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LanguageBoost - Take the shortest path to fluency!

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The Power of Bilingualism: Cognitive Benefits and Advantages of Learning Spanish - LanguageBoost

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Learning a second language is a cognitive workout for your brain, which is why learning a second language is one of the best endeavors you can take on to stay in tip-top form regarding your mental health. It has been said that learning Spanish (or any other second language, for that matter) is one of

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This website lists 25 different reasons why learning Spanish is beneficial. It has many different reasons from being able to enjoy more works like books and songs to opening opportunities for more conversations. Many of the reasons include links for to research supporting that reason. For the social aspect of learning Spanish, the biggest benefit is being able to talk to more people and enjoy things that are made in Spanish together.

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Learning another language is a great way to connect to the world and add a new skill to your list of talents.

One of the top second languages for English speakers to learn is Spanish. The best way to learn Spanish is with an immersion-based language learning program, such as Middlebury Language Schools. Here are 25 reasons why you should learn Spanish.

ENROLL NOW!

1. Second Most Spoken Language

The best reason to choose Spanish as a second language is its widespread use across the globe. Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world.

2. Spanish in the U.S.

In the U.S., there are also many Spanish speakers. Approximately 41 million people speak Spanish at home in America. Learning this language helps people in the U.S. communicate more effectively with everyone.

3. Spanish Language Films

Learning Spanish will also allow English natives to appreciate and understand the best of Spanish language cinema, such as classic films "Y Tú Mama También," "Pan's Labyrinth," and "The Motorcycle Diaries."

4. Spanish Language Songs

Besides movies, there are many incredible selections of Spanish language songs that speakers can enjoy and listen to. Artists such as Shakira, Ricky Martin, and Enrique Iglesias also write Spanish music.

5. Spanish Books

Readers can also expand their literary options if they know some Spanish. Some of the best novelists that write in Spanish are Sandra Cisneros, Isabel Allende, and Oscar Wao.

6. Traveling Opportunities

Travelers can also get more out of their trips if they master a second language, such as Spanish. Visiting Latin American countries as a Spanish speaker is a richer experience.

7. Cultural Opportunities

Knowing Spanish also exposes English natives to a whole new world of culture. Students can explore more about Spain, Latin America, and Spanish-speaking communities in the U.S.

8. Resume Booster

Possessing fluency in a second language like Spanish may also be a great resume booster. Employers value workers who speak Spanish fluently and can communicate in multiple ways. Bilingual workers may also be able to ask for higher salaries with this extra skill listed on their resumes.

9. SAT Help

High school students may get a slightly higher SAT score if they have experience in a second language like Spanish. Learning languages gives students an advantage in the verbal section of the test.

10. Link to Other Romance Languages

Studying Spanish may also help students master other Romance languages, such as French, Italian, and Portuguese. These languages share common Latin roots and verb phrasing, unlocking the patterns to new speakers.

11. Improve Your Memory

If you want to improve your working memory, one technique is to learn a second language. Learning new phrases and practicing conversation skills in Spanish may boost your memory.

12. Earn College Credit

Taking Spanish courses can help some students earn additional college credits. You can earn 9-credits with the 7-week Spanish immersion program at Middlebury Language Schools! Spanish language college courses can be used to earn an associate's degree or undergraduate degree.

13. Challenge Yourself

Signing up for the 7-week immersion program and learning the Spanish language fluently can also give you a new challenge to master in life. Committing to understanding the language and gaining fluency is an admirable feat that many people would be proud of.

14. Appreciate Spanish Cuisine

The Spanish language additionally helps English natives learn more about some of the best in Spanish and Latin American cuisine. During your Spanish language studies, consider visiting a restaurant specializing in cuisine from a Spanish-speaking country. Practice ordering your meal in Spanish.

15. Meet New People

Learning a new language may also help someone widen their social circle. Spanish students can link up with native speakers to learn more about the language and practice their conversational skills in person. The School of Spanish at Middlebury enrolls over 250 students from around the world!

16. Impress a Potential Date

With so many people in the U.S. speaking Spanish as their first language, it's possible you could meet a potential romantic interest who speaks Spanish. Impress your potential date with your language skills and connect in a new way.

17. Knowledge of English Phrases

English speakers are sometimes surprised to learn that some phrases in their native language are actually borrowed from other languages. Place names all over the U.S. map are derived from Spanish, such as Florida, Colorado, California, and Arizona.

18. Enhance Your Grammar Expertise

Working on the Spanish language also gives English speakers a new understanding of English grammar rules. Sentence patterns, verb conjugates, and even spelling sometimes make more sense to people who have studied Spanish.

19. Build Your Children's Bilingual Education

Parents who want to expose their children to multiple languages when they are young can do so if they learn Spanish and develop fluency. Then, the parents can help their children learn key Spanish words and phrases.

20. Conversation Opportunities

Your Spanish knowledge may also help open the door to new conversation opportunities. You can practice your skills by listening to other potential Spanish speakers and joining in.

21. Retire in Another Country

If you're thinking about retiring to another country, consider a cheaper option in a Spanish-speaking location such as the Dominican Republic, Panama, or Ecuador.

22. Become a Volunteer

Speaking Spanish is helpful for those who want to volunteer abroad. There are opportunities to do philanthropic work throughout Central America, with Spanish speakers in high demand.

23. Study Abroad

High school and college students can use their Spanish language in a semester abroad. Students can choose to study in Spain, South America, or a Central American country to continue their education.

24. Learn About Your Ancestry

Of course, if you have Spanish heritage, it's beneficial to learn more about the language and develop fluency. Spanish speakers can delve into their ancestry by looking at records from their ancestors' tongues.

25. Experience the Beauty

Lastly, there is beauty in the words and phrasing of the Spanish language. The sound of the language is enriching and musical to speakers, and fun to learn.

Ready to start your journey in Spanish? Enroll in the 7-week School of Spanish at Middlebury Language Schools by contacting our staff.

LEARN SPANISH!

Resources: https://www.donquijote.org/student-services/reasons-to-learn-spanish/ https://verbalicity.com/why-learn-spanish/ https://spanishlandschool.com/best-spanish-movies/ https://www.puravidamoms.com/35-best-books-in-spanish/ https://bebrainfit.com/benefits-learning-second-language/ https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/english-words-actually-spanish https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_grammar

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Learning another language is a great way to connect to the world. Here are 25 reasons why English natives should learn Spanish.

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This article gives a list of reasons of how learning Spanish can be a tool in the business world. It explains how Spanish can provide a valuable tool for commerce and cultural connection. It can give a competitive edge to communicate with overseas clients, suppliers and buyers. Also it talks about how learning Spanish can improve your listening skills, making you listen very closely to what one is saying.

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¿ Hablas español? Mastering the basics of the Spanish language provides you with a valuable tool for commerce and cultural connection. It is the official language of 20 countries. But it is by no means a "foreign" language. There are more people who speak Spanish in the U.S. than in Spain. Keep reading for some additional facts illustrating the importance of learning Spanish for business.

Spanish Is the Most Common Second Language

Although there are 6,000 languages in the world, few will be as immediately useful in your workplace as Spanish. America's Hispanic population is particularly concentrated in three regions: 55 percent live in Texas, California, or Florida. It is estimated that 18 percent of residents in the Tampa Bay area are native Spanish speakers, with a similar percentage in metro Orlando.

While already a core target market for every business in the region, what's even more compelling is that the U.S. Census Bureau projects the Hispanic/Latino population to double in the next three decades. Doesn't it make sense to speak the same language as your customers, colleagues, and competitors?

Communicating in Spanish Gives You a Competitive Edge

In other countries, a second language is second nature. For instance, 56 percent of Europeans are bilingual, compared to only 20 percent of Americans. Being able to communicate with overseas clients, suppliers, and buyers can be the difference between your company securing a contract and the deal going to an organization better trained in language diversity.

Monolingual negotiations can have a significant failure rate. The American Council on Teaching of Foreign Languages found that 25 percent of U.S. employers have lost business due to a lack of language skills.

Speaking Spanish is not only a strategic asset that will grow in importance as the international market shifts its focus away from English as the lingua franca of business; it also makes your customer service so much better for a growing percentage of your clientele. This can be more than a mere business advantage. In the case of pharmacists and pharmacy techs, communicating in Spanish about medicines, side effects, insurance, and refills can be vital to your customer's well-being.

Learning Spanish Can Actually Make You Smarter

The benefits of acquiring Spanish skills go deep - all the way to your parietal lobe. People who speak more than one language have more gray matter in this section of the brain, where vocabulary acquisition and language processing happen. Scientists have found that bilinguals tend to be more creative and better at multitasking. Most interesting as it relates to your work-life (and life-life) is this finding: Speakers of two languages display cognitive flexibility - the capacity to adapt to the unexpected.

Practicing Spanish Hones Your Listening Skills

Learning phrases, vocabulary, grammar, verb tenses, and cultural references in Spanish or another language forces you to listen very closely. That kind of attention improves your overall active listening skills and concentration, essential traits for success in fields such as psychology, education, medicine, sales, customer service, and HR.

Speaking Spanish Can Bolster Business Relationships

The buying power of Spanish-speaking customers is skyrocketing, and so is the rise of Hispanic-owned businesses. They are growing at twice the rate of other U.S. firms. It's critical to gain the skills to interact with this expanding market, where Spanish is the emerging language of economic collaboration. Learning Spanish will help you build lasting relationships with your buyers, suppliers, and partners who are more likely than ever to be native speakers.

Gaining an appreciation for Spanish culture and for the way your Spanish-speaking colleagues and customers do business can organically expand your professional network. It can enrich your personal experiences in the world and at work, giving you endless points of connection to individuals you otherwise might not have gotten to know.

Spanish Skills Can Give You the Upper Hand in a Job Search

Beginning language training will not produce instant fluency, the conversational expertise you might highlight on your résumé. But it does show your willingness to grow. Learning Spanish tells recruiters that you're working hard to expand your knowledge and that you appreciate a diverse work environment. Employers like those qualities.

It's important to note that companies often seek out employees with field-specific vocabulary and enough conversational basics for common workplace scenarios. For instance, HR professionals need Spanish to make appointments, conduct interviews, and impart safety instructions to applicants and new hires. Speaking just a few important phrases could help you land your next job.

Spanish Is Relatively Easy to Learn

The U.S. Foreign Service Institute says it takes 480 to 2,200 hours to gain working proficiency in a second language. The good news is you're not training to be a diplomat. You're training to master business basics of the Spanish language, a Category 1 language according to FSI. That means it's one of the easiest languages to learn for English speakers. There's no new alphabet. It's completely phonetic, meaning it's pronounced as it's written. Spanish grammar is fairly straightforward.

More bonuses: Spanish is full of cognates (words that are basically the same in English and Spanish, such as perfecto) and, with telenovelas on TV and co-workers and neighbors who are native speakers, there are loads of opportunities to practice your nouns, verbs, and idiomatic expressions. The single difficulty in learning Spanish is the rapid-fire delivery. Only Japanese is spoken faster than Spanish.

Spanish Proficiency Could Bump Up Your Salary

If your firm puts a premium on bilingual interaction, knowing the business basics of Spanish could help you make more money. Committing yourself to further study and practice could result in the kind of fluency that prompts employers to pay up to 10 percent more, the average increase for bilingual employees.

To gain that premium, you would need to prove your Spanish proficiency on an international standard language proficiency exam. This is essential for bilingual roles and jobs with multilingual overseas companies. For most professionals, though, completing a language immersion course establishes your ability to communicate Spanish effectively on the job.

Earn Your Credential in Immersive Spanish for Business With USF

If you're ready to engage with your Spanish-speaking customers, employees, patients, and job applicants in their first language, USF has the Spanish immersion course you need. Taught by native speakers with a focus on industry-specific vocabulary, each of these upcoming courses provides comprehensive online instruction in the Spanish basics your job requires:

Contact USF's Corporate Training and Professional Education program to speak to an advisor or to register for one of these career-changing courses. ¡ Gracias por leer!

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The Importance of Learning Spanish for Business

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To serve Tampa Bay's growing Hispanic population and to gain critical new job skills, it is more important than ever to learn Spanish for business.

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This article from Pharmacy Times talks about how learning Spanish can benefit and improve brain health. It discusses about participants in a study who showed cognitive improvements without being nearly fluent in Spanish.

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Learning a new language can benefit and improve brain health, according to a study published in Aging Neuropsychology and Cognition. The investigators found that older adults who studied Spanish had similar improvements to critical cognitive skills as those engaged in brain training activities specifically targeting those skills. Participants in the study learning Spanish also reported greater enjoyment than those engaging in brain training.

The researchers noted prior studies have found that bilingual individuals develop dementia later in life, suggesting that bilingualism has a protective effect on brain health. According to the investigators, the current study is among the first to examine whether the process of learning a language can benefit brain health in similar ways as bilingualism.

"The participants in our study showed significant cognitive improvements without becoming nearly fluent in Spanish, which suggests that you don't have to be bilingual for your brain to benefit from working with another language," said Ellen Bialystok, PhD, OC, FRSC, Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Psychology at York University, in a press release. "This is encouraging since bilingualism is often reached early in life and difficult to achieve in adulthood, while we can choose to learn another language at any age to reap some of the cognitive benefits enjoyed by bilingual individuals."

The study recruited 76 adults aged 65 to 75 years, all of whom spoke only 1 language, were cognitively healthy, had never formally studied Spanish before and had not studied any other language in the past 10 years. These participants were randomized into 3 groups: language learning, brain training, or a waitlist serving as a control group. For 16 weeks, participants either spent 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week learning Spanish using Duolingo, an online language learning app, or used BrainHQ by Posit Science for the same amount of time.

According to the investigators, those in the language learning group showed similar improvements as the brain training group in working memory and executive function, whereas only those in the brain training group showed improvements in processing speed. However, the language learning group reported greater enjoyment than the brain training group in a questionnaire, and program adherence was higher among the language learning group.

"Besides the cognitive benefits, learning a second language may enrich older adults' lives in other important ways-for instance, by leading to new friendships or opening the door to a new culture or travel, helping them live life to the fullest," said Jed Meltzer, PhD, in the release.
REFERENCE
Studying a second language boosts cognitive function, suggests new Baycrest-York University study [news release]. EurekAlert; October 25, 2021. Accessed October 27, 2021. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/932612

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Study: Language Learning Associated With Cognitive Benefits for Older Adults

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Learning a new language can benefit and improve brain health, according to a study published in Aging Neuropsychology and Cognition. The investigators found that older adults who studied Spanish had similar improvements to critical cognitive skills as those engaged in brain training activities specifically targeting those skills.

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This article from StudySpanish gives some great reason to socially study Spanish. It talks about how it can help you business wise along with keeping up pace with culture that is always evolving. It also describes how learning Spanish can always be fun as long as your motivations are practical, intellectual, or sentimental.

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Top 10 Reasons to Learn Spanish - StudySpanish.com

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Check out our list of the top ten reasons your should learn Spanish.

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This article discusses the employment benefits of speaking spanish. It explains that speaking another language can give you a competitive advantage when applying for jobs. It also emphasizes the importance of speaking spanish if you are going into the education or health-care industry. It explains that spanish speaking skills are useful in almost any health-care job right now and will continue to grow in importance as the Spanish speaking population in the US grows.

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Learning Spanish helps improve employment potential. | CBU Online

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Spanish is becoming highly important with regards to business mainly in the healthcare profession. Learning Spanish will enable students to better communicate with Spanish speaking employees or co-workers.

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This article listed 6 social benefits of learning another language. A few were obvious social benefits such as being able to have a more meaningful connections with new cultures, or being more empathetic, but it also listed some possibly less considered benefits such as being able to learn more languages down the road, understanding linguistic similarities and differences between languages which can help you see similarities and differences between cultures as well, and even being able to better express yourself linguistically in your native language.

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The English language, with its modest origins on a rainy island in the North Atlantic, has always punched above its weight. The English language was the British Empire's most successful export. Its adoption as the first language in the United States played a major role in rise to prominence. With the advent of the internet, the language has gained the status of international lingua franca. Now that English has become a linguistic monolith, you might consider whether it is worth it to learn another language. This article argues that there are benefits to learning a language which go beyond simply acquiring a new communication system. This article delineates the social benefits of learning a language. It argues that the acquisition of another language is a valuable and even noble pursuit.

A window to another culture

Meaningful interaction with people from other cultures increases dramatically with the acquisition of a second language. In any interaction, showing respect to your interlocutors is good practice, whether it is a high stakes business negotiation or a relaxed conversation in a bar. Cultural awareness, an ability to demonstrate an understanding of your counterpart's culture and history, is enormously valuable. With an ability to speak to someone in their own language, you demonstrate a profound respect for that culture.

Someone who has dedicated a significant amount of time engaged with a particular culture, to the degree that they have acquired the language and have achieved high a degree of cultural awareness, can effectively assume the status of compatriot. A delegation which can interact in the local language might be considered more trustworthy than someone who requires the help of an interpreter. This level of respect for another culture is tremendously beneficial in international relations.

Become a more empathetic communicator

Through learning another language, you take a walk in another person's shoes. You learn that other people may not see the world in exactly the same way that you do. In exposing yourself to the way other people think, you can learn a lot more about yourself. You gain a new understanding of the power of language. You begin to be more careful about how you use it. Through negotiating this new world, you become a better communicator, more attuned to the thoughts and needs of others. Greater empathy is a worthwhile social benefit which results from language acquisition.

Improve your linguistic expression, in your native language

When learning another language, we can improve our linguistic expression in our native language. It is only while learning a new language that some people come to understand the grammatical complexity of their own language. For example, a native English speaker who is learning French will learn that French does not distinguish between 'I have gone' and 'I went'. He or she may not have realized this subtle difference in their own language until their encounter with a language that does not have it. This will inform the way in which they use language and will encourage more precise use of expression in future.

Understanding our linguistic similarities

While learning another language can be very difficult, it is often surprising to note the similarities which exist between languages. For example, most European languages share a common ancestor. Centuries of international cooperation has led to widespread borrowing between languages. There exist such close relationships between languages in Europe that certain languages, such as the Scandinavian languages, are often said to be mutually intelligible.

The Norman French exerted an enormous influence in Britain and Ireland in the centuries after their conquest of the islands in the 11th century. This led to an enormous influx of French terms into the English language. This history is apparent in the modern-day usage of English, which might be considered to resemble French more closely than German or Dutch, with which it is nominally more closely related. An English learner of French might be surprised to that a significant proportion of the vocabulary is already familiar. Encounters with a foreign language inform us about the complex historical relationships which influenced our daily speech.

Understanding our linguistic differences

Similarly, learners of another language very quickly come to understand that there are grammatical forms and expressions which appear strange. For example, English speakers often have difficulties with the honorifics systems which exist in many languages. In many languages the word for 'you' has two forms, one for close friends and family, and another for strangers and figures of authority. While it is difficult to attribute cultural features to a community based on their language, an understanding of these subtleties can lead to a clearer understanding of the culture. The distinction between forms of 'you' might explain rigid divisions you have observed between managers and workers in a factory, for example. A knowledge of these features can inform your interactions with different cultures.

Opening doors to further language learning

The ability to speak one language can make it easier for you to learn other related languages. Someone who knows German will understand a significant proportion of Dutch vocabulary, for example. A Spanish speaker will be able to pick up Italian more easily than someone without any knowledge of the language. By interacting with one culture, you can open doors to further cultures. Through learning another language, you potentially expand your horizons exponentially. This is enormously beneficial, whatever line of work you happen to be in.

Conclusion

By learning a language, you validate your status as a citizen of the world. You make a contribution to international cooperation and understanding. In the modern era, where many seem increasingly to pride themselves on their isolation from other cultures, any effort, however small, to forward the cause of international friendship is worthwhile.

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The Social Benefits of Learning a Language

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The English language, with its modest origins on a rainy island in the North Atlantic, has always punched above its weight. The English language was the British Empire's most successful export. Its adoption as the first language in the United States played a major role in rise to prominence.

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This study discusses the cognitive benefits of studying a second language. They took 76 older adults who were monolingual and had one group study Spanish for 30 minutes 5 days a week, one group used a brain training program for the same amount of time, and one control group. At the end of the study, they determined that those studying Spanish had similar results to those using the brain training program, and those who studied Spanish appeared to enjoy their time studying more than the brain training group. Overall, they determined that studying a language can have similar to better effects on elders' cognitive abilities than other brain training programs, and can lead to other more valuable skills such as meeting others, allowing for more meaningful travel experiences, etc.

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Learning a second language is an effective and enjoyable way to improve brain health, reports a new study that was jointly conducted by Baycrest and York University.

Researchers found that older adults who studied Spanish showed similar improvements in certain critical cognitive skills as did those who engaged in brain training activities that targeted those skills. These results are remarkable given that brain training focuses specifically on improving these aspects of cognition, while language learning does not. As well, those who learned Spanish reported greater enjoyment than those who engaged in brain training.

This study is among the first to examine whether the process of learning a language can benefit brain health in similar ways as bilingualism.

"These results are exciting because they indicate that older adults can reap cognitive benefits from an enjoyable activity in which they might want to participate, regardless of these benefits," says Dr. Jed Meltzer, Baycrest's Canada Research Chair in Interventional Cognitive Neuroscience, a neurorehabilitation scientist at Baycrest's Rotman Research Institute (RRI) and the lead author on this study.

Evidence suggests that bilingualism has a protective effect on brain health, with bilinguals developing dementia later in life than monolinguals. However, little is known about the cognitive impact of the process of learning a second language without becoming fully bilingual.

"The participants in our study showed significant cognitive improvements without becoming nearly fluent in Spanish, which suggests that you don't have to be bilingual for your brain to benefit from working with another language," says Dr. Ellen Bialystok, Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Psychology at York University, and Associate Scientist at the RRI. "This is encouraging since bilingualism is often reached early in life and difficult to achieve in adulthood, while we can choose to learn another language at any age to reap some of the cognitive benefits enjoyed by bilingual individuals."

In the study, the researchers recruited 76 older adults aged 65-75. All participants spoke only one language, were cognitively healthy, had never formally studied Spanish before and had not studied any other language in the past 10 years.

Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: language learning, brain training or a waitlist (with no language learning or brain training), which served as the control group. For 16 weeks, those in the language learning group spent 30 minutes a day, five days a week learning Spanish using Duolingo, an online language learning app. Those in the brain training group spent the same amount of time but used BrainHQ by Posit Science.

The researchers assessed participants' performance on specific cognitive tasks before and after the 16 weeks. These tasks were similar to the exercises in BrainHQ. At the end of the intervention, they also measured participants' adherence to the learning schedule and their enjoyment of the program they followed (language learning or brain training).

They found that participants in the language learning group showed similar improvements as the brain training group in two areas of cognition: working memory and executive function - that is, the ability to manage conflicting information, stay focused and avoid distractions.

In contrast, only the brain training group showed improvements in processing speed. This result was expected, since brain training specifically targets this skill by adding time pressure to each activity, while the language learning settings used in this study did not include any such pressure.

Additionally, the language learning group reported more enjoyment of their program than the brain training group. This was reflected in their answers to a questionnaire as well as their adherence to the program: the language learning group followed the learning schedule more consistently than the brain training group did.

"Besides the cognitive benefits, learning a second language may enrich older adults' lives in other important ways - for instance, by leading to new friendships or opening the door to a new culture or travel, helping them live life to the fullest," says Dr. Meltzer, who is also an Associate Professor in the Departments of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology at the University of Toronto.

This study was funded by a grant from the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation (CABHI), with additional support from Duolingo. CABHI and Duolingo had no role in the study design, analysis or interpretation of results.

With additional funding, the researchers could look at the brain health effects of language learning under time constraints, to see whether this might lead to similar improvements in processing speed as brain training. This would also better reflect real-world settings in which language is used, since we do not have infinite time to listen and respond when engaging in conversation.

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About Baycrest
Baycrest is a global leader in research, innovation, education and care for older adults, with a special focus on brain health and aging. Baycrest is home to a robust research and innovation network, including one of the world's top research institutes in cognitive neuroscience, the Rotman Research Institute; the scientific headquarters of the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging, Canada's largest national dementia research initiative; and the Baycrest-powered Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation, a solution accelerator focused on driving innovation in the aging and brain health sector. Baycrest helps aging adults assess, monitor, maintain and enhance cognition through an innovative portfolio of evidence-based products and services offered through its brain health company, Cogniciti.

Fully affiliated with the University of Toronto, Baycrest provides excellent care for older adults combined with an extensive clinical training program for the next generation of healthcare professionals. Through these initiatives, Baycrest has remained at the forefront of the fight to defeat dementia as the organization works to help individuals fear no age and create a world where every older adult enjoys a life of purpose, inspiration and fulfilment. Founded in 1918 as the Toronto Jewish Old Folks Home, Baycrest continues to embrace the long-standing tradition of all great Jewish healthcare institutions to improve the well-being of people in their local communities and around the globe. For more information about Baycrest, visit baycrest.org or visit FearNoAge.com for more information about our brand.

About Baycrest's Rotman Research Institute

The Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest is a premier international centre for the study of human brain function. Through generous support from private donors and funding agencies, the institute is helping to illuminate the causes of cognitive decline in seniors, identify promising approaches to treatment and lifestyle practices that will protect brain health longer in the lifespan.
About York University
York University is a modern, multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, we bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change and prepare our students for success. York's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. York's campuses in Costa Rica and India offer students exceptional transnational learning opportunities and innovative programs. Together, we can make things right for our communities, our planet, and our future.

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Studying a second language boosts cognitive function, suggests new Baycrest-York University study

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Learning a second language is an effective and enjoyable way to improve brain health, reports a new study that was jointly conducted by Baycrest and York University. Researchers found that older adults who studied Spanish showed similar improvements in certain critical cognitive skills as did those who engaged in brain training activities that targeted those skills.

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This article talks about how you can use Spanish as a stepping stone. It makes it easier to learn and understand other Romance languages. It helps you to meet new people and see the world from a new perspective.

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Hispanissimo - The Digital Spanish Academy

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Spanish is one of the most important languages in the world. There are almost 500 million people who speak it with their mother tongue, and many others who are Learning Spanish every day.

Until recent years we were not fully aware of the importance of this language, nowadays, Spanish appears as the second most popular language, just below English, considered the universal language; China remains in the number 1 position due to the number of speakers, but Spanish is currently being spoken in every corner of the world and is growing.

Learning Spanish and its advantages

Learning Spanish will offer you great benefits at the work level, especially if you have to work in a foreign or international company since there are many jobs where knowing Spanish is an essential requirement.

this will help you with of any of the other Learning Spanish will also benefit you when it comes to learning other Latin languages, such as French, Italian, Catalan, Portuguese or Galician. So, if you already have certain knowledge or if are Learning Spanish for beginners, Romance languages, because most of them have a similar structure.

Learning Spanish is an excellent communication tool since it not only helps you to connect socially and create new relationships with Spanish-speaking people, but it is also useful at the tourist level. If you decide to travel, take a vacation or live in a country like Spain, or any of Latin America, you can have an advantage over the cultural barrier that is the language.

In addition to all these benefits, the Hispanic culture has contributed a lot in the world, there are museums, architecture, sacred places and a whole artistic variety that you should know, and nothing better than to enjoy the readings of its great writers known worldwide in their native language, this helps a lot to contextualize yourself within the learning of Spanish and above all, to open your mind to a new culture.

Some of the most important reasons for learning Spanish:

Spanish is the language spoken at least in 21 countries to communicate, make transactions. It is the official language of Spain, which is the country in which the language was born, and it is spoken in all the countries of Central and South America, with the exception of Brazil, and even in the Philippines.

Spanish is the second language in the world in the number of native speakers, only surpassed by Chinese. But it is also the second language in global computing as we mentioned above.

It has great relevance on social media. Spanish is the second most widely spoken language on Facebook, below English, and the third most used on Twitter, only behind Japanese and English.

More than 21 million people around the world are currently learning Spanish. Even in some countries is very difficult to meet the demand for Spanish teachers, so this opens up a new market, the teaching of Spanish as a second language.

Spanish is spoken at least by 8% of the world's population and it is estimated that this percentage will grow in a 20% by 2050. But, the interest in learning Spanish is increasing every day.

Sharing a language multiplanes 4 times the exports among Spanish-speaking countries. Every year there is a growth about the agreements and deals signed between Spanish speaking countries to trade their products and services, which means greater wealth for each of these countries. The market is huge and is spreading to other nations, which makes learning Spanish a very important matter.

Spanish is in full growth and more when Spanish culture is taking control in terms of music and business.

This is why taking the initiative to learn Spanish will be a great choice because it is an excellent tool for the future. Everything indicates that beyond being a language to communicate, it is a way of life and with us, you will be able to develop and perfect your Spanish, a language definitely useful for life.

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Why is Learning Spanish so important? We give you our reasons! -

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Until recent years we were not fully aware of the importance of this language, nowadays, Spanish appears as the second most popular language, just below English, considered the universal language; China remains in the number 1 position due to the number of speakers, but Spanish is currently being spoken in every corner of the world and is growing.

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This article is really interesting. It talks about how a person a gain and change their personality depending on which language they are speaking. This is known as Cultural Frame Switching (CFS). The TED Talk video in the articles also talks about a study about how being bilingual can help prevent Alzheimer's.

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Niall Quinn

Get our free email course, Shortcut to Conversational.

Have conversations faster, understand people when they speak fast, and other tested tips to learn faster.

We often hear English labeled as the "global language", which is a good excuse for native speakers not to learn a new language.

So why learn Spanish?

You may be surprised to know that Spanish has already overtaken English as the second most spoken language in the world (behind Chinese), and is continuing to grow in traditionally non-Spanish speaking countries like the United States.

Whether your motivation for speaking Spanish is to travel the world, get that dream job that requires Spanish, or simply as a self-development exercise, learning a second language is something that can positively impact all facets of your life.

Let's dive in.

1. Easy for English speakers

We're not saying that learning Spanish is necessarily easy for all English speakers, but most people would agree that if you are going to learn a second language, then Spanish is one of the easier ones to learn.

Yes, the grammar is different (we're looking at you, subjunctive).

Yes, the pronunciation takes a bit of getting used to.

Once you get past that, you'll notice that there are tons of similarities when it comes to vocabulary. Because English acquired almost 30% of its vocabulary from Latin, you will immediately recognize and understand many Spanish words that share the same roots.

For example, there are Spanish words that are the exact same in English:

English Spanish

Control Control

Actor Actor

Universal Universal

Then there are similar words, known as near perfect cognates

English Spanish

Action Acción

Nation Nación

And finally, there are Spanish words which only require knowing a simple rule to translate them from English.

For example, English nouns ending in 'ary' can be converted to Spanish by replacing the ending with 'ario'.

English Spanish

Anniversary Aniversario

Salary Salario

These are a few examples of how you can "unlock" a ton of Spanish vocabulary that you already know as an English speaker.

2. Traveling Becomes A Richer Experience

As we mentioned before, Spanish is now the 2nd most spoken language in the world, with 437 million native speakers worldwide.

Once you start learning Spanish, you'll have a list of 21 Spanish speaking countries to choose from for your next adventure.

Whether it's visiting the magical Machu Picchu ruins in Peru.

Or learning how to dance Salsa in Colombia.

Or watching Barcelona v Real Madrid battle it out in "El Clasico".

Once you learn the language, traveling to a Spanish speaking country becomes a much richer experience.

Not only will be able to interact with locals, but you'll be able to navigate your way around cities with ease, negotiate prices at the market, understand directions and in general, handle most situations that tend to induce stress when you're in a foreign country and can't speak the local language.
"Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going" ‒Rita Mae Brown
We couldn't have said it better, Rita.

3. Boost Your Resume And Earn More Money

It's almost a cliche to say that learning a second language makes you more employable.

Well, perhaps like most cliches, the reason that this is a cliche, is because it's true.

Speaking a second language is skill, and a premium one at that.

So why does it matter?

There are a couple of reasons for this.

1. Most job markets are incredibly competitive and when faced with similar competition, there's a good chance that being bilingual will make you stand out from the competition. After all which employer wouldn't prefer a bilingual employee over someone with the exact same qualifications and experience, but who only speaks one language.

2. If you are based in the USA, then being a Spanish speaking employee will allow your employer to better serve the Hispanic population - which counts for over 18% of the population right now. It doesn't matter if you work in a hospital, a restaurant, a call center, or in an office, there will always be a demand for bilingual employees.

3. In business, particularly, corporations are realizing the importance of the Latin American market, and being bilingual makes you an asset for any company who wishes to connect with the LATM market.

In fact, the USA is the number one trade partner for Latin America, with a total trade of more than $763 billion (based on figures from a 2017 report).

The demand for Spanish speaking employees was confirmed in a 2006 study highlighted by the Economist, where a University of California professor found that bilinguals in southern California earn nearly $3,000 more per year than Californians who only spoke English.

There is similar demand for bilingual speakers in Europe, according to Irene Missen, a language specialist for recruitment agency Euro London, who says that in jobs like sales, marketing, and technical support, a language can increase your salary by about 10-15%.

4. Proven Cognitive Benefits

You may have heard that speaking a second language can make you smarter.

But is there any truth in this?

According to a study by the Journal of Neuroscience, being bilingual helps "maintain youthful cognitive control abilities in aging". Without getting too bogged down in the details, the study concluded that bilinguals are less likely to lose cognitive control as they grow older, in addition to being able to switch from one task to another more quickly, and maintain their focus to avoid being distracted.

Not only will being bilingual keep you smart, but there are also some impressive health benefits.

This research paper found that bilingualism can act as a form of "cognitive reserve" and delay the onset of Alzheimer disease. A similar article on alzheimersnewstoday.com states that "bilingualism appears to protect the brain from Alzheimer's symptoms"

5. Fall In Love With A New Culture

The word "culture" is used so often these days that it has almost become a buzzword.

But what do we mean by "culture" as it relates to language learning?

One of the beautiful things that happens when you learn a new language is that over time, as you become more invested in the language, you may also find yourself more invested in a culture associated with that language.

As someone learning Spanish, this might mean:

Becoming an aficionado of in Mexican cinema

Deciding to take a course on cooking Peruvian food

Learning how to dance Salsa and attending the local Latin night every weekend

Becoming a hardcore fan of an Argentinian soccer team, and planning a trip to see a live game

Learning a new language gives you the keys to explore a completely new culture - one that you may just fall in love with.

6. It Becomes Easier To Learn A Third Language

Once you are able to speak Spanish, learning a third language will become a lot easier.

According to a study featured on ScienceDaily.com, people who speak two languages have an easier time gaining command of a third language, rather than people who are fluent in only one language.

Ok, perhaps that's not so surprising.

One fascinating part of the study concluded that learning a second language "improves proficiency in native language", which means that you'll become a better communicator in your native language.

7. You Gain A Second Personality

"Learn a new language and get a new soul." - Czech proverb

Normally, the idea of someone with a split personality would carry negative connotations.

However, this isn't the case with language learning. A 2008 study by the University of Chicago Press found that individuals who are bicultural (people who have interacted with two different cultures) and speak two languages, may shift their personalities when they switch from one language to another.

In the study, Hispanic American bilingual women students were asked to interpret target advertisements picturing women, first in Spanish and, six months later, in English.

The bilinguals perceived women in the Spanish ads as more self-sufficient and extrovert, while they identified the women in English ads as more traditional, dependent and family-oriented.

So why did the results vary?

The explanation lies in the phenomenon known as Cultural Frame Switching (CTS), where bicultural individuals shift values and attributions in the presence of "culture-relevant stimuli" ie. using a language connected to that culture.

This is backed up in a similar study whereby an assistant professor of social psychology at the University of Connecticut, asked bilingual Mexican Americans to take a personality test in both Spanish and English.

The test measured five personality traits: extraversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism.

It was found that bilinguals were more agreeable and conscientious when answering in English, than in Spanish - and these differences were consistent with the personality displayed in each culture.

Furthermore, in the English test, extraversion, which reflects assertiveness (prominent value in individualist cultures such as the USA) scored higher than emotional expressiveness (value emphasized in collective cultures, such as Mexico).

In the end, the author concluded that people who have internalized two cultures, such as bilinguals, may change their interpretations and values, based on the internalized cultures that respond to cues (ie. different language) in their environment.

If you still need to be convinced about the cognitive benefits of learning a second language, then watch this video from TED-Ed.

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Why Learn Spanish? 7 Reasons To Start Now

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Niall Quinn Have conversations faster, understand people when they speak fast, and other tested tips to learn faster. We often hear English labeled as the "global language", which is a good excuse for native speakers not to learn a new language. So why learn Spanish?

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This article talks about many beneficial aspects of learning Spanish because it is the second most spoken language in the U.S. One primary benefit is using Spanish in the workplace. It can open up more opportunities and reach a wider client base. It also discussed the benefit of travel. Learning Spanish makes it easier to communicate if you are traveling to a Spanish-speaking country.

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Learning any new or foreign language is a great way to expand your mind and vocabulary, so what makes Spanish unique? Like other Romance languages (such as French and Italian), Spanish is derived from Latin, the language of Ancient Rome. It has been evolving for thousands of years and is now spoken by people from a variety of cultures and backgrounds. From the Iberian Peninsula to South America, Caribbean islands, and even parts of Africa- Spanish is spoken worldwide . For people who study Spanish , an understanding of the language offers greater insights not only into words and grammar, but also into an extensive history that spans multiple continents and generations.

Why Learn Spanish?

According to U.S. Census data , Spanish is the second-most spoken language in the United States after English. Many people in the United States are native Spanish speakers and/or consider Spanish to be their first language, and this number continues to grow. Speaking Spanish in America allows you to communicate with millions across the country, making it easier to connect both personally and professionally.

The language also comes in handy when traveling outside of American borders. With over 490 million Spanish-speakers across the globe, those who learn Spanish are able to build relationships outside of their English-speaking network, giving them options that monolingual English speakers may not have.

Benefits of Speaking Spanish in the Workplace

Ever considered taking your career international? In workplaces especially, being bilingual is a highly sought-after skill. Employees who are bilingual are able to better communicate with Spanish-speaking clients and handle foreign affairs. Even if you're not planning on going global, there is plenty of need within the United States for Spanish-speaking employees in various industries, including hospitality, marketing, education, government, non-profit organizations, and more. Job boards like list tens of thousands of jobs for which Spanish language skills are required or preferred.

Colleges and universities are now preparing students for a globalized future by offering majors like Spanish Business , in addition to the traditional Spanish major and Spanish minor. No matter your professional goals, learning a second language gives you the opportunity to take your career to another level. As they prepare to enter the workforce, many college students are pursuing either a second major or a minor in Spanish to improve their marketability in their field of choice.

The World is Your Oyster

Year after year, destinations like Cancύn, the Caribbean, and Barcelona top the list as some of the world's most popular travel destinations. Apart from their allure among tourists, these hotspots share in common a predominantly Spanish-speaking population. For visitors who are unfamiliar with the language, navigating these locales can be challenging and often requires the services of an interpreter (a career field that is projected to grow at a rapid rate over the next several years). For English-speaking travelers, even the most conversational Spanish can help to make your stay in a Spanish-speaking country much less stressful-and save you a lot of confusion.

Is Learning Spanish Worth It?

Studying Spanish provides a wealth of opportunity. There are many ways to incorporate the Spanish language into your travels, career, and day-to-day life-and beginning your educational journey is just the first step.

While learning a new language in any setting is beneficial, there are a number of benefits to taking college Spanish classes. College and university Spanish professors are highly trained native and/or fluent speakers. They have been vetted by professionals and fellow faculty, so you can trust that the person teaching you will be well qualified to do so. The curriculum will involve not just the language itself, but also elements of history, geography, and sociology to ensure that you're prepared to apply your knowledge in the real world, while avoiding cultural appropriation and faux pas.

Spanish courses at the college level also typically involve a study abroad experience, so you'll be able to immerse yourself in the culture of a place where Spanish is the primary language. You'll have opportunities to gain real-world exposure to written and verbal Spanish, and you'll gain a newfound appreciation for the rich history of the language and its speakers worldwide.

Being educated by others who speak Spanish and are intimately familiar with its history is the best way to get the most out of your language learning experience.

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Learning any new or foreign language is a great way to expand your mind and vocabulary, so what makes Spanish unique? Like other Romance languages (such as French and Italian), Spanish is derived from Latin, the language of Ancient Rome.

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8 Brain Benefits to Learning a Second Language

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8 Brain Benefits to Learning a Second Language

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This article mentions the cognitive health benefits of learning a second language. It mentions how learning a second language can help prevent the aging of the mind and also the prevention, or at least the delay, of mental illnesses. Learning another language is very beneficial for the mind.

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8 Brain Benefits to Learning a Second Language

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The benefits of learning a second language are plenty. Understanding and learning all the aspects of a language-like phonetics, writing, and speaking-is a hard task for your brain, proving them to be the ultimate brain workout. Improving your overall brain health is one of the many outcomes of learning a new language.

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This article from Babbel, a popular language learning platform, discusses many social reasons for learning Spanish. It talks about how one can find themselves socially in the language learning process as well as be able to connect to other cultures.

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For many English speakers, Spanish is one of the most obvious languages to learn. Especially in the United States, it is often considered the most useful for going about daily life. But we get it: choosing a language to learn is a tough decision. You wouldn't want to be months into Spanish before realizing that Dutch is your true calling. If you need that final convincing, we rounded up the five best reasons to learn Spanish.

Reason 1: Spanish Is A Global Language

Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world, and it is the most spoken language in the Americas. It's the official (or co-official) language in Spain, most countries in Central and South America and several Caribbean countries. It's a useful language to know when doing business with Spanish or Latin American firms, and a great way to strengthen your resume and improve your career prospects. In the United States alone there are over 50 million people who speak Spanish as their native or second language. So even if you don't fancy yourself a globetrotter, Spanish is probably the most useful language to learn if you want to flex your language muscles on a daily basis.

Reason 2: Spanish Immersion Opportunities Are Everywhere

Yes, convenience can be one of the most convincing reasons to learn Spanish. There are more Spanish speakers in the United States than in any other Spanish-speaking country except Mexico. That's right, there are more people speaking Spanish in the United States than in Spain! So if you want to learn a language through immersion, you can practice your Spanish without leaving your neighborhood.

Americans see and hear Spanish often (on signs, on the radio and TV, in eavesdropped bits of conversation). Instead of tuning out the language, why not tune in? Once you start learning a little Spanish, every encounter with the language is an opportunity to practice and improve. Order Mexican food in Spanish, put on Spanish-language radio or television while you're doing chores around the house, add some Spanish-language publishers to your news feed. And the best part is that none of this requires taking vacation time or booking expensive plane tickets.

Reason 3: Spanish Is Easy To Learn And To Start Speaking

Spanish is considered one of the easiest languages for a native English speaker to learn. The grammar and pronunciation are different from English, but simpler and more consistent. Because English acquired almost 30 percent of its vocabulary from Latin, you'll immediately recognize and understand many Spanish words that share the same roots. You can communicate a lot with simple grammar, so even before you've reached a high level of comprehension you will be able to communicate and express yourself. Nothing motivates you to keep going quite like the little victories that come through speaking and being understood.

Reason 4: Spanish Can Help You Discover Something New About Yourself

Almost 60 million Americans - 18.3 percent of all Americans - claim some Hispanic heritage. Do you? There's no better way to reconnect to your ancestors than by learning their language. Depending on your life, this can be one of the most compelling reasons to learn Spanish.

Even without Hispanic heritage, you might find an affinity for a new language that allows you to express yourself in a different way. It can help foster aspects of your personality that might not come through in your native tongue.

Reason 5: Spanish Gives You Access To Other Cultures

No matter how you choose to learn Spanish (online, classes, a tutor, apps, a home stay in a Spanish-speaking country), the best way to stay interested and motivated is through engagement with Spanish-speaking culture. Even if you live in a cabin in the woods with no one around with whom to speak Spanish, you can connect to the Spanish language through its art, music, cinema and literature.

Internalize Spanish pronunciation and the cadence of speech by listening to the news on Spanish-language radio, and by watching movies and telenovelas. Sing along to music sung in Spanish: Spanish flamenco, Cuban jazz, Mexican rock, Puerto Rican salsa, Argentinian tango... It's just as fulfilling to explore the Spanish language through literature, whether it be Miguel de Cervantes, the first modern novelist; poets like Octavio Paz, Federico García Lorca and Pablo Neruda; magical realists like Gabriel García Márquez and Jorge Luis Borges; or more contemporary novelists like Isabel Allende, Reinaldo Arenas, Roberto Bolaño and Laura Esquivel.

Still not convinced? Keep in mind we didn't even include opportunities for travel as one of the reasons to learn Spanish.

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For many English speakers, Spanish is one of the most obvious languages to learn. Especially in the United States, it is often considered the most useful for going about daily life. But we get it: choosing a language to learn is a tough decision.

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10 Career Benefits of Learning Spanish as a Second Language

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10 Career Benefits of Learning Spanish as a Second Language

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This article from Indeed.com talks about how learning Spanish can be beneficial for a person in their career for many reasons, including: One could reach more clients due to their bilingualism, one could work in different areas around the world, and one could have a competitive edge on other job candidates who happen to be monolingual.

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This article outlines several social reasons to learn Spanish, and it does so in helpful, concise language. I had no idea over 400 million people speak Spanish, and there are some really well thought-out points in this article about connecting to art and opening up opportunities for youself.

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Benefits of Learning to Speak Spanish

The benefits of speaking Spanish are numerous and here are a few of the most important considerations.

Spanish is spoken as the first language by at least 400 million people around the world and is currently the forth most commonly spoken language worldwide. Knowing Spanish opens the door for you to communicate with over half a billion speakers worldwide, including those who speak Spanish as a second language.

Spanish will enhance your travel experiences when visiting Spanish-speaking countries. Away from the major cities and tourist hot-spots in Latin America and Spain, far fewer people speak English, so if you learn Spanish it is a great help when travelling. Knowing the language will give you insights into the people and culture that a non-Spanish speaker would never have access to.

Spanish will improve your employment potential. With the world becoming ever more global, contact with people of other countries has increased tremendously in recent decades. Just having a basic knowledge of the language may be all it takes to separate yourself from the crowd of other applicants. Language skills are desirable additions to any CV/Resume.

Spanish skills facilitate an appreciation of Spanish-speaking cultures. Learning the Spanish language and culture go hand-in-hand. Although it's possible to learn Spanish never having experienced the culture first hand, direct exposure to the culture will give students insights into the language that would otherwise not be possible.

Spanish skills enable you to meet local people and make friends with other travellers. Learning a foreign language opens many doors to meeting new and exciting people that wouldn't otherwise be possible. Getting to know somebody by communicating with them in their own language is a great way to really get to know that person on a much deeper level than only through communicating with gestures or body language. You'll enjoy your subsequent travel experiences much more if you're able to communicate with the local people.

Spanish skills open up a world of art, music, literature and film. Spanish would greatly enhance your enjoyment of films such as Y Tu Mamá También without being distracted by the need to read the film's subtitles. In addition to deriving more enjoyment from films, Spanish skills enable you to fully appreciate some of the world's greatest literature, music and art.

Spanish skills increase the number of projects you could join as an international volunteer. It is important to keep this in mind if planning on doing some volunteer work in Spain, Central or South America. Some voluntary organisations offer volunteers Spanish lessons whilst they are volunteering.

Spanish skills will enable you to study abroad. Many of us want to study abroad and explore various career opportunities. Without taking that first step of signing up for a language class, you may just miss out on one of life's most exciting adventures possible.

Whatever your motivation for learning Spanish, it is certainly a worthwhile pursuit.

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The benefits of speaking Spanish are numerous and here are a few of the most important considerations. Spanish is spoken as the first language by at least 400 million people around the world and is currently the forth most commonly spoken language worldwide.

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How language-learning affects other skills

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How language-learning affects other skills

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This article lists a ton of cognitive consequences of learning a second language, some of which are neutral observations. Included among these observations are several incredibly helpful aspects as well, such as an improved ability to organize and plan or the delay of Alzheimer's.

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The many ways in which languages boost brain power - who's saying what:

How morality changes in a foreign language: "Moral judgments made in a foreign language are less laden with the emotional reactions that surface when we use a language learned in childhood".

Delaying the onset of Alzheimer disease: "We found that the bilingual patients had been diagnosed 4.3 years later and had reported the onset of symptoms 5.1 years later than the monolingual patients. The groups were equivalent on measures of cognitive and occupational level, there was no apparent effect of immigration status, and the monolingual patients had received more formal education. There were no gender differences."

Read a book in a second language to avoid emotion; read in your native tongue to improve empathy: The way readers react to fictional emotions depends on the language they read it in.

Switch your languages, change your perspective: How the language you speak changes your view of the world.

A new study (paywall) suggests that children who speak multiple languages are better at understanding other people: Not only those who are fluent in that language, but also those who are simply exposed to another language in their daily lives.

Boys and girls learn language differently: Research shows that: "girls are more likely to remember whole words like 'walked' compared to boys who tend to compose 'walked' from 'walk' and '-ed'. These findings align with previous research that has shown females are better than males at memorizing facts and events."

Music moves our bodies and minds: " The periodic beat induced by musical rhythms engages our attention, which stimulates our brains' responses... NeuroNet's Classroom Enrichment programs include rhythmic sequential exercises that incorporate literacy and mathematical skills."

Children exposed to several languages are better at seeing through others' eyes: A study by the University of Chicago finds that bilingual children, and also those simply exposed to another language on a regular basis, have an edge at the business of getting inside others' minds.

Learning a language could potentially help to ease the growing concern around isolation and loneliness among older people in the UK: From keeping loneliness at bay and delaying dementia, to reconnecting with your cultural roots, the Guardian speaks to three people to discover the wide benefits of language learning

After learning new words, brain sees them as pictures: When we look at a known word, our brain sees it like a picture, not a group of letters needing to be processed. That's the finding from a Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, which shows the brain learns words quickly by tuning neurons to respond to a complete word, not parts of it.

If you speak Mandarin, your brain is different: Untangling the brain's mechanisms for language has been a pillar of neuroscience since its inception: New research published in the Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences about the different connections going on in the brains of Mandarin and English speakers, demonstrates just how flexible our ability to learn language really is.

Does bilingualism change native-language reading? Becoming a bilingual can change a person's cognitive functioning and language processing in a number of ways. How knowledge of a second language influences how people read sentences written in their native language.

How does our language shape the way we think? "When the Viaduct de Millau opened in the south of France in 2004, this tallest bridge in the world won worldwide accolades. German newspapers described how it "floated above the clouds" with "elegance and lightness" and "breathtaking" beauty. In France, papers praised the "immense" "concrete giant." Was it mere coincidence that the Germans saw beauty where the French saw heft and power? Lera Boroditsky thinks not... "

Children fluent in two languages learn better in noisy classrooms than pupils who speak just one, research suggests: Bilingual and monolingual pupils at a Cambridge primary school were asked to "identify the bad animal' in a series of recorded statements - and the bilingual children coped best despite interruptions.

Does bilingualism influence cognitive aging? Bilinguals perform significantly better than predicted from their baseline cognitive abilities, with strongest effects on general intelligence and reading: Results suggest a positive effect of bilingualism on later-life cognition, including in those who acquired their second language in adulthood.

What happens in the brain when you learn a language? Tools like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and electrophysiology can reveal what is happening in our brains when we hear, understand and produce second languages.

Nicaraguan Sign Language shows that although children require a certain amount of linguistic input at a young age in order to learn language, they're capable of generalising from incomplete information to something far richer and more complex - a testament to the magnificent potential of the human brain.

Research shows language requires both storing words in our brains and real-time composition: A new study has discovered a difference between how boys and girls store and retrieve words.

How studying or working abroad makes you smarter: Research shows that experience in other countries makes us more flexible, creative, and complex thinkers.

How language seems to shape one's view of the world: Lera Boroditsky once did a simple experiment: She asked people to close their eyes and point southeast. A room of distinguished professors in the U.S. pointed in almost every possible direction, whereas 5-year-old Australian aboriginal girls always got it right.

It's never too early for children to learn a second language, say experts: It's never too early for infants to begin learning a second language as it can greatly improve cognitive skills later in life.

Multilinguals Have Multiple Personalities: Between 2001 and 2003, linguists Jean-Marc Dewaele and Aneta Pavlenko asked over a thousand bilinguals whether they "feel like a different person" when they speak different languages. Nearly two-thirds said they did.

A new University of Toronto study has found that by two years of age, children are remarkably good at comprehending speakers who talk with accents the toddlers have never heard before: Even more striking, say researchers, children as young as 15 months who have difficulty comprehending accents they've never heard before can quickly learn to understand accented speech after hearing the speaker for a short time.

Babies May Be More Language-Savvy Than Thought: Even 2-day-old babies know that some syllables just sound better than others, according to a new study from the University of Chile.

Relatively speaking: do our words influence how we think? Linguistic relativity can tell us about our perceptions of reality and the relationship between language and the way we think.

Babies can detect language differences - understanding that people who speak different languages use words differently: In a recent study at the University of Auckland, infants noticed that speakers did not share a language and did not generalise the rules of one language to another.

People make decisions differently depending on whether they are operating in a first or second language, a team from Barcelona's Universidad Pompeu Fabra has found. "When people used their native language, their choices tended to be more affected by emotional factors, but we found the study participants tended to be more rational and 'colder' in their problem-solving when using their second language - in this case English" said study author Alberat Costa.

Epilepsy drug turns out to help adults acquire perfect pitch and learn language like kids: A team of researchers from across the globe believe they have discovered a means of re-opening "critical periods" in brain development, allowing adults to acquire abilities - such as perfect pitch or fluency in language - that could previously only be acquired early in life.

Speaking languages has a 'positive effect' on children: New research shows that the more languages children speak, the better they can speak them. The Multilingual Manchester research project found that maintaining a home language has no adverse effect at all on children's proficiency in English - in fact, pupils of minority and immigrant background who scored high on the proficiency test for their home language also showed high scores for English proficiency.

Dual-language learners make key academic gains: A comprehensive review of research on young Latino and Spanish-speaking children confirms that widely available public programs are helping dual-language learners make important academic gains.
According to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, research shows that:

There is evidence that early language learning improves cognitive abilities.

There is evidence bilingualism correlates with increased cognitive development and abilities.

There is a correlation between bilingualism and the offset of age-related cognitive losses.

There is a correlation between bilingualism and attentional control on cognitive tasks.

There is a correlation between bilingualism and intelligence.

There is a correlation between bilingualism and metalinguistic skills.

There is a correlation between bilingualism and memory skills.

There is a correlation between bilingualism and problem solving ability.

There is a correlation between bilingualism and improved verbal and spatial abilities.

How bilinguals switch between languages: Individuals who learn two languages at an early age seem to switch back and forth between separate "sound systems" for each language, according to new research conducted at the University of Arizona.

Music - a gift for language learners: When it comes to language learning, new research reveals that your best asset may be your vocal cords, not your dictionary!

Speaking another language may delay dementia: People who speak more than one language and who develop dementia tend to do so up to five years later than those who are monolingual, according to a study carried out by researchers from the University of Edinburgh and Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences in Hyderabad (India). "These findings suggest that bilingualism might have a stronger influence on dementia that any currently available drugs. This makes the study of the relationship between bilingualism and cognition one of our highest priorities." Thomas Bak, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences.

Young children need conversation to up language: By speaking directly to their toddlers, parents can help them learn to process language more quickly, which speeds up vocabulary growth.

Being bilingual can make you better at "executive functions" (planning and prioritising) and defend against dementia in old age: but what about your personality? Many multi-linguals report different personalities, or even different worldviews, when they speak their different languages.

10 superb psychological advantages of learning another language: Learning another language can promote brain growth, stave off dementia, boost memory, improve attention and more...

The brain has a critical window for language development between the ages of two and four, brain scans suggest: Environmental influences have their biggest impact before the age of four, as the brain's wiring develops to process new words, say UK and US scientists.

Cognitive neurologist Thomas Bak recommends bilingualism to help keep dementia at bay: "bilingualism is a kind of permanent experience of switching between languages and suppressing the one you aren't using. Doing this offers you practically constant brain training."

Your Mind on Language: How Bilingualism Boosts Your Brain: Language shapes the way we think. Whether we're listening to a persuasive speaker, absorbed in powerful writing, or engaged in a conversation, language can introduce us to new ideas, perspectives, and opportunities.

Think twice, speak once: Bilinguals process both languages simultaneously: Bilingual speakers can switch languages seamlessly, likely developing a higher level of mental flexibility than monolinguals, according to Penn State linguistic researchers.

Poorer kids benefit from being bilingual: Investigators from the University of Luxembourg, the University of Minho in Portugal and York University in Canada have found that while being bilingual did not help low-income children when taking memory tests, these children performed better on a control task that required them to focus their attention when distracted.

Learning a new language alters brain development: Learning a second language later on in childhood after gaining proficiency in the first (native) language does in fact modify the brain's structure, specifically the brain's inferior frontal cortex.

Language can reveal the invisible, study shows: Words can play a powerful role in what we see - information is interpreted in light of other visual experiences, and may even be influenced by language.

Change of language, change of personality? Understanding the link between language and personality in bilinguals. Could bilinguals who speak two (or more) languages change their personality when they change language?

Researchers find that the recognition of nouns and verbs in Chinese is not confined to specific brain regions, as in English: rather they activate a wide range of overlapping areas, in both the left and the right hemisphere. The authors explained the involvement of the right hemisphere (language is usually lateralized in the left hemisphere in right-handers) because of the visual features of Chinese characters and the lexical tones carried by Chinese words.

Meet the Melbourne man who woke up from a coma speaking Mandarin: Ben McMahon was a passenger in a car when it was hit by a truck leaving him in a coma for more than a week. But when he woke from his coma, something had changed; he was speaking only mandarin.

How the brain benefits from being bilingual: Never mind how well spoken you might be now, you will never again be as adept with languages as the day you were born... and well into your grammar-school years, your ability to learn a second - or third or fourth - language is still remarkable.

Bilingual children have a two-tracked mind: A study examining how bilingual children learn the two different sound systems of languages they are acquiring simultaneously has discovered that children can learn two native languages as easily as they can learn one.

Age no excuse for failing to learn a new language: under controlled conditions, adults turn out to be better than children at acquiring a new language skill.

Language is in our biology: study results show a clear statistical correlation between a high level of language competence and a good working memory in the students tested .

Forgotten something? Try your other language: study finds interesting links between memory / information retrieval and language skills in bilingual people.

Study abroad positively impacts personality: Students who spend a semester or year abroad show positive changes in their personality on measures associated with the "Big Five" personality traits (agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, extraversion, and openness).

Trying to Learn a Foreign Language? Avoid Reminders of Home! Reminders of home, language and culture can hinder the ability to speak a new language, acting like "magnets of meaning," instantly activating a web of cultural associations in the mind and influencing our judgments and behaviour.

Use It Or Lose It? Study suggests the brain can remember a 'forgotten' language: Many people learn a foreign language when young, but in some cases, exposure to that language is brief. New research suggests this "forgotten" language may be more deeply engraved in our minds than we realize.

Altitude may affect the way language is spoken: Until recently most linguists believed that the relationship between the structure of language and the natural world was mainly the influence of the environment on vocabulary. Now, a new study has shown that there is a link between geographical elevation and the way language is spoken.

Picking up a second language is predicted by an ability to learn patterns: A new study suggests that learning to understand and read a second language may be driven, at least in part, by our ability to pick up on statistical regularities.

Bilinguals see the world in a different way, study suggests: Learning a foreign language literally changes the way we see the world, according to new research.

Being Bilingual: the Neuroplastic workout: Recent research shows that our brains change and grow well into the golden years, and there is no better workout for the brain than learning a new language!

How bilinguals switch between languages: Individuals who learn two languages at an early age seem to switch back and forth between separate "sound systems" for each language, according to new research conducted at the University of Arizona.

Coming back to bilingualism: How a child returned to being bilingual

Studying languages can grow the brain: Scientists studied the brains of students in the Swedish Armed Forces Interpreter Academy, who are required to learn new languages at an alarmingly fast rate. Many must become fluent in Arabic, Russian and the Persian dialect Dari in just 13 months. The researchers compared the brains of these students to the brains of medical students who also have to learn a tremendous amount in a very short period of time, but without the focus on languages.

Why speaking English can make you poor when you retire (a comparison beteen English and Mandarin speakers): "Prof Chen says his research proves that the grammar of the language we speak affects both our finances and our health. Bluntly, he says, if you speak English you are likely to save less for your old age, smoke more and get less exercise than if you speak a language like Mandarin, Yoruba or Malay. Prof Chen says his research proves that the grammar of the language we speak affects both our finances and our health."

Babies' brains may be tuned to language before birth:
Full-term babies - those born after 37 weeks' gestation - display remarkable linguistic sophistication soon after they are born: they recognize their mother's voice, can tell apart two languages they'd heard before birth and remember short stories read to them while in the womb.

5 examples of how the languages we speak can affect the way we think: "Economist Keith Chen starts today's talk with an observation: to say, "This is my uncle," in Chinese, you have no choice but to encode more information about said uncle. The language requires that you denote the side the uncle is on, whether he's related by marriage or birth and, if it's your father's brother, whether he's older or younger."

Bilingual babies balance different languages: "A new study to shed light on the subject revealed that children who learn two languages at the same time develop the ability, which monolinguals do not, to identify a language through the duration and pitch of words, and their position in a sentence." For more information, including results tables, please click here.

En Francais: The rise of England's bilingual schools: "Children who speak two languages are at an intellectual and cultural advantage. We live in an international society so being able to give children the opportunity to speak another language is quite crucial."

The person-language bond: The links between being bilingual and social interaction with two or more people.

Born with a preference for two languages: The authors of a study on bilingual parenting, found that the acquired interest in two languages that the infants had been exposed to could help them pay attention to the languages and hence acquire them in their first years of life, if they were raised in a bilingual environment.

Head start for little language learners: "New research examining auditory mechanisms of language learning in babies has revealed that infants as young as three months of age are able to automatically detect and learn complex dependencies between syllables in spoken language. By contrast, adults only recognized the same dependencies when asked to actively search for them."

Speaking more than one language: a "shield" against Alzheimer's?: The Basque Centre on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL) research centre seeks the participation of hundreds of persons aged over 65, both bilingual and monolingual, in order to investigate if bilingualism protects against neurodegenerative diseases.

The joys of being bilingual: "Learning a foreign language can improve students' awareness of register, formality and so on," says Barnes. "It's useful for academic writing."

Brain structure of infants predicts language skills at one year: Using a brain-imaging technique that examines the entire infant brain, researchers have found that the anatomy of certain brain areas - the hippocampus and cerebellum - can predict children's language abilities at 1 year of age.

Speaking more than one language could prevent Alzheimer's: "Neuroscientists think that having more reserve brain power helps compensate for age-related declines in thinking and memory, and may help protect against the losses caused by Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia."

The cognitive benefit of lifelong bilingualism: "Seniors who have spoken two languages since childhood are faster than single-language speakers at switching from one task to another, according to a study published in the January 9 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. Compared to their monolingual peers, lifelong bilinguals also show different patterns of brain activity when making the switch, the study found."

The cognitive benefits of being bilingual: "Researchers have shown that the bilingual brain can have better attention and task-switching capacities than the monolingual brain, thanks to its developed ability to inhibit one language while using another. In addition, bilingualism has positive effects at both ends of the age spectrum: Bilingual children as young as seven months can better adjust to environmental changes, while bilingual seniors can experience less cognitive decline."

How does our language shape the way we think? "People who speak different languages do indeed think differently and that even flukes of grammar can profoundly affect how we see the world... Language is a uniquely human gift, central to our experience of being human."

Language is shaped by brain's desire for clarity and ease: "When faced with sentence constructions that could be confusing or ambiguous, the language learners... chose to alter the rules of the language they were taught in order to make their meaning clearer."

Language learning makes the brain grow, Swedish study suggests: "At the Swedish Armed Forces Interpreter Academy, young recruits learn a new language at a very fast pace. By measuring their brains before and after the language training, a group of researchers has had an almost unique opportunity to observe what happens to the brain when we learn a new language in a short period of time."

The cognitive benefits of learning more than one language: Lessons from abroad: an international review of primary languages providing evidence on language learning within various primary curricula across the world, citing a study which found that "the longer pupils study a foreign language, the higher their level of achievement in standardised tests in maths and English". (p19)

Bilingual children outperform children who speak only one language in problem-solving skills and creative thinking, according to a new study. Researchers in Italy found that the 62 bilingual children tested were "significantly more successful in the tasks set for them".

Are you smarter than a three month old? "New research examining auditory mechanisms of language learning in babies has revealed that infants as young as three months of age are able to automatically detect and learn complex dependencies between syllables in spoken language. By contrast, adults only recognized the same dependencies when asked to actively search for them."

Speaking two languages also benefits low income children: "Living in poverty is often accompanied by conditions that can negatively influence cognitive development. Is it possible that being bilingual might counteract these effects? Although previous research has shown that being bilingual enhances executive functioning in middle-class children, less is known about how it affects lower income populations."

How bilinguals are like hurdlers: "Hurdlers blend two types of competencies, that of high jumping and that of sprinting, into an integrated whole. When compared individually with sprinters or high jumpers, hurdlers meet neither level of competence, and yet when taken as a whole hurdlers are athletes in their own right... bilinguals are like hurdlers: unique and specific communicators (in that) bilinguals use their two (or more) languages, separately or together, for different purposes, in different domains of life, with different people."

Are Some Brains Better at Learning Languages? Do people who learn many languages have different brains? The answer, experts say, seems to be yes, no and it's complicated!

New study shows that bilinguals switch tasks faster than monolinguals: Children who grow up learning to speak two languages are better at switching between tasks than are children who learn to speak only one, according to a study funded in part by the US National Institutes of Health.

How Knowing a Foreign Language Can Improve Your Decisions: Thinking in another language changes how people weigh their options

Thinking in a Foreign Language Makes Decisions More Rational: experiments find that thinking in a second language reduces deep-seated, misleading biases that unduly influence how risks and benefits are perceived.

How bilinguals process language: people who speak two languages keep both languages active all the time.

Being bilingual 'boosts brain power': scientists believe that learning a second language can boost brain power.

The Bilingual Brain Is Sharper and More Focused, Study Says: The ability to speak two languages can make bilingual people better able to pay attention than those who can only speak one language, a new study suggests.

Study on the Contribution of Multilingualism to Creativity: "There is an increasing body of evidence pertaining to a wide variety of people, in various cultural environments, and using different languages, revealing enhanced functioning of individuals who use more than one language, when compared to monolinguals. This suggests a greater potential for creativity amongst those who know more than one language, when compared with monolinguals"

Bilingualism Fine-Tunes Hearing, Enhances Attention: bilinguals' rich experience with language "fine-tunes" their auditory nervous system and helps them juggle linguistic input in ways that enhance attention and working memory, according to a recent study.

Lifelong bilingualism confers protection against the onset of Alzheimer's disease: bilingualism appears to contribute to cognitive reserve, which acts to compensate for the effects of accumulated neuropathology.

Bilingual babies: The roots of bilingualism in newborns: hearing two languages regularly during pregnancy puts infants on the road to bilingualism by birth.

Does bilingualism change native-language reading? Becoming a bilingual can change a person's cognitive functioning and language processing in a number of ways.

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Speaking your mind: links between languages and other skills - Association for Language Learning

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The many ways in which languages boost brain power - who's saying what: How morality changes in a foreign language: "Moral judgments made in a foreign language are less laden with the emotional reactions that surface when we use a language learned in childhood". Language learning boosts brain plasticity and ability to code new information: [...]

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Can Speaking Two Languages Increase Your Job Prospects?

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Can Speaking Two Languages Increase Your Job Prospects?

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https://www.uei.edu/blog/can-speaking-two-languages-increase-your-job-prospects/

This article explores the different reasons why knowing a second language can help you in your career. It does more than just looking at the base increase in salary that many bilinguals are awarded, it takes a more rounded look at the overall value increase one experiences as a bilingual. One example is the simple fact that more jobs are available to you if you can speak multiple languages, an important but often overlooked perk.

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There is stiff competition in the job market these days. Having a skill that allows you to stand apart is a great benefit. One such resume plus is knowing a second language. If you've spoken a second language from a young age or learned another language for travel or personal interest, you may not realize the advantages of bilingualism in the workplace.

The great news is that in addition to knowing a second language for conversing in your personal life, there are many bilingual benefits in the job market. Here are some of the advantages you might not have thought about.

BETTER CHANCE OF LANDING A JOB

With so much business being conducted online, many companies now serve a global market. As such, it's a great benefit for many businesses to hire employees who speak more than one language. The more of their customers you can communicate with, the more of an asset you are to them. If a job opening comes down to candidates of equal experience and education, but one is fluent in more than one language it's most likely the bilingual applicant that's getting the position.

Even as early in the hiring process as when you submit your resume, being bilingual makes an impression. As stated on Knowing a second language makes your resume stand out and can boost you to the top of the interview list with potential employers.

YOU CAN EARN MORE MONEY

When you're bilingual your earning potential can go up if you are asked to act as a translator or interpreter on the job. Language differentials typically range between 5 and 20 percent per hour more than the base rate. If employees who speak the necessary language(s) are hard to come by at your place of employment, you'll likely earn a higher percentage in these instances than if there are several employees available who can translate.

EXTRA JOB OPPORTUNITIES

If you've ever thought about switching gears with your career or have wanted to pick up a second job, then knowing a second language might help. There are plenty of exciting jobs that can really only be tackled by those who speak another language. Some examples of jobs for bilinguals are translator, interpreter, language teacher, and tour guide. Having an extra language under your belt opens up some doors you may never have considered.

INCREASED BRAIN POWER

Beyond the obvious bilingual benefits of being able to communicate with more people, being bilingual actually means you have some other distinct assets to offer the business world. According to NYTimes.com, "Scientists have begun to show that the advantages of bilingualism are even more fundamental than being able to converse with a wider range of people. Being bilingual, it turns out, makes you smarter. It can have a profound effect on your brain, improving cognitive skills not related to language and even shielding against dementia in old age."

Studies have shown that even when a bilingual is speaking just one language, his/her brain has both language systems activated. This pushes the brain to work through this unique conflict, therefore increasing brain power. In fact, bilinguals are thought to be more proficient at working through certain mental puzzles because of this. As you would expect, having employees who are expert problem solvers is always highly coveted.

BOOSTED CREATIVITY

Not only do bilinguals think smarter, they also appear to think more creatively than those who only speak one language. In fact, a study conducted in 2012 showed that bilingual children were both better problem solvers and creative thinkers. Bilingualism can improve a speaker's mind, both when they are young and old. It encourages them to see the world in a different light, and understand cultures in a way which just reading a book could never accomplish. With this in mind, it's no surprise that the range of jobs for bilinguals is vast.

So, if you're already bilingual you're ahead of the game as far as employment goes. For those who seek to improve their employability by adding a second language there are certain languages that seem to be more highly coveted in the job market. Bilingualism in the workplace is advantageous, but according to Investopedia.com, if you speak Spanish, French, Mandarin, Arabic, American Sign Language, Russian, German, or Portuguese you'll likely have even more of an edge in the workplace.

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Can Speaking Two Languages Increase Your Job Prospects? - UEI College

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There is stiff competition in the job market these days. Having a skill that allows you to stand apart is a great benefit. One such resume plus is knowing a second language. If you've spoken a second language from a young age or learned another language for travel or personal interest, you may not realize the advantages of bilingualism in the workplace.

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Spanish Can be a Entry Point to Learning Many Languages

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Spanish Can be a Entry Point to Learning Many Languages

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This article by an entrepreneurial polyglot highlights many differences and similarities between Spanish and Portuguese, explaining the reasons why Spanish speakers can often learn the closest major related language quickly.  It is a comfort to know that up to 95% of the words in both languages have the same root, although differences in spelling, usage, and pronunciation are common.  For example, compare these sentences: Elas não tocaram violão, elas tocaram violino.  [Portuguese] with: No tocaron la guitarra, tocaron el violín. [Spanish] (Filoco).  This means that if you are traveling in South America or Spain, and cross over to Brazil or Portugal, it will be much easier to get around than if you knew no Spanish.  A major difference, however, is the increased number of vowels and nasalized sounds in Portuguese that do not occur in Spanish.  This accounts for a much greater difficulty understanding spoken Portuguese than written Portuguese if you already know Spanish.  However, simply learning another language, such as Spanish, can help you later study other languages.  So, if you really want to learn Chinese, but the only classes at your school are in Spanish, you can still use Spanish to become used to learning other languages and develop an ear for listening intently to what is spoken.  The number of resources in the United States for learning Spanish is very high compared to other languages, so Spanish is a good beginner language to study if your goal is to learn a few other languages.  (Please note: the linked article is not an endorsement of the advertised language learning method on this website.)

Other bibliography:  Filoco, Lourdes. Ultimate Portuguese: Beginner-Intermediate.  (2001).  Living Language.

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I had the chance to attend one of the world's most famous parties; Brazil's Carnival. While most visitors would check it out in Rio, which I have lived in, my experience of the Carnival in Olinda in the Northeast was incredible!

Some 'gringos' (note: in Brazil that word is used affectionately, not derogatively, and describes all foreigners, even Argentines! You'll almost never hear "estrangeiro" in social situations even though that is the "correct" term) might be passing through Brazil briefly, and others may already be living there for a long time. After many years on the road, Brazilians remain my favourite people on the planet, so I'd understand if you end up staying in Brazil much longer than you originally planned 🙂

While some of you might be learning Portuguese as your first foreign language, quite a lot of you might have already learned Spanish before. So rather than dismissively (and inaccurately) say "they're almost the same, you'll be fine," I'd like to actually write about how to leverage and transition your Spanish towards (Brazilian) Portuguese.

Starting point - European or Latin American Spanish?

I'm presuming here that you already have a fluent level of Spanish. The only thing is, which Spanish you are starting from will influence how easy it is. American variants such as Argentine or Colombian Spanish have several features in common with Brazilian Portuguese that European Spanish does not.

This includes the second person plural (you guys / Y'all) simply adopting the same conjugation as the third person (They). Luckily unlearning this from Peninsular Spanish (vosotros) is not hard as you would already be used to "ustedes" in formal studies. In both non-European Spanish and in Brazilian Portuguese, you will always use the ustedes / vocês conjugation (ustedes saben / vocês sabem) when addressing more than one person, even in the most informal of situations.

Even the pronunciation would be more similar away from Spain. The distinctive Spanish "c" is pronounced as "s" before e & i (rather than like "th") all across South America, and South Americans general speak slower and opening their mouth wider to pronounce words clearer (depending of course on where you are and who you talk to) compared to Spaniards.

But what really makes a difference in South American Spanish compared to European Spanish as a starting point to Portuguese is the extra vocabulary. This is one of the many reasons I don't like the "they're the same" dismissal - it's too simplified! It really depends on precisely where you are coming from. Uruguayan Spanish is way more similar to southern Brazilian Portuguese compared to Mexican Spanish, and definitely compared to Spanish from Sevilla, for example.

Learning Portuguese actually helped me with later living in Spanish speaking South American countries, thanks to the extra "Spanish" vocabulary I had acquired and never seen in Spain, such as Bacán/Bacano (Sp) -> Bacana (Pt) meaning cool/awesome.

South Americans are also much more likely to create a Spanish version of English loan words, so you get computador(a) in L.A. Spanish & computador in Portuguese (but ordenador in Spain), and "mouse" in all of South America (for computers), but "ratón" in Spain.

Very important pronunciation differences

Now, even when you are dealing with words that are exactly the same or very similar in Spanish and Portuguese, pronouncing them the Spanish way is a mistake. Crucial Portuguese pronunciation traits that really distinguish the language include:

Nasalising every n/m you see at the end of syllables (not between vowels). The easiest way to get used to this at first is to imagine it was written as "ng" in English. So "bem" (well) would be pronounced as [beng] and "parabéns" (congratulations, and commonly "happy birthday") as [pa-ra-beng-s].

One especially difficult sound in Portuguese (and also very frequent) is -ão at the end of words. This requires practice - it's like saying the English "ow" but entirely through your nose. Similarly, the first two letters of õe(s) are like a nasalised version of "oy"

's' has a 'z' sound except at the start of words and when doubled.

'd' and 't' turn to 'j' and 'ch' sounds before e/i (This doesn't happen in the Northeast and some other dialects, which act more like Spanish would). So the famous Brazilian word saudades is pronounced [Sa-oo-DA-jeez].

Unstressed "o" at the end of a word (and sometimes in other syllables, depending on the dialect) is pronounced as "u" is [oo in English]. So como is [KO-moo]

Unstressed "e" at the end of a word is pronounced as "i" [ee in English], and in many dialects it isn't pronounced at all. So "pode" could be [PO-jee] or just [POJ]

G before i/e & J are pronounced as in French (not aspirated like in Spanish). So "gente" is [zhENG-chee], with "zh" like the 's' sound in pleasure.

'l' is pronounced as a 'oo' at the end of syllables (when not between vowels within a word). So Brasil is [Bra-ZEE-oo], caldo is [KA-oo-doo].

Replace Spanish's trilled "r" with an "h" sound. The individually rolled 'r' is pronounced as in Spanish (when between vowels, like in caro), but the trilled more continuous rolling 'r' in Spanish must be replaced with something like an English 'h' (sometimes more forced in some dialects). This occurs at the start of words, where two r's are in succession and (unlike in Spanish, which doesn't trill it) at the end of words (depending on the dialect). So "Rio" is actually [HEE-oo], "morro" is actually [MO-hoo], comprar ends in a [h] sound, which we don't do in English. Interestingly enough, I noticed that in parts of São Paulo state, this syllable ending [r] sound actually sounded way more like the English 'r'!

Rio has a special accent with extra unique features that I wrote about in great detail here. This would be slightly more similar to the European Portuguese accent thanks to a few features.

Distinguishing between ô and ó can be tricky and requires a lot of practice.

Loan words that end in a consonant (other than 'r', 's', or 'm') must be pronounced phonetically as written and as if an 'e' was added after that consonant. This "invisible vowel" adds another syllable to the word. This can get very confusing when it's a word you "should" know. So Internet is actually pronounced [eeng-teH-NE-chee] and "suite" (as in en-suite bathroom, where the 'e' is silent in French and English) is pronounced [swEE-chee], and amusingly "hip hop" is [HEE-pee HO-pee] and "rock" is pronounced exactly like the sport hockey!

When reading a quick summary of Portuguese, you'll see that the basic rules of how consonants and vowels are pronounced are pretty much the same as in Spanish, but I hope this list shows you how more versatile Portuguese really is. Recognising this will bring you so much further in being able to understand the language and pronounce it correctly yourself!

Different vocabulary

Glancing at Portuguese text, especially formal text will make you feel like it's precisely the same as Spanish, just with some ã/õ thrown in for good measure. Perhaps 95 or 99% of the words are the same, and that's great and all, but the 1-5% that's different tends to be the most common words that end up taking up much more than 1% of conversations!

Here are some examples:

Cadê: This is how Brazilians are more likely to say "Where is.." than they would "Onde está". It includes the verb, so "Cadê você" - Where are you?

Rua (not "calle" - reminds me more of the French rue)

Legal: While it also means what it looks like it does, the most common usage is "cool"

Ó! This one is pretty short and you'll hear it a lot in Brazil. It's a shortened down version of "olha" (look). As well as being used to get people's attention to see something, it's usually just added to simple indications like "aqui-ó".

As well as different words there is a very long list of false friends that you should be aware of.

Even occasional basic words are nothing alike; "Rojo" (red) in Spanish is "Vermelho" in Portuguese, "negro" (black) in Spanish is "preto" in Portuguese, and apart from sábado and domingo, the days of the week in Portuguese are number ordered (Monday = segunda-feira, up to Friday = sexta-feira).

Different writing and word formation

You can usually equate some words directly between Spanish and Portuguese, but the writing changes for the style of the individual language. While Portuguese does have words ending in -ano/-am, quite a lot of the -ano/-an words in Spanish have their equivalents in Portuguese as -ão, which makes them hard to recognise at first. So you have mão (mano - hand), pão (pan - bread) etc.

The same -ão ending is used in comparing Spanish -ión. Many of the -(t)ion words in English work in both Spanish and Portuguese in this way, like nação, pressão, solução...

Por (for) is the same in both Spanish & Portuguese, especially with its use compared to para, but if "the" follows it in Spanish, you just add el or la. In Portuguese the word itself changes entirely. "Por el" -> Pelo, "Por la" -> Pela ( never por a / por o, as it would be in Portuguese word-for-word).

The use of accents is also different. As in Spanish, most of the time the second-last syllable is stressed and in every other situation, apart from when the word ends in a vowel, you have to write the accent to indicate this. It's similar in Portuguese, but how you define "syllable" changes. In Spanish it's the group of vowels before the last consonant, but in Portuguese it's simply the second-last vowel itself.

To show you what I mean, an example I like to use is the translation of Pharmacy (drug store). In Spanish it's . The stress is on the underlined a and no accent is needed. In Portuguese, the word sounds similar but it must be written as farmácia. If you don't, then i gets the accent. This means that conditional verbs don't need accents: comeria, faria etc. while they do in Spanish (comería, haría).

Also 'i' and 'u' automatically get accented at the end of the word, so assisti in Portuguese, but you'd need to indicate it in Spanish asistí. And rather than an ending "ó", as in Spanish, Portuguese would have an unaccented "ou". Ele falou...

When using people's names, it's common to add "the" before it, which is not translated in English. So "O Benny", "A Carol", etc.

Conjugation: Easier and harder

Portuguese complicates conjugation somewhat by adding an entirely new tense. The future subjunctive, where Spanish just uses the standard (present) subjunctive, which Portuguese also has. So "Cuando seas" would be "Quando (você) for" ( not sejas).

The good news though, is that Portuguese simplifies a few other things with regards conjugation. For example, you only really need to know three person-conjugations, and not six as in European Spanish (or five/six in other Spanish [where the sixth would be "vos"]).

So it's not I, you, he/she/it, we, you (pl), them, it's just I, you/he/she/it, we, you (pl)/them. This is simplified even further by the fact that "we" usually relies on a gente and not "nós". This is similar to the French "on" in terms of replacing "nous". Brazilians are way more likely to use it, and it's the same conjugation as você/ele - meaning you can get by fine knowing just 3 conjugations!

"A gente sabe" = "We know"

The vowel changes that occur in Spanish and make conjugation that extra bit complicated, are much less frequent in Portuguese. In Spanish you have contar -> cuento, cuentas... but in Portuguese, it's simply conto, conta... You still have some exceptions that need to be learned but the number is much less than in Spanish. Many nouns with a "ue" in Spanish have an "o" in Portuguese. Similarly for "ie" and "i".

Meeting Brazilians will make the differences become natural

In a post like this, I can only ever give a superficial list of some important differences. For a more in-depth look at technical differences between Spanish and Portuguese, see this Wikipedia entry.

You really need to get busy speaking Portuguese if you are to learn how to communicate in the language!

There are many ways to make sure you don't mix up your Spanish and Portuguese. Constantly practising both is the best way. Can't travel to Brazil yet? There are so many ways that I keep writing about how that isn't a valid excuse. In fact I learned my Portuguese before ever even going to Brazil. Portuguese has an extra boost to help non-travellers learn it:

Facebook was late catching on in Brazil, so Google-run Orkut was the most active network among Brazilians until it closed in 2014.

Using social networking sites like Couchsurfing are great for learning any language, but with Orkut you could connect with Brazilian communities all over the world. After my first trip to Brazil, when I was dying of saudades and living in Barcelona, I simply logged into Orkut and searched for the Barcelona "comunidade", and saw all the people there. I messaged a few directly to meet up with and even saw a discussion about getting together to watch a world cup match. Over 30 Brazilians showed up (I was the only non-Brazilian, but welcomed as the irlandês mais brasileiro do mundo).

I have continued to do this in other countries - and it's not just limited to major cities: I even met Brazilians in my hometown in Ireland through Orkut!!

Previously with Orkut, and now with Facebook, finding and hanging out with Brazilians is easy. Brazilians are way more friendly than locals in countries they are living in and once you show genuine interest in their culture and language, you can bet they will be extremely helpful.

Portuguese is my favourite language because Brazilians are my favourite people. So hopefully this post helps some people who have a "head start" with Spanish to be able to genuinely speak Portuguese, rather than get by with portuñol.

Founder, Fluent in 3 Months

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Learning Brazilian Portuguese if you already speak Spanish

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I had the chance to attend one of the world's most famous parties; Brazil's Carnival. While most visitors would check it out in Rio, which I have lived in, my experience of the Carnival in Olinda in the Northeast was incredible! Some 'gringos' (note: in Brazil that word is used affectionately, not derogatively, and describes [...]

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This article explains ways that you can earn money using Spanish while working from home. This can be a resource if you are in-between jobs or are looking for extra income.  If you are able to use it well, it could be a primary source of income.  The interpreting jobs require being able to understand a wide variety of accents from different countries.  The translation jobs require that you be able to write well, in addition to simply knowing Spanish.  Entry-level positions have low compensation, at only $0.03 per word.  So, if you translated a 500-word document, you would be paid $25, but you would also have added taxes because it is work for hire.  There are many exciting possibilities with translation careers.  For example, if you love to read novels, you could translate them, which would help you to develop your own writing skills and also give you the closest experience to writing successful novels yourself.  However, if you translated a standard-length 50,000-word novel at the entry rate, you would only receive $2,500.  That is why you would have to work your way up to receive a better salary.  Another option is to translate scientific and medical articles into English, which is the lingua franca of research.  An academic article has more significance if it has been translated into English, because it is more widely read and cited.  There are other options, for example the hospital where I work subscribes to a medication database called Lexicomp which provides medication information translations to patients in all major languages.  I have personal experience working with interpreters through the MARTTI company that my hospital uses for online video interpretation.  The interpreters are expected to dress professionally as if they are in an office and translate every sentence that the patient and the nurse or doctor say.  It can be stressful to the interpreters as some patients are hard of hearing or have dementia, in addition to fact that the interpreters cannot see the patients improving over time as hospital staff can and may subconsciously worry about the health of their patients.  It is preferable to find an in-person interpreter position working for a hospital or a courthouse, as online video translation pays by the minute and your pay is dependent on the number of calls you receive.

For more information: https://www.cloudbreak.us/2021/03/16/what-you-need-to-know-about-interpreting-and-martti/

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http://blog.eduspain.com/2013/2/benefits-of-spanish-and-its-economic-value

Este artículo habla de las razones económicas para aprender español. Menciona que uno debe aprender español para comunicarse con los hablantes nativos que viven en el mismo país. Además, es importante que se aprenda español para hacer negocios con los países hispanohablantes.

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https://www.educationcorner.com/benefits-of-learning-a-foreign-language.html
Este artículo describe cómo aprender otro idioma puede ayudar al desarrollo cognitivo de los estudiantes. Dice que hay una correlación entre aprender un idioma y las habilidades de leer, memorizar y hablar. También, dice que ser bilingüe puede aumentar las habilidades de resolver problemas.

Aprender otro idioma puede aumentar las puntuaciones de SAT o ACT. Muchos estudiantes que aprenden un otro idioma resultan mejor que los que no académicamente.

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Explore various studies that support learning a foreign language enhances academic achievement and cognitive development.

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Este artículo describe razones prácticas para aprender español. Empieza por describir la historia de español. Español  era el primer idioma moderno en tener su propia lista de reglas gramaticales. Muchas comunidades diferentes en los Estados Unidos hablan español, haciendo a los Estados Unidos el país con la mayor cantidad de hablantes del idioma fuera de México.

Este artículo dice también que es importante aprender el español porque muchos hablantes de otros idiomas aprenden el inglés, incluyendo hablantes nativos del español. Entonces, aprender el espanol es un buen paso en formar relaciones buenas entre las comunidades.

Aprender el español, también, es importante cuando se trata de la industria del trabajo.

Muchos dueños de trabajos quieren que sus trabajadores hablen español. Muchos consumidores hoy en día en los Estados Unidos son hispanohablantes. El deseo que muchas empresas tienen para proveer a las necesidades de la comunidad hispanohablantes está aumentando.

https://www.mexperience.com/learn-spanish/why-learn-spanish/

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Spanish is one of the world's leading and most widely spoken languages

As modern communications and transport systems bring the world closer together, language remains the means by which we interact and build understanding of other peoples, cultures and the principal way in which we may learn from each other.

The Influence of Language

There is a famous story, told around the time of the Spanish Empire and its expansion west to present-day Latin America, about how Spanish grammar came into being.

So the story goes, a Bishop approached Queen Isabella of Spain, and offered to her a "book of Spanish Grammar Rules", a work the Spanish intellectual elite had been working on for some while.

The Queen, puzzled, asked the Bishop: "Of what use is this to me?", to which the Bishop replied, "But your Majesty, language is a perfect instrument of empire".

And with the 'royal adoption' of this document, Spanish was the first 'modern' language to have grammar rules set out for its use; other languages followed suit.

Use of Language

Different languages have, at varying times, enjoyed varying levels of importance and kudos.

About two thousand years ago, Latin and Greek-roots of which continue to be present today underneath our modern English etymology-were the 'lingua franca' of their period.

Today, English has emerged as the lingua-franca of the period, in part due to historical factors, such as the expansion in the 15th and 16th centuries of the British Empire and the present-day influence of American culture.

English has succeeded as a language for another very important reason: its enormous flexibility and dynamism. As the language is bequeathed from a mixture of Romantic (Latin) and Germanic languages, and these have endowed English with a most flexible etymology, which lends itself well to the present age. There are currently more words in English than any other language.

The Influence of Spanish

Just as the British colonized many countries around the world during the height of their empire, so the Spanish did the same, particularly between the 13th and 17th centuries, leaving the Spanish language firmly planted in each territory.

Today, Spanish is one of the most widely-spoken languages in the world.

Spanish is one of the European Union's official languages (being spoken in Spain), it is one of the United Nation's six official languages, and is predominant throughout Latin America (except Brazil, although Mercosur, of which Brazil is a part, uses Spanish as its official language). Over 51 million people in the United States today speak Spanish, comprised of 45 million Hispanics and some 6 million students of the Spanish language.* This makes the U.S. host to the largest Spanish-speaking community in the world, outside of Mexico. More people in the U.S. speak Spanish than those speaking Chinese, French and Italian combined. Nearly one in every seven people living in the U.S. speak Spanish, and it's predicted that by 2050, nearly 100 million people in the United States alone-one in three-will speak Spanish.

Worldwide, Spanish is spoken by over 420 million people (some estimates suggest that up to 500 million people may speak Spanish). Spanish is commonly spoken in more than 20 countries and is the second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese. (English remains the Lingua Franca of the age.)

Today, many people who learned English as their first language are beginning to appreciate the importance of learning a second (or third) language. Americans are leading the way with large numbers of mono and bi-lingual Americans (particularly of 'baby boomer' age) now beginning to learn second and third languages in earnest. For mono-lingual Americans, Spanish is at the top of the 'second language wish list'.

*U.S. 2010 Census data

Reasons for Learning Spanish

Personal Development

Learning a second or third language is an investment in yourself. There is no better way to grow your skills and capabilities than by investing energy in a talent that will enable you to communicate earnestly with more human beings!

Many people for whom English is not a native language, and who want to grow personally and professionally, are going to great lengths and expense to learn English. If your native tongue is English, an investment in learning someone's else's native language is a sign of reverence and will be sincerely appreciated when you travel or meet and talk with others whose native tongue you have learned.

Access to Culture, Better Understanding

As more and more people are speaking Spanish in the USA-and world wide-being able to communicate in Spanish will give you access to culture and people in ways that are not possible through third party translation.

Building a better understanding of others always leads to better relationships and language is the enabling tool which facilitates better understanding of others. It will also help you to expand and improve your use of English as knowing two or more languages develops your overall ability to better articulate your thoughts, ideas and emotions with others.

Better Travel Experiences

You'll enjoy your travels in countries where Spanish is spoken more when you can speak the language. As we pointed out in the introduction page, it is perfectly possible to get by on vacation in Mexico without speaking a word of Spanish, but having the ability to communicate with your Mexican hosts, share stories and articulate your observations and ideas in Spanish will introduce a new dimension to your travel experience.

Better Business, Higher Productivity

If you are visiting Mexico for business, live and work in Mexico, or to retire in Mexico, being able to understand and communicate in Spanish is essential if you are going to get the best from your plans and experiences.

Also, being able to communicate in Spanish will deliver higher productivity: you will get more done, you will be well regarded by those you are counting upon to help you, and you will avoid the need to have everything you want said or written translated by a third party, which is time-consuming and more expensive.

Communicating in Spanish will help you to build better trade links and relationships between your company and Mexican suppliers, clients, contractors or others upon whom your business success depends. Better communication leads to better business deals and speaking the local language will give you a definitive negotiating edge.

Employment Prospects

Your employment opportunities widen and you become a 'more valuable' employee if you are able to speak other languages- especially Spanish if you are employed (or seeking employment) in the United States, Central or South America or the Caribbean.

Some companies in the USA are now insisting that certain managers and senior post-holders (or people aspiring for promotion) are able to communicate well in Spanish; particularly so in markets where serving Hispanic customer's needs is a core (or growing) function of the business.

Phonetic Language, Easier to Learn

English is a difficult language to learn.

Spanish is a phonetic language; what you see written is what you say, remembering that the "h" is always silent, and that vowels are always pronounced the same, regardless of where they appear. This makes Spanish an easy language to get acquainted with.

Basic grammar is easy, advanced grammar takes some time to get to grips with but, overall, it's much easier for a native English speaker to learn Spanish than it is for a native Spanish speaker to learn English.

Spanish Language Courses

Online Spanish language courses offer sound and visual features that help you to get the pronunciation and emphasis right and link words and sentences with objects and situations. Spanish language courses in Mexico will immerse you in the language and are one of the best ways to learn and significantly improve your Spanish language capabilities; they are an excellent way of mixing learning with pleasure in Mexico.

See Also:
Spanish Courses in Mexico Learn Spanish Online Blog Articles Related to Language in Mexico
Mexico in your inbox

Our free newsletter about Mexico brings you a monthly round-up of recently published stories and opportunities, as well as gems from our archives.

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Spanish is one of the world's leading and most widely spoken languages As modern communications and transport systems bring the world closer together, language remains the means by which we interact and build understanding of other peoples, cultures and the principal way in which we may learn from each other.

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Want to perform at a higher level academically? Study Spanish!

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Want to perform at a higher level academically? Study Spanish!

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This ACTFL webpage shares so many reasons why students should study a second language, all backed by research! Turns out, studying a second language (like Spanish!) can help students score better on exams, think divergently, increase their reading comprehension, and perform better at math! If you want to be a higher academic achiever, do yourself a favor and pick up some language classes along the way.
https://www.actfl.org/center-assessment-research-and-development/what-the-research-shows/academic-achievement

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This study analyzes the effect of one year of daily Latin instruction (15- to 20-minute lessons) on academic achievement, as measured by the vocabulary section of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. Thirty four fifth- and sixth-grade experimental subjects were matched with an equal number of control group subjects on measures of Iowatest score (from the previous year), grade level, and neighborhood.

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Learn Spanish and become a more Empathetic Person

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Learn Spanish and become a more Empathetic Person

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This well written article presents the idea (based on research) that being bilingual (or multilingual) makes one better able to infer what people are meaning to say, even if the language used is less precise. The author explains other methods by which second language learning may help speakers better able to relate to other people through humility, understanding, and a more general acceptance of ambiguity. The latter of which, the author says, is most needed in today’s social media world.  https://www.fastcompany.com/3068615/can-learning-another-language-boost-your-empathy

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There's a Czech proverb that says, "As many languages you know, as many times you are a human being." Like other multilingual speakers, I've often thought of myself as a different person whenever I speak a different language.

But this feeling has less to do with the structure of the languages themselves than with the personal associations I have with each one. Until I started working at Waze, my use of Spanish was limited to home. So it's always reminded me of warm meals, family time, soccer, and parties. My use of English, meanwhile, has been the de facto language of my professional life. I may feel like different people, but the reality is that I'm the same me, using different idioms depending on the context, and my associations flow from that experience-but not the other way around.

For decades ( centuries, really), scholars and scientists have debated whether and to what extent the language you speak may condition your thought, a concept that's often boiled down to a question like, "Can you entertain an idea about something you don't have a word for?" In more recent years, the prevailing answer among researchers has ranged roughly from, "Of course you can, that's a silly question," to, "Well, for the most part." But even though it's largely accepted that our spoken languages don't completely determine what we think, they do influence how we think (and feel and behave) in subtler ways-including how and when we experience empathy.

If Spanish won't turn you into Lionel Messi, then what's the point? Forget for a second that Spanish will help you work in Latin America, or that Mandarin will make you a better host for your Chinese counterparts. Some researchers now believe that knowing a second language- any second language-can increase your capacity for understanding and empathy.

We tend to think that language, when used well, is quite precise. But as Lane Greene, author of You Are What You Speak, told me, "Language is more of a fuzzy pattern recognition between two people." More often than not, we have to look past what a person said to understand what they mean, even if we don't realize we're doing so.

The theory that multilingualism increases empathy was tested in 2015 by a team of researchers at the University of Chicago. The results from that study suggest multilingual children are better at understanding other people, even when the words they use are imprecise. The researchers presented kids ages 4 to 6 with three toy cars-a small, medium, and large one. Some of the children spoke just one language, others were bilingual, and a third group had been "exposed" to a second language but weren't yet fluent.

More often than not, we have to look past what a person said to understand what they mean.

At one point in the experiment, the researchers presented the cars so that the smallest one was hidden from their own view, while the children could see all three-then said, "I see a small car" and asked the child to move it. The bilingual and language-"exposed" children, knowing which cars the experimenter could see, moved the medium-sized car-the smallest one from the point of view of the adult giving them the instructions-three out of four times. Their monolingual counterparts did so only half the time. In other words, the children who were familiar with more languages were better at inferring the researchers' intentions, even when their words came up short.

"Early language exposure is essential to developing a formal language system but may not be sufficient for communicating effectively," the researchers wrote. "To understand a speaker's intention, one must take the speaker's perspective. Multilingual exposure may promote effective communication by enhancing perspective taking."

Language learning may encourage empathy in other ways, too. Anyone who's studied a foreign language will remember how challenging it was at first. So when we meet someone who doesn't speak our native tongue fluently, we may be more likely to put ourselves in their shoes and forgive their mistakes. Actually, one would hope this benefit of the doubt would extend to lots of situations, not just those where there's a language barrier.

The "principle of charity" actually has deep roots in the history of philosophy. It's the idea that we should interpret ambiguous claims or sentences in the most positive way possible in order to allow the conversation or debate to continue. As a friend of mine memorably summed it up recently, it means we should "listen to understand, not to respond." After all, we're dealing with imperfect people speaking imprecise languages-no matter how fluently-so ambiguity and uncertainty should be taken for granted.

In fact, "charity" may be a bit of a misnomer since it suggests you're absorbing some kind of cost for another person's benefit. But it's actually in your interest, too, to assume that whoever you're speaking with is rational and competent. The principle of charity encourages you to suspend judgment until you get a deep enough understanding, not just of what the person said, but what they meant.

Those who speak another language may understand and accept ambiguity more readily than others.

Of course, you don't need to be multilingual in order to be philosophically charitable. But those who speak another language may understand and accept ambiguity more readily than others. That's valuable these days. Social media has made many of us trigger-happy. We're quicker than ever to retweet, share, or cry outrage. It's never been easier to have (and broadcast) an instant reaction to something rather than to process it, ask questions, and try to get to the bottom of what somebody really means, in between and beneath their actual words.

Learning another language, it seems, may nudge us into territory where we can't help but slow down-where we need to seek understanding and commonalities in order to communicate. Greene points out that the results of studies like the one at the University of Chicago haven't been successfully replicated, but says there's other promising research to suggest that multilingualism promotes empathy and even humility.

"People use words differently, so you learn to attune to the person and situation" when you speak more than one language, he says. And ultimately, the empathy and humility this teaches is language-blind. "The charity economy only works if everyone accepts the same currency."
Eric M. Ruiz is a New York City-based writer from Modesto, California. He helped launch Waze Ads in Latin America and now focuses on exploring and writing about the differences that make us the same. He thinks in English but hugs in Spanish. Follow him on Twitter at @EricMartinRuiz.

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Can Learning Another Language Boost Your Empathy?

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There's a Czech proverb that says, "As many languages you know, as many times you are a human being." Like other multilingual speakers, I've often thought of myself as a different person whenever I speak a different language. But this feeling has less to do with the structure of the languages themselves than with the personal associations I have with each one.

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Working Memory Development in Monolingual and Bilingual Children

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Working Memory Development in Monolingual and Bilingual Children

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This article explores two studies that find cognitive benefits of being bilingual. While it doesn’t specifically mention being bilingual in Spanish, the principles still apply. In this article, researchers compared performance of monolingual and bilingual children on tasks that required different levels of working memory. They found, in both studies, that bilingual children outperformed the monolingual children in working memory tasks. In study 1, bilingual children were more accurate in responding to the more difficult incongruent trials (like game where one has to say what is written and not the color you see) than monolingual children. In the second study, researchers found bilingual children outperformed the monolingual children in both the simpler and more difficult memory condition. Working memory is critical for cognitive development and this studies found that the experience of being bilingual shapes the mind and directs the course of development.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3508395/

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Abstract

Two studies are reported comparing the performance of monolingual and bilingual children on tasks requiring different levels of working memory. In the first study, 56 children who were 5-years old performed a Simon-type task that manipulated working memory demands by comparing conditions based on 2-rules and 4-rules and manipulated conflict resolution demands by comparing conditions that included conflict with those that did not. Bilingual children outperformed monolinguals at both levels of conflict resolution and bilinguals were more accurate than monolinguals in responding to incongruent trials, confirming an advantage in aspects of executive functioning. In the second study, 125 children who were 5-years old or 7-years old performed a visuospatial span task that manipulated other executive function components through simultaneous or sequential presentation of items. Bilinguals outperformed monolinguals overall, but again there were larger language group effects in conditions that included more demanding executive function requirements. Together, the studies show an advantage for bilingual children in working memory that is especially evident when the task contains additional executive function demands.

It is now recognized that a variety of cognitively demanding experiences can modulate brain development and by extension modify cognitive functioning (e.g., Green & Bavelier, 2003; Maguire et al., 2000; Polk & Farah, 1998; Salthouse & Mitchell, 1990). The modification to cognitive functioning typically follows from intensive practice in a particular process entailed by the experience. For example, video game players have superior spatial resolution of visual processing, presumably because of the practice obtained during gaming ( Green & Bavelier, 2003). The exercise of speaking two or more languages on a daily basis is another experience that has been shown to produce changes in cognitive performance (review in Bialystok, 2009). The mechanism by which bilingualism leads to this experience-induced cognitive change is likely based on the need to monitor attention to the target language in the context of joint activation of the other language. Substantial evidence from a variety of sources has supported the view that both languages are active in mind to some extent during both comprehension and production ( Blumenfeld & Marian, 2007; Francis, 1999; Grainger, 1993; Kroll & de Groot, 1997; Marian & Spivey, 2003; Rodriguez-Fornells, Rotte, Heinze, Nosselt, & Munte, 2002; Thierry & Wu, 2007). The procedures for monitoring attention to the target language have been shown to be handled at least in part by the executive control system ( Luk, Green, Abutalebi, & Grady, in press, for meta-analysis of fMRI evidence) and the recruitment of that system for language use improves its efficiency for a broad range of tasks. The process by which the executive control system interacts with language selection and the subsequent effect on specific aspects of that system, however, are not well understood. Such precision is necessary in order to understand the unique structure of bilingual minds and how experience can affect cognitive outcomes.

One area of uncertainty is the identification of the specific executive control function components that are involved in bilingual language processing and subsequently boosted for bilinguals. A widely-accepted interpretation of executive control proposed by Miyake et al. (2000) consists of three core components, roughly corresponding to inhibition, shifting, and working memory. Early studies showing bilingual differences in performance focused primarily on inhibition ( Bialystok, 2001 for review), tracing the bilingual advantage in executive control to the need to inhibit the irrelevant but jointly activated language (cf., Green, 1998). Subsequent research, however, has challenged that interpretation: bilingual advantages have been found in preverbal infants long before any inhibition could be relevant ( Kovacs & Mehler, 2009), some types of inhibition have been implicated in these effects and others not ( Colzato et al., 2008), and conditions that involved no inhibition appear to be equally affected ( Hilchey & Klein, 2011). Therefore, the precise nature of how executive control is involved in bilingual performance is not clear.

Recently, Miyake and Friedman (2012) have taken a broader view and proposed that the executive function is characterized by "unity and diversity", that is, a set of correlated but separable abilities. This view captures a trend in recent research that emphasizes a reliance of executive function components on a common underlying mechanism ( Best & Miller, 2010; Garon, Bryson & Smith, 2008; Lehto, Juujärvi, Kooistra, & Pulkkinen, 2003). On this view, working memory is automatically affected by any experience that impacts the executive function system more broadly. Evidence for bilingual advantages in aspects of two of the three components, inhibition and shifting, is already documented, so from the concept of "unity" it follows that bilinguals should demonstrate enhanced working memory.

Understanding both the status of working memory in the constellation of the executive function and the effect of bilingualism on its development is important because working memory is arguably the most important component of the executive function. Working memory is central to a wide variety of cognitive abilities, especially those that involve dealing with interference, conflict or distraction (see Kane, Conway, Hambrick, & Engle, 2007, for a review) and predicts essential cognitive and academic outcomes in children. For example, reading comprehension requires holding the previous text in mind so it can be related to the current material, and mental arithmetic requires holding numbers in mind while the operation is applied to update the result. Not surprisingly, therefore, the early acquisition of literacy and numeracy skills ( Adams & Gathercole, 1995; Blair & Razza, 2007; de Beni, et al., 1998; Gathercole, Pickering, Knight, & Stegmann, 2004, 2005; Savage, Cornish, Manly, & Hollis, 2006) and later language and math achievement ( Barrouillet & Lepine, 2005; Blair & Razza, 2007; Bull & Scerif, 2001; Espy et al., 2004; Gathercole et al., 2004a; Passolunghi, Vercelloni, & Schadee, 2007; Swanson & Kim, 2007) depend heavily on working memory.

Previous research investigating the effect of bilingualism on executive control has largely focused on the role of inhibition and shifting. Thus, the tasks typically require the participant to switch between rules ( Bialystok, 1999; Bialystok & Viswanathan, 2009; Costa, Hernández, Costa-Faidella, & Sebastian-Galles, 2009; Prior & MacWhinney, 2010) or ignore interference from irrelevant stimuli, as in the Simon task ( Bialystok, Craik, Klein & Viswanathan, 2004; Martin-Rhee & Bialystok, 2008), flanker task ( Carlson & Meltzoff, 2008; Costa, Hernández & Sebastián-Gallés, 2008; Yang, Yang & Lust, 2011), or Stroop task ( Bialystok, Craik, & Luk, 2008). The typical finding is that bilingual participants perform faster on both congruent and incongruent trials in conflict tasks and switch between rules more efficiently, invoking both inhibition and switching into the account. For this reason, recent accounts of bilingual advantages in executive functioning have taken a more holistic view and attributed the advantage to broader processes such as conflict monitoring ( Costa et al., 2009; Hilchey & Klein, 2011) or coordination ( Bialystok, 2011). However, few studies have addressed the possibility that working memory is also involved in these tasks and is modified by bilingualism.

Some fragmentary evidence suggests that working memory might be affected by bilingualism in the same way as found for inhibition and shifting. Bialystok et al. (2004) presented younger and older adults who were monolingual or bilingual with a Simon task in which they were asked to indicate the color of a square by pressing the appropriate response key. In the experimental conditions, the squares were presented on either the left or right side of the display and either corresponded or not to the position of the relevant response key, creating congruent and incongruent trials. In a control condition, the stimuli were presented in the center of the display so there was no interference from position. There was also a working memory manipulation consisting of 2-stimulus and 4-stimulus conditions in which the latter required holding more stimulus-response pairings in mind. The expectation was that the two language groups would perform equivalently in the control condition and that the increase in difficulty from the 2- to 4-stimulus presentation in the control condition would be equivalent for participants in the two language groups. As expected, there were no RT differences between language groups for the 2-stimulus condition, but the surprising result was that the additional time needed to hold in mind 4 stimulus pairings was significantly longer for monolingual than bilingual participants. This difference was larger for the older adults than the younger adults, suggesting that bilingualism also slows the decline of these abilities with age. Thus it appeared that even at this basic level of working memory the bilingual participants were more efficient than the monolinguals. However, studies comparing simple working memory performance in monolingual and bilingual children have found no evidence of difference ( Bialystok & Feng, 2010; Bonifacci, Giombini, Bellocchi, & Contento, 2011; Engel de Abreu, 2011). The few studies on this topic, therefore, are inconclusive so there is no clear evidence regarding whether working memory, like inhibition and shifting, is also enhanced for bilinguals.

The characterization of the executive function as consisting of unity and diversity makes it challenging to investigate the components individually, but it is nonetheless crucial to determine whether differences in working memory can be identified and how they might interact with the other components. Working memory is the missing piece in the explanation of cognitive effects of bilingualism and requires independent study not only to understand cognitive processing in bilinguals but also to understand the integrity of executive control in development.

The hypothesis in the present research is that working memory is enhanced in bilingual children, particularly in conditions for which the other core components of executive control are also required. There are two reasons for this hypothesis: first, from the perspective of unity, the established effect of bilingualism on some components of the executive function will necessarily involve all the components including working memory through their common foundation; and second, from the perspective of diversity, the joint activation of both languages for bilinguals in language processing not only requires inhibition and selection but also maintenance of representations of context, interlocutors, and discourse, all functions of working memory. Therefore, as with the other two components, the relations should be observed through interactions with other executive function processes. Just as inhibition of irrelevant information in an incongruent trial is primarily observed in the context of shifting between congruent and incongruent trials, so too we expect that working memory effects will be observed in situations where working memory demands are integrated with demands for inhibition and shifting. On this view, the core components of the executive function system are all involved in bilingual processing and all modified as a consequence. It is empirically difficult to isolate the core components of the executive function, an issue that is central in the study of executive function. Bilingualism provides a unique window to test unity and diversity account. To the extent that working memory is uniquely modified by bilingualism, the diversity view, there should be a main effect of working memory across manipulations in other components of the executive function. To the extent that working memory is integrated with the other components, the unity view, the strength of the working memory effect will be modulated by other task demands.

STUDY 1

Manipulation of the executive function demands in a Simon task paradigm were adapted from Bialystok et al. (2004) to create a task appropriate for children. Working memory demands were operationalized as the difference between performing the task while holding in mind two response rules or four response rules in conditions that either had minimal additional executive control demands or included conflict and thus required inhibition and shifting. Thus, manipulations in working memory could be examined across levels of executive control.

Method

Participants

Sixty-four 5-year olds (mean age = 5 years, 5 months, SD= 5.4) who were attending kindergarten participated in this study. All the children lived in the same homogeneous middle-class community and attended the same neighborhood schools in a large city. Questions regarding parents' level of education revealed that all parents had at least college-level diplomas. Seven children had mixed language experiences and could not be clearly classified as bilingual or monolingual so were excluded from the analyses. One monolingual child was excluded because his score in the K-BIT task used to assess nonverbal intelligence was more than 2 standard deviations below the group mean. Thus, the final sample was composed of 56 children, including 29 monolingual (17 boys) and 27 bilingual (11 boys) children. All the bilingual children spoke English at school and in the community and a different language at home; they had been exposed to both languages since birth and used them daily. The non-English languages included Arabic (2), Bulgarian (1), Cantonese (2), Chinese (2, dialect unspecified), French (1), Hebrew (1), Igbo (1), Mandarin (4), Portuguese (1), Russian (7), Serbian (1), Spanish (3), and Urdu (1). All parents completed a questionnaire about the language environment at home, the language used for specific activities, and the languages used for interactions between family members. The responses were indicated on a 5-point scale in which 1 meant "entirely in English" and 5 meant "entirely in the non-English language", with 3 indicating balanced usage. The score for monolinguals was consistently 1. For bilinguals, the language spoken by the children obtained an average score of 2.5 ( SD= 1.1), indicating a slight bias for English, and the language spoken by parents to children obtained an average score of 3.5 ( SD= 1.0), indicating a slight bias for the non-English language.

Materials and Procedure

Children were tested individually in a quiet room in their school on three tasks. Two background measures were administered, the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-III, Dunn & Dunn, 1997) to assess receptive vocabulary in English, and the matrices subtest of Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (K-BIT, Kaufman & Kaufman, 2004) to evaluate the equivalency of both groups on fluid intelligence. The third task was the pictures task, which is a Simon-type task that included a manipulation of working memory demands. The order of the tasks was as follows: part 1 of the pictures task, K-BIT, part 2 of the pictures task, and PPVT-III. The session lasted approximately 40 minutes and children were given stickers upon completion to thank them for their participation.

The measures for English receptive vocabulary (PPVT-III) and fluid intelligence (K-BIT) were administered and scored according to standard procedures.

Pictures Task

This task was programmed in E-prime software ( Schneider, Eschman, & Zuccolotto, 2002) and presented on a Dell Latitude C840 laptop computer with a 15-inch monitor. All participants completed four conditions consisting of two blocks of 24 trials per condition, producing a total of 48 trials for each of the four conditions. The four conditions were created by combining two working memory levels (2 vs. 4 stimuli) with two conflict levels (central presentations vs. side presentations).

Results

Mean scores and standard deviations for the vocabulary and reasoning measures are reported in . Two-way analyses of variance (ANOVA) for each background measure with gender and language group as between-subjects factors showed no differences in age, Fs < 1, and K-BIT scores, Fs < 1. Regarding vocabulary skills in English, monolingual children obtained higher scores ( M=111.6; SD= 9.3) than bilinguals ( M=102.1; SD= 12.2) on the PPVT-III, F(1,52) = 10.44, d = 0.88, p = .002, consistent with previous research ( Bialystok, Luk, Peets, & Yang, 2010). There were no correlations between PPVT-III and any of the other measures, indicating that language differences between the groups did not influence performance on other tasks. Because there were no effects of gender on any group variables, subsequent analyses were collapsed across gender.

Table 1

For the pictures task, three participants were excluded (2 bilinguals, 1 monolingual) because they did not complete all the blocks. Accuracy data are reported in . Non-conflict and conflict blocks were analyzed separately because the conflict block contained a factor for congruence that was not present in the centrally-presented non-conflict block. A two-way ANOVA for language group and working memory level (2 vs.4) on accuracy in the non-conflict block showed a main effect of memory load, with children recalling fewer items in the 2-stimuli than in the 4-stimuli condition, F(1,51) = 11.41, d = 0.49, p = .001, and no difference between language groups and no interaction effect, F s < 1.

Table 2

For the conflict block, a three-way ANOVA for language, working memory level and congruence revealed a main effect of working memory load ( M = 91.4, SD = 9.1 and M = 94.4, SD = 6.5, for 2-stimuli and 4-stimuli respectively), F(1,51) = 12.63, d = 0.38, p < .001, a main effect of congruence, F(1,51) = 11.11, d = 0.43, p = .001, with higher scores for congruent trials ( M = 94.5, SD =6.3) than incongruent trials ( M = 91.3, SD =8.4), and significant interactions of congruence by language, F(1,51) = 4.56, η ² = .082, p = .04, and congruence by working memory load, F(1,51) = 11.09, η ² = .18, p = .001. For the congruence by language interaction, there was no effect of congruence for bilinguals, F< 1 (for congruent CI.95= 92- 96%, and for incongruent CI.95= 90- 96%), but a significant effect for monolinguals, F(1,27) = 13.00, d = .39, p = .001, with higher accuracy in congruent ( CI.95= 93-97%) than in incongruent trials ( CI.95= 86- 92%). Thus, the accuracy of bilinguals was not reduced in incongruent trials as it was for monolinguals. The congruence by working memory load interaction showed that the effect of congruence was only found for the 2-stimulus condition, F(1,51) = 14.85, d = .51, p < .001, (for congruent CI.95= 93-96% and for incongruent CI.95= 85-91%) but not for the 4-stimulus condition, F< 1, (for congruent CI.95= 93-97% and for incongruent CI.95= 92-96%).

RT data for correct responses are shown in . Trials with RTs less than 200 ms and more than 2500 ms were excluded (2.8% trials). For the non-conflict block, a two-way ANOVA for language group and working memory level showed a main effect of memory load, F(1,51) = 209.93, d = 2.19, p < .001, with faster responses in the 2-stimulus ( M= 830 ms, SD=140) than 4-stimulus condition ( M= 1198 ms, SD=192), F(1,51) = 209.93, d = 2.19, p < .001, and a main effect of language group, F(1,51) = 7.18, d = 0.62, p = .010, with faster responses from bilinguals ( M= 962 ms, SD=155) than monolinguals ( M= 1060 ms, SD=162), and no interaction.

For the conflict condition, a three-way ANOVA revealed main effects of working memory load F(1,51) = 90.37, d = 1.56, p < .001, with faster responding to 2-stimulus trials, language group, F(1,51) = 4.48, d = 0.44, p = .039, with bilinguals responding faster than monolinguals, F(1,51) = 4.48, d = 0.44, p = .039, and congruence, F(1,51) = 36.17, d = 0.28, p < .001, with faster responses to congruent trials. There were no significant interactions. Thus, RTs for bilinguals, 2-stimulus conditions, and congruent trials were faster than their counterparts. To evaluate the presence of speed accuracy trade-offs, Pearson correlations were calculated between RTs and accuracy. No significant correlations were found for any of the conditions.

Discussion

Monolingual and bilingual children performed equivalently on a test of fluid intelligence but monolingual children obtained higher scores than bilinguals on a test of English receptive vocabulary. This pattern is consistent with previous research in which monolinguals typically demonstrate a higher vocabulary in the language of testing ( Bialystok et al., 2010; Oller, Pearson & Cobo-Lewis, 2007). Importantly, there were no significant correlations between PPVT scores and any of the dependent variables, so this difference did not affect experimental outcomes.

In the non-conflict condition, all children showed a high level of accuracy, with correct responses provided to over 90% of the trials. Executive function demands were low, with the primary demand being the need to hold arbitrary rules in mind to respond appropriately. The conflict condition produced different results for the two language groups. Whereas incongruent trials were more difficult than congruent trials for monolinguals, the misleading cues did not increase task difficulty for the bilinguals. These findings are consistent with evidence from studies using a Simon task ( Martin-Rhee & Bialystok, 2008) or flanker task ( Carlson & Meltzoff, 2008; Yang, Yang & Lust, 2011) showing an advantage in conflict resolution for bilingual children.

RT data showed that bilingual children were faster than monolinguals, even in the simpler non-conflict condition. Because there was no interaction of conflict and working memory load and no evidence of speed-accuracy trade-offs, bilinguals appear to be more efficient in performing the task and in coordinating the demands across the manipulations of executive control and working memory.

Children in both language groups produced more accurate but slower responses to the 4-stimulus condition than the 2-stimulus condition. This pattern may indicate that children were attending more carefully in the more difficult condition. It is also possible that even the 2-stimulus condition was demanding for this age group ( Gerstadt, Hong, & Diamond, 1994), and that bilingual children are more advanced than the monolinguals in their progress in developing these skills. For children in this age range, working memory tasks that involve holding in mind two or more items require children to engage extra attentional processes to solve the task ( Gathercole, Pickering, Ambridge, & Wearing, 2004b; Miles, Morgan, Milne, & Morris, 1996; Wilson, Scott & Power, 1987). The fact that bilingual children were able to maintain their speed advantage in the presence of conflict from incongruent trials or increases in memory load may be evidence of enhancement of working memory. Note, too, that the bilingual advantage on the centrally-presented stimuli is similar to the results found by Bialystok et al. (2004) for adults, in which the bilinguals outperformed monolinguals on a condition requiring them to hold 4 rules in mind and respond correctly to a stimulus presented in the center of the screen. It is also possible that faster RTs in bilinguals indicate faster processing of stimuli, and this may have been elicited by a better management of information in working memory.

In sum, bilingual children performed the task more efficiently than monolingual children, responding more rapidly throughout and achieving higher accuracy on the difficult incongruent trials. This pattern was found for both conditions that included low executive control demands and those for which executive control demands were higher. The second study pursued these results by presenting children with a visuospatial span task that manipulated working memory demands in a different way.

STUDY 2

Study 2 used a visuospatial working memory task to minimize the role of linguistic demands because of expected vocabulary differences between monolingual and bilingual children. The task was a span task, so working memory was assessed by evaluating the number of items children could correctly recall. As in Study 1, stimulus presentation was manipulated to create conditions that varied in their demands for executive control. Different results have been observed when comparing visuospatial working memory in which the information is presented simultaneously or sequentially. Rudkin, Pearson and Logie (2007) administered the Visual Pattern Test (VPT; Della Sala, Gray, Baddeley, & Wilson, 1997) and a version of the Corsi blocks task ( Corsi, 1972; Milner, 1971), and explored the involvement of executive function in each task. Although both visuospatial working memory tasks required participants to recall the positions of the presented stimuli, the VPT presents all the stimuli at the same time, requiring only recall of positions, but the Corsi blocks task presents the stimuli sequentially, increasing memory demands to maintain and possibly manipulate the order of presentation. They found that Corsi performance was affected by the inclusion of a dual task whereas performance on VPT was not disrupted. This difference was interpreted as evidence that sequential presentation recruits more resources than simultaneous presentation and therefore signals the involvement of greater executive functioning for sequential presentation. Not surprisingly, the ability to perform the simpler simultaneous task develops earlier than the ability to perform the more complex sequential one: 5-years old are not yet capable of carrying out complex working memory tasks that involve manipulation of information, but 7-year old children have developed this skill ( Gathercole et al., 2004a; Miles et al., 1996).

In Study 1 using a simple task, we showed that monolingual and bilingual children at the same chronological age were at different stages in developing their ability to perform this working memory task. The task in Study 2 is more complex and captures the development of the ability to mentally manipulate visuospatial information. This skill has been shown in previous research to develop over the ages 5- to 7-years old ( Gathercole et al., 2004a; Miles et al., 1996). Therefore, we included a group of older children to provide a more complete picture of the emerging ability to perform this task by monolingual and bilingual children. In the present study, children were asked to recall the positions of items in a matrix following simultaneous or sequential presentation. In addition to imposing a greater memory burden in that both position and order information are required, the sequential task also requires executive control to monitor two sources of information and update both position and order information ( Rudkin et al., 2007). Thus, as in Study 1, the children's ability to perform a working memory task can be compared for a condition in which only simple recall is required and a more difficult condition in which memory and executive control demands are higher. If the working memory advantage for bilinguals is independent of other task demands, then the prediction is that bilinguals will outperform monolinguals on both conditions in that working memory is involved in both. If the bilingual advantage in working memory is constrained by other task demands, then bilinguals will demonstrate an advantage only when other executive control demands are high.

Method

Participants

The same 56 5-year-old children from Study 1 and a new sample of 69 7-year-old children (mean age = 6 years, 11 months, SD= 2.76 months) participated in the study (see ). The new sample was composed of 33 monolingual children (16 males) and 35 bilinguals (18 males). All children lived in the same middle-class neighborhoods and all parents reported having at least some post-secondary education. As in Study 1, the bilingual children spoke English at school and in the community and a different language at home. All bilingual children had been exposed to both languages since birth and used them daily. The non-English languages included Arabic (3), Bengali (1), Cantonese (4), Chinese (3), Farsi (1), Hindi (1), Italian (1), Japanese (2), Persian (2), Mandarin (2), Portuguese (1), Punjabi (2), Russian (2), Spanish (1), Tamil (4), Urdu (4), and Vietnamese (1). The language history questionnaire completed by parents indicated that for bilinguals, the language spoken by the children at home obtained an average score of 3.0 ( SD= .95), and the language spoken by parents to the children obtained an average score of 4.0 ( SD= 1.07), indicating a tendency to use the non-English language. The score for monolinguals was consistently 1.

Materials and Procedure

The same background measures for receptive vocabulary and nonverbal fluid intelligence from Study 1 were used.

Results

Background scores are reported in . Within each age group, there was no difference between language groups in age, Fs < 1. Three-way ANOVAs for gender, language and age group showed no differences in K-BIT for any factor, Fs < 1. However, for the PPVT standard scores there were main effects of language, F(1,117) = 24.66, d = 0.78, p < .001, and age group, F(1,117) = 13.80, d = .66, p < .001, with no differences by gender and no significant interactions. Scores were higher for monolinguals and 5-years old children. Since PPVT scores are standardized by age, we assume that the difference between 5-year-old and 7-year-old scores reflects sampling differences. As in Study 1, there were no correlations between PPVT-III and the dependent measures, ruling out language group vocabulary differences as a confound in the results. There were no gender effects, so data were collapsed across gender in subsequent analyses.

For the FMT, one 7-years old monolingual was excluded as his data from the sequential condition were missing due to technical failure. Two measures were calculated for each condition as described above: span and proportion of total correct answers. The data are presented in . Three-way ANOVAs for condition, age group, and language group were conducted for each measure. The analysis of span indicated main effects of condition, F(1,120) = 187.17, d = 1.56, p < .001, with higher scores for the simultaneous presentation ( M = 5.3, SD = 1.1) than sequential presentation ( M = 3.5, SD =1.2), and age group, F(1,120) = 14.81, d = 0.45, p = .001, with the older children reaching higher span ( M = 4.6, SD = 1.0) then the younger children ( M = 4.1, SD =1.2). No other main effects or interactions were found.

Table 3

The analysis of proportion correct indicated main effects of condition, F(1,120) = 172.59, d = 1.22, p < .001, with higher scores for the sequential presentation ( M = 0.78, SD = 0.26) than simultaneous presentation ( M = 0.50, SD = 0.21), age group, F(1,120) = 6.31, d = 0.34, p = .01, with higher scores for older children ( M = 0.68, SD = 0.22) than younger children ( M = 0.60, SD = 0.24), and language group, F(1,120) = 4.17, d = 0.35, p = .04, with higher scores for bilinguals ( M =0.68, SD = 0.27) than monolinguals ( M =0.60, SD = 0.27). There was a significant two-way interaction of condition by language group, F(1,120), = 3.73, η ² .03, p = .05. Pairwise comparisons revealed that language group differences were significant in the difficult sequential condition, F(1,120) = 9.97, d = .61 p = .002 (for monolinguals CI.95= .39- .49%, and for bilinguals CI.95= .50- .60%), but not in the easier simultaneous condition, F< 1, (for monolinguals CI.95= .71- .84%, and for bilinguals CI.95= .74- .86%). The three-way interaction of language group by age group by condition was also significant, F(1,120) = 4.53, η ² = .035, p = .03. For bilinguals there were no differences in age for the simultaneous condition F< 1 (for 5-year-olds CI.95= .70- .87%, and for 7-year-olds CI.95= .72- .89%), but there was an advantage for older in the sequential condition F(1,120) = 5.05; d = .50, p = .02 (for 5-year-olds CI.95= .42- .57%, and for 7-year-olds CI.95= .54- .67%). For monolinguals, older children performed better in the simultaneous condition, F(1,120) = 5.73; d = .41, p = .01 (for 5-years old CI.95= .60- .79%, and for 7-years old (CI.95= .76- .93%), but not in the sequential condition F(1,120) = 1.4; d = .29 p = .2 (for 5-years old CI.95= .34- .48%, and for 7-years old children (CI.95= .40- .53%). Therefore, 5-year-old bilingual children performed at the same level as 7-year-old monolingual children in the simpler simultaneous condition.

Discussion

As in previous research, children performed better in the simultaneous condition than they did in the sequential condition (cf., Lecerf & de Ribaupierre, 2005; Mammarella, Pazzaglia, & Cornoldi, 2008; Tucker, Novelly, Isaac, & Spencer, 1986). Moreover, children's ability to perform these tasks improved over the ages studied (cf., Gathercole et al., 2004b; Miles et al., 1996). Although there were no language group differences in span, bilingual children obtained higher scores than monolinguals in both conditions on the more sensitive proportion correct score. The two-way interaction showed that bilingual children obtained higher scores than monolinguals on the more difficult sequential condition, and the three-way interaction revealed that the younger bilingual children performed better than their monolingual counterparts on the simpler simultaneous condition.

General Discussion

The two studies addressed the question of whether bilingual advantages could be found in working memory and if so, if those advantages were tied to other components of executive control, such as inhibition and shifting. In both studies, bilingual children outperformed monolinguals on the working memory tasks, and evidence for this advantage was found across manipulations in the level of other executive control components. In Study 1, the difference was found for both a simple condition in which children had to hold 2 or 4 rules in mind to press a response key and a difficult condition in which the response also required executive control to ignore distraction from a misleading position and shift between trials. In Study 2, the difference was found in a simple condition in which young bilingual children performed at the level of older monolingual and bilingual children, and in a difficult condition in which children had to recall both position and order information and ignore interference from competing positions in the wrong sequence. Notably, however, the advantage for the bilingual children was larger in the more difficult conditions and the other executive function components, such as performing the incongruent trials in Study 1, were also handled better by the bilingual children. Thus, bilingual children do perform better than monolingual children on working memory tasks, an advantage that is nonetheless related to the other executive function demands of the task. This pattern of results is consistent with the view of unity and diversity described by Miyake and Friedman (2012) and contributes to our understanding of the development of working memory in monolingual and bilingual children and to the relation between working memory and the other executive control components.

Consider first the implications for understanding the development of bilingual children. The results clearly indicate that explanations of developmental or executive function differences between monolingual and bilingual children need to include differences in working memory. Earlier accounts focused on specific components, such as inhibition (e.g., Bialystok, 1999) but more recent studies have looked beyond inhibition or a single component explanation (e.g., Bialystok, 2010). The presence of both main effects of working memory advantages for bilingual children and an enhancement of those effects when other executive function demands are present are consistent with the importance of working memory over and above other aspects of executive functioning.

Previous studies examining the working memory ability of monolingual and bilingual children have failed to find clear evidence for a bilingual advantage. One reason for this may be found in the differences in the tasks used in the present study and those used in previous research. For example, Bialystok and Feng (2010) asked children to recall lists of words, and Engel de Abreu (2011) presented several tasks, all of which involved words or digits. In both cases, performance on the working memory tasks was equivalent for monolingual and bilingual children, but bilingual children generally experience more difficulty than monolinguals in verbal processing. In both those studies, bilingual children obtained lower scores than monolinguals on tests of receptive and productive vocabulary. This difference in vocabulary may have created a handicap for bilingual children performing verbal tasks, and the equivalent performance may be in fact be masking a latent bilingual advantage. In the present studies, the tasks were visual and visuospatial, with very low verbal requirements, minimizing the possibility of a confound with linguistic processing. In this case, bilingual children outperformed monolinguals on the working memory measures.

The second implication of the present results is for conceptions of the relation among components of the executive function. The bilingual advantage in the working memory tasks in the present studies was independent of other task demands as shown by the main effect of language group in both studies. In Study 1, bilingual advantages were found for both conflict and non-conflict blocks, and in Study 2, bilingual children outperformed monolinguals in total score for both the simpler and more difficult memory condition. These results point to an effect of bilingualism on working memory that is separate from previously reported advantages in executive functioning. However, the executive control demands of the task in both studies had a significant role in determining the outcomes for working memory. In Study 1, a bilingual advantage in accuracy was found for the difficult incongruent trials, and in Study 2, the young bilingual children showed a better performance than monolinguals in the simple condition whereas in the more difficult condition the bilingual advantage was equivalent for children at the two age levels. These results suggest that the bilingual advantage may not be attributable to a single component of executive functioning and that working memory alone is not modified by bilingualism; instead, the experience of bilingualism affects an integrated set of abilities in which efficiency is enhanced on cognitively demanding tasks.

This view of a more integrated set of abilities for the executive function is consistent with the position offered by Miyake and Friedman (2012) arguing for both unity and diversity of the traditional components of executive control. Working memory can be manipulated and assessed somewhat independently of other executive control components, but the results from the present studies show that the outcomes depend on the other task demands. It is also consistent with an interpretation offered by Hilchey and Klein (2011) in which they attribute the bilingual advantage, not to a specific component such as inhibition, but to an overall ability to monitor attention (see also Costa et al., 2009). Thus, the present results endorse a view which attributes an advantage to bilingual children on working memory tasks as well as defining a role for other task demands in controlling those outcomes.

The present studies fill an important gap in our understanding of the bilingual mind. Working memory is crucial to cognitive development, and its precocious development by bilingual children is important evidence for developmental effects of experience. The results also contribute to the growing literature on the effect of experience on cognitive outcomes. In this regard, bilingualism is particularly important because unlike such experiences as musical training and video game playing, bilingual children are not typically pre-selected for talent or interest. The children in the present studies were bilingual because of a family history of immigration and not because of a talent for learning languages. This is powerful evidence for the role of experience in shaping the mind and directing the course of development.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grant R01HD052523 from the US National Institutes of Health to EB, grant EDU2008-01111 from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, and grant FPU (AP2007-00314) from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science to JM.

Footnotes

Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.

References

Luk G, Green DW, Abutalebi J, Grady C. Cognitive control for language switching in bilinguals: A quantitative meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies. Language and Cognitive Processes. (in press) in press. [[PMC free article] [PubMed] Google Scholar]

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Working Memory Development in Monolingual and Bilingual Children

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Two studies are reported comparing the performance of monolingual and bilingual children on tasks requiring different levels of working memory. In the first study, 56 children who were 5-years old performed a Simon-type task that manipulated working memory demands by comparing conditions based on 2-rules and 4-rules and manipulated conflict resolution demands by comparing conditions that included conflict with those that did not.

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Bilingualism May Delay the Effects of Alzheimer’s Disease

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Bilingualism May Delay the Effects of Alzheimer’s Disease

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Alzheimer’s Disease is a devastating disease of the brain where parts of the brain’s tissue lose their function over many years.  It has been an increasing problem in recent years with the increase in life expectancy world-wide and is emotionally traumatic to the sufferers and their families.  This website concerning Alzheimer’s Disease links to an Italian study that found that fluency in two languages can delay the effects of Alzheimer’s Disease by up to four and a half years.  Their theory is that the daily usage of two languages increases the cognitive reserve of the brain dedicated to languages and that this allows the brain to work around the effects of the disease.  This study is limited in that it only studied people in a specific region of northern Italy who had spoken both German and Italian all their lives.  Additionally, the subjects varied in education, with the bilingual subjects having fewer years of formal education.
If bilingualism can help people with Alzheimer’s Disease and researchers can learn the reasons behind this, perhaps they will uncover cognitive therapies to delay the disease in the future.  With the increase in Spanish-speakers in the United States, it is easier than ever to become bilingual and continue to use both languages daily.
The research article : https://www.pnas.org/content/114/7/1690 "

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Researchers in Italy have studied bilingual people with mild Alzheimer's to understand how speaking two languages daily throughout life could be beneficial by increasing their so-called 'cognitive reserve'. The study is published today in PNAS.

Previous studies have shown that people who are bilingual show symptoms of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias later than people who speak just one language - around a 4.5-year delay. It has been suggested that this is due to bilingual people having a greater cognitive reserve, meaning that their brains are more resilient to the damage taking place in Alzheimer's.

In this new study, a team of researchers looked at the changes in the brain that could explain this phenomenon. They studied a group of 85 people with mild Alzheimer's disease (disease duration <3 years), 45 of whom were classed as bilingual and used German and Italian daily due to where they live in Northern Italy. The volunteers underwent brain scans to measure energy usage in their brains and tests of their memory and thinking skills. They also completed a language background questionnaire from which a bilingualism index was calculated, which provided a measure of the extent to which each person used language each day.

The team found that although the bilingual individuals were on average 5.71 years older and had fewer years of education, they performed better on the memory and thinking tests. The damage that occurs in key brain regions in people with Alzheimer's reduces how much energy these areas of the brain can use, and interestingly those participants who were bilingual showed lower energy use in these areas than the volunteers who spoke one language. The scientists also found that more energy was used in other brain regions in the volunteers who were bilingual, and that these people also had greater brain connectivity, supporting the idea that these people's brains were able to compensate for the damage occurring due to Alzheimer's disease. Using the bilingualism index, the team found that the greatest benefit was seen in people who were lifelong fully bilingual, and used both German and Italian equally each day.

Dr David Reynolds, Chief Scientific Officer at Alzheimer's Research UK, said:

"Cognitive reserve is thought to explain why some people's brains are more resilient to damage than others, and there is increasing evidence that being bilingual throughout life could increase our cognitive reserve. This new study looked at people with mild Alzheimer's who are lifelong bilinguals and use two languages, German and Italian, in their daily lives in Northern Italy. While other studies have indicated that bilingualism can delay the onset of dementia symptoms, this study goes further, showing that there are differences in the brains of people with Alzheimer's who are fully bilingual that could explain why they are resilient to damage.

"It's important to note that these benefits were seen in people who use two languages on a daily basis throughout their lives, so the findings can't be extended to those who are non-fluent and occasionally speak a second language. The findings lend weight to the theory that keeping the brain active may provide a form of cognitive reserve, helping to delay the onset of symptoms as diseases like Alzheimer's develop. In addition to keeping mentally active, the best current evidence shows that not smoking, eating a healthy diet, taking regular exercise, only drinking in moderation and keeping blood pressure and cholesterol in check can all help to keep our brains healthy as we age."

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Speaking a second language shows benefits in Alzheimer's | Alzheimer's Research UK

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PNAS: The impact of bilingualism on brain reserve and metabolic connectivity in Alzheimer's dementia Researchers in Italy have studied bilingual people with mild Alzheimer's to understand how speaking two languages daily throughout life could be beneficial by increasing their so-called 'cognitive reserve'. The study is published today in PNAS.

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This article provides a whopping 40 social reasons why you should learn Spanish! In regard to the lack of an immediate need to learn a second language as an American, author Chi Fang says it best: "So then the question becomes: Why should I learn Spanish when I can get by without it? Well, there is a big difference between just 'getting by' and 'thriving'"! Fang shares how learning Spanish can enhance your traveling experiences, lead to better mental health, and even improve your love life! Learning Spanish is enriching.

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Language learning is all about motivation, and motivation means finding your "Why".

Why should I learn Spanish?

You're probably asking yourself this very question.

If you live in an English speaking country, there isn't really an urgent need to learn Spanish or any other foreign language. Even if you were to travel abroad, you would probably be fine because chances are the people at your hotel, at restaurants, or your tour guide can speak English.

So then the question becomes:

Why should I learn Spanish when I can get by without it?

Well, there is a big difference between just "getting by" and "thriving".

There are tons of reasons why Spanish is the third most popular language to study in the world (behind only English and French). Instead of asking yourself why should you learn Spanish, try asking yourself this:

How can my life become better by learning Spanish?

Well, I've just done the brainstorming for you. Here are 40 reasons why learning Spanish could make a difference in your life.

Travel

1. Experience 20 countries where Spanish is the official language

Spanish is probably the most important language to learn if you love to travel. Spanish speaking countries are extremely beautiful and diverse, with stunning landscapes and interesting cultures that are simply unforgettable.

However, very few people in these countries speak English. According to EF English Proficiency Index, 11 Spanish speaking countries placed in the "Low" or "Very Low" categories in terms English proficiency. So if you really want to get to know the people of these countries, then learning to speak Spanish is essential.

2. Travel with confidence

Being able to travel knowing that you can get yourself around and handle pretty much any scenario is one of the biggest reasons to learn Spanish. You can even travel alone, without having to rely on tour guides or other tourists. It takes away the stress and uncertainty that sometimes comes with travel. It's an empowering feeling that puts you at ease and lets you truly enjoy your vacation.

Once you've become that confident, independent traveler, you can even bring your friends and family along and almost act as their tour guide. They'll be grateful and super impressed!

3. Never get lost again

What if you took a wrong turn and couldn't find the way back to your hotel? This would be a scary scenario for many tourists, but if you know Spanish you could easily ask a local for directions.

But it's not just about getting lost, knowing Spanish lets you ask for help in a variety of situations, or talk yourself out of all sorts of misunderstandings.

4. Save money while traveling

Say goodbye to paying the inflated "tourist" prices. The ability to speak Spanish allows you to haggle and pay what the locals pay (or close to it). You'll save money on everything from fruits at the local market to gifts at souvenir stands. For accommodation, you'll be able to avoid the overpriced tourist hotels, and opt for family-run guesthouses or homestays which will give you a more authentic experience.

5. Experience the local way of life

People absolutely love it when you speak their language. Say a few words in Spanish and they'll gladly repay your efforts with smiles, warm gestures, and acts of generosity. You may get to see places and do things that normal tourists would never get to experience.

I know this from experience. I once got invited to a family farmhouse in the coffee growing region of Colombia, all because I started a conversation with the few broken sentences of Spanish that I knew at the time. I was treated as an honored guest by virtual strangers who I'd only known for a few hours. It remains one of the most memorable travel experiences of my life.

6. Try amazing food

Whether it's Tapas in Spain, or Ceviche in Peru. Spanish speaking countries have mouth-watering food. But instead of asking for the English menu, knowing Spanish lets you try the local delicacies that other tourists don't get to try. Plus, if you ever spot something delicious-but-strange looking, you can always ask what it is!

7. People will treat you better

The stereotypical tourist is an easy target. In popular tourist destinations like Cusco (starting point for Machu Picchu) or the streets of Havana, people will see you as a walking dollar sign. You'll be hassled by all kinds of shady people looking to take advantage of you.

But if you can speak Spanish, all of that changes. You'll stop being hounded by the salesmen and touts. You'll come across as more "street smart" and scammers are less likely to try to trick you.

8. Retire overseas

More and more people are making the decision of spending their golden years abroad. Every year, International Living Magazine publishes a list the top 10 best places to retire in the world. Seven of them (including the top 5) are Spanish speaking countries.

With warm weather, beautiful beaches, lower cost of living and a relaxed pace of life...it seems like a no-brainer. So if you're thinking about retiring overseas, then that's a very good reason to learn Spanish.

Career

9. Learning Spanish can help you land a job

In an increasingly globalized world, many companies are doing business in Spanish speaking countries, which in general are growing much faster than more developed nations like the US, Canada, and the UK.

Also, with the number of Spanish speakers living abroad, more and more businesses are catering to the needs of Spanish speaking customers.

That's why many people are learning Spanish to set themselves apart from other candidates, and get the dream job they always wanted.

10. Do your job better

Some jobs may not require you to speak Spanish, but it's an added bonus if you can.

For example, if you work in the medical field in the United States, chances are you'll get a Spanish speaking patient once in a while (or very often, depending on where you live).

To be able to communicate with them lets you diagnose their problems faster and make them feel at ease. You'll do a better job and feel more satisfied that you were able to help them. It could also lead to other rewards, like promotions or higher pay (see the next reason).

11. Earn more money

Knowing Spanish or another foreign language is valuable and can help you earn higher wages. The Economist confirmed this in their study on the bonuses of learning a second language:

12. Travel to different countries for work

Imagine becoming one of those jet-setting businesspeople who are always traveling to exotic destinations for work. Or maybe living and working as an expat in a cool country like Mexico or Spain.

Even in today's digital age, most business is still done in-person, so that means meeting people face-to-face or having people "on the ground" in a particular country. Becoming a proficient Spanish speaker can open up tons of new career opportunities abroad.

13. Volunteer and help those in need

In certain regions of Central and South America, millions of people continue to live in poverty. In response to this, there are many organizations that organize volunteer or missionary trips to help those in need. You could be helping build homes for local families, or educating children at an orphanage.

However, translators are often in short supply on these trips. You would get a lot more out of your trip if could speak with the people that you're helping and learn more about their lives. It can truly be a life-changing experience.

14. Gives you a chance to study abroad

One of the most effective ways to learn Spanish is by traveling to a Spanish speaking country, and enroll in an intensive Spanish course. It can be very rewarding to immerse yourself in the environment and learn from teachers and through real-life situations. In addition, studying in another country offers plenty of opportunity for adventure and discovery; it's an experience that you won't soon forget.

15. Inspire you to start a business

My Spanish journey started after coming home from an inspiring trip to South America. I desperately wanted to learn Spanish but wasn't really sure how to do it.

I tried everything under the sun...group classes, audio courses, Rosetta stone, but nothing worked. My progress was painfully slow and I often wondered whether I could really do it.

But then, I found Julia. She was a teacher based in Guatemala, and I started to take online lessons with her over Skype. In less than one year, I went from a babbling beginner to conversationally fluent.

This method worked so well for me, that it inspired me to start my own company and share this way of learning with other people. I wanted to help people who struggled to learn Spanish like me, by offering convenient and affordable lessons with the best teachers in the world (including Julia).

That's how Verbalicity was born.

So you never know, learning Spanish might just be the inspiration you need to start your own business.

Relationships

16. Learning Spanish can improve your dating prospects

Admit it. Have you been dreaming of meeting a handsome, Latino caballero while on vacation...hmm?

Even if that's not the case, knowing Spanish and delving into the various aspects of Spanish-speaking culture can really expand your social life and the number of people you connect with.

But it's not just about getting more dates. Spanish is simply a sexy language, and just knowing it can make you a more attractive, or at the very least, a more interesting person (see reason #32).

If you're already dating or even married to a Spanish speaker, then all the more reason to learn. What could be more motivating than speaking to the love of your life?

17. Become one of the family

Boy meets girl, they fall in love. Girl's parents come to visit from Mexico, and they don't speak a word of English. Boy is meeting them for the first time! What to do?

Whether it's making a good first impression or getting to know your in-laws at a deeper level, learning Spanish can really bring families closer together. Plus, you'll be able to understand what they're saying about you!

18. Get in touch with your roots

Statistics show that only 44% of second-generation Latinos in the United States can speak Spanish, and for the 3 rd generation or higher, that figure drops to 24%.

If you are one of these people, then your parents or grandparents probably still speak Spanish to each other around the house. Learning Spanish can let you communicate with them in a different manner, and add a completely new dimension to your family life. It can also be a way of taking pride in your ancestry.

19. Make new and lasting friendships

Language is the ultimate connector. If you can speak Spanish, you'll be able to communicate with a lot more people, and you'll right away have something in common with them. People take an instant liking to you when you use their native language, and it'll enable you to get to know them at a deeper level.

This makes it easier to make new friends in a variety of situations, such as when traveling on vacation, at work, or even just hanging out in your hometown.

20. Help your children learn Spanish

We all have high hopes for our children, and many parents these days want their children to be raised bilingual. Maybe you're a monolingual parent who wants your kids to experience a new dimension that you never had, or maybe you are Latino and want your children to be better in touch with their ancestry.

By learning Spanish yourself, you'll be able to help your kids learn the language too. Or alternatively, it could become a family project, something that you and your children can learn together.

21. Impress your friends

Learning Spanish is quite an accomplishment, and you might be the only person in your circle of friends who's done it. Whenever you bust out your Spanish, whether it's at a restaurant or on vacation, people will be amazed at your abilities and you'll be complimented often. In fact, you could even become a source of inspiration that motivates them to learn Spanish for themselves.

Everyone likes to be in the spotlight once in a while.

Self-Improvement

22. Learning Spanish opens the door to other languages

Spanish is often referred to a gateway language. It is relatively easy for English speakers to learn, and it belongs to the same family of languages as French, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian. If you want to eventually pick up one of these languages, then the similarities with Spanish means that you can learn them much faster. That's why people who can speak 4-5 languages, often know languages from the same family.

Even if you wanted to learn an unrelated language like Mandarin Chinese, or Russian, knowing Spanish still helps. That's because, for each foreign language you learn, you pick up learning tips, strategies and a sense of confidence that will carry over to the next.

23. Leads to a healthier brain

Many studies have concluded that being bilingual can prevent or delay the onset of dementia later in life. Having to switch between two languages helps exercise parts of the brain and makes them more resilient. Although lifelong bilingualism has the strongest protective effect, even attempting to learn a language can be beneficial. So the earlier you start learning, the better!

24. Boost your memory

Your brain is like a muscle, the more you use it, the stronger it gets. Learning Spanish involves memorizing new words and grammar rules, which help develop your overall memory. People who are bilingual have been shown to be better at remembering things like shopping lists, names, and directions.

25. Make you smarter

Speaking Spanish or any other foreign language can challenge and improve the cognitive functions of your brain. A York University study indicated that bilingual kids tend to score higher on standardized testing, even in unrelated subjects like math, while a study from the University of Chicago concluded that bilinguals make more rational decisions.

26. Help you learn other skills

In order to learn Spanish, you'll need to push yourself out of your comfort zone. You have to figure out a learning strategy that works best for you and have the discipline to follow through with it. By going through this process, you're training yourself to become a better and faster learner. Your experience can then be applied to any other skill you choose to learn.

27. Take on a big challenge

Most people will never attempt to learn a foreign language. Why?

Because doing so takes guts. By choosing to learn Spanish, you can prove to yourself that you have the courage to take on a big challenge. As you learn more and more, you'll start to feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment and self-satisfaction. You'll then be more prepared and have the confidence tackle other challenges in life.

28. Become a more positive person

Spanish is considered to be a very "emotional" language, with more words that can be used to express feelings compared to other languages like English. In particular, Spanish has a lot of words associated with positive emotions.

Researchers from the University of Vermont analyzed billions of words from 10 different languages and concluded that Spanish had the highest average usage of "happy" words. Many of these words evoke an attitude that is carefree, relaxed and optimistic. ¡Pura vida!

29. Discover a new aspect of your personality

You might come across as a totally different person when speaking in Spanish. Why is that? The term "frame switching" refers to the idea that bilingual people display different personality traits depending on which language they are speaking.

For example, one study observed that people speaking in Spanish came across as more diplomatic, and left a better overall impression. This is because interpersonal harmony and the idea of pleasing others are important in most Spanish-speaking cultures. However, when those same people were asked to speak English, they showed more "intellectual efficiency", since in American-English culture there is more of a focus on individualism.

30. Help improve your English

Chances are if you grew up speaking English, you probably don't know the rules of your own language. You speak it without ever thinking about using the proper preposition, or placement of relative pronouns (you probably don't even know what those are). Everything just seems to fall into place naturally.

But when you study another language like Spanish, you are forced to learn the grammar rules and then tie them back to what you already know about English. Doing so can actually help you catch English mistakes that you make every day.

31. Overcome your fears

Most people are afraid of rejection and social embarrassment. It's one of the biggest reasons why people spend a lot of time studying a language, but never feel quite ready to actually speak it.

But in order to learn Spanish or any other language, you have get out there and make mistakes. Maybe you'll get flustered and forget what to say, or maybe you'll tell someone that exercise makes you horny (instead of hot). There will be plenty of times where you'll look and feel silly, but you'll get used to it eventually and will become a stronger person as a result of it.

32. Become a more interesting person

Very few English native speakers know a second language. If you took the time to learn how to speak Spanish, then you can consider yourself rather unique!

As someone of Asian descent, people are always astonished (and confused) that I can speak Spanish. I don't quite fit the stereotype, so that makes me interesting to them. I get a lot of questions about how I managed to learn Spanish, and what were my reasons for learning in the first place.

If you know a foreign language like Spanish, you are guaranteed to have a lot more interesting conversations and connect with people that you wouldn't otherwise connect with, whether that's at home or traveling abroad.

Culture

33. Learning Spanish will help you appreciate the everyday

You have more exposure to Spanish than you think. This is especially true if you live in a big city, or certain parts of the United States.

Once you've tuned your ear to the language, you'll notice it more than you ever did before. All of a sudden, you pick up fragments from passers-by on the street or songs that come on the radio. You may even see and begin to understand signs or advertisements in Spanish.

All of this broadens your perception of the environment around you and allows you to appreciate how Spanish has been intertwined with your culture.

34. Makes you laugh until you cry

Every culture has a special sense of humor and many Spanish speaking cultures love nothing more than to joke around. By learning Spanish you'll get to finally get what they're laughing about.

"Cuáles son las vacas más perezosas?" (What kind of cows are the laziest?)

"Vacaciones!" (Vacations!)

Get it? Kind of lame but still funny. Here's a few more to tickle your fancy.

35. Understand the lyrics to your favorite songs

The beat is contagious, the melody is forever stuck in your head, and you have no idea what they're saying, but you love every bit of it.

Latin music has taken over the world in recent years, with Latin Pop, Reggaeton, Salsa and Bachata dominating the airwaves. If that's not your cup of tea, then there are plenty of alternatives to enjoy, such as the rock, folk, or traditional music from countries like Spain and Argentina.

Music is driven largely by emotion, and if you can understand the Spanish lyrics, you'll appreciate the songs you hear that much more. Plus, listening to music can be a really fun way to learn Spanish!

36. Enjoy amazing movies and TV shows

There are loads of award-winning movies and addictive shows in Spanish, just waiting to be watched.

But don't you ever get tired of reading subtitles? They can be distracting, and something always gets lost in translation.

If you learn Spanish, you won't have to rely on the subtitles and truly enjoy these films and shows as originally intended. Don't expect to be able to follow every word though, the Spanish in movies usually comes out really fast!

37. Have the time of your life!

From Havana, where the salsa beats can be heard everywhere you go, to Barcelona, where the party never seems to end (not even when the sun comes up), Spanish speakers really know how to party!

But even if marathon-style partying is not your cup of tea, you'll still get to enjoy the abundant energy, positive vibes, and live-your-life-to-the-fullest attitude that Latin and Spanish culture has in spades.

38. Get perspective on your own culture

In order to fully understand your own culture, you need to have a point of comparison. There are a lot of things that we do which we consider to be "normal" but in fact, are done very differently in other parts of the world.

Maybe we think that we're kind or courteous people, but you haven't experienced warmth until you've witnessed Spanish speaking cultures, where eye-contact, touching, kisses on the cheek and sentimental goodbyes are a part of daily life.

Learning Spanish offers a window into other people's customs and traditions, which in turn lets you examine your own.

39. Lets you speak to half a billion people

I'm sure you've seen the stats, but they are worth repeating. As of 2017, Spanish has over 477 million native speakers, the second most out of all languages (ahead of English). Including people who have learned it as a second language, there are now nearly 600 million Spanish speakers in the world.

Approximately 50 million people speak Spanish in the United States alone, making it the second largest Spanish speaking country in the world, and by 2050 it will become the largest. That in itself is a pretty good reason to learn.

40. Unexpected opportunities

I started to learn Spanish in 2013. Back then, if you had told me that one day, I would be running a Spanish learning company that's helped hundreds of students around the world become fluent, I would've thought you were crazy.

But you never know what life has in store. Good things happen when you expand your horizons and learning Spanish can change your life in ways that you can't predict.

That's a wrap! Do any of these 40 reasons make you want to learn Spanish?

At the end of the day, you only need ONE reason to get the ball rolling. Taking action and getting started is after all, the toughest part.

As you continue to progress, it's always a good idea to come back and revisit your reasons for wanting to learn Spanish in the first place. Use them as motivation to push yourself forward, and you're guaranteed to become fluent.

If you want to know how to get started, check out our complete beginner's guide to the Best Way to Learn Spanish.

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40 Reasons Why Learning Spanish Could Change Your Life

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Language learning is all about motivation, and motivation means finding your "Why". Why should I learn Spanish? You're probably asking yourself this very question. If you live in an English speaking country, there isn't really an urgent need to learn Spanish or any other foreign language.

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While not specific to the Spanish language, this article still provides valuable information about the many cognitive benefits that learning other languages can bestow on the brain. Studies have shown that bilingual people exhibit more empathy and a global mindset, that second language acquisition has positive effects on academic performance, and that learning a second language may help prevent cognitive decline as we age. So in our case, learning Spanish strengthens our brains!

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Learning a language opens new worlds, lets us engage with a wide range of ideas, peoples and cultures - and is even rumoured to make us appear more attractive. But does it increase our ability to acquire new knowledge, to reason, to understand other people's emotions, our creativity or our memory - in short, our cognitive abilities? A project funded by the British Academy, led by Professor Bencie Woll FBA and Professor Li Wei, reviews the academic evidence base for cognitive, academic and age-related benefits of learning a language to any level of fluency - as distinct from being bilingual.

Cognitive performance

There is a substantial body of research supporting a link between bilingualism and cognitive flexibility (reflected in the ability to switch languages). However, the evidence for the relationship between the mental ability to control our behaviour and language learning is complex and inconsistent. Learning a new language through an immersive process does appear to improve functions like attention and mental alertness.

It has been shown that people who speak other languages often exhibit more empathy and a global mindset. Researchers have recorded the sensation felt by some of being a 'different person' when speaking their second language. However, we can't be sure of what causes what. Are people with a global mindset more likely to wish to learn a language and more likely to excel in them - or is an interest in and openness to other cultures a result of learning a language?

In contrast, there is strong evidence for a positive effect of learning a language on creativity in language use. Fluency, originality and creative flexibility are improved in one's first language when learning a second language. This may be due to the cognitive practices involved in learning a new language, such as the willingness and adaptability to change required for language switching, or the rigorous practice and study involved in language learning, but we need more research to understand how this differs by age and gender, and the learning strategy.

Academic performance

The evidence for the impact of language learning on academic achievement is somewhat clearer. Around 90% of studies looking at the effect learning a language has on achievement in other subjects of the school curriculum report a positive impact, across English language learning, literacy, maths and science. This seems to be the case for language learners from a variety of countries, with different language combinations, and from varied socio-economic backgrounds.

Dual language learners may initially lag behind their monolingual peers in academic performance, but they catch up and show the most benefit across the curriculum after several years' immersion in language learning. Students from a minority-language background tend to have better academic performances in English reading and maths if they continue to learn and develop their native language. For instance, students who continued to learn their first language, Spanish, at their school in the United States made faster progress in English and Maths than their peers who did not have Spanish immersion classes.

However, very few of these studies on the relationship between academic performance and language learning have involved individuals whose first language is English, or been carried out in a UK context. This requires further investigation before making recommendations for policy change.

Ageing

Cognitive decline in later years is a major issue for society. Language learning programmes aimed at older populations may be an optimal solution for building cognitive reserve, because language learning engages an extensive brain network that is known to overlap with the regions negatively affected by the aging process. However, our report highlights more recent research which calls into question the strength of the connection between bilingualism and the prevention of dementia.

For the British Academy, this project provides an important evidence base for demonstrating the concrete benefits of language learning, in terms that will speak to parents and to policy makers. A survey conducted as part of the project showed that public perceptions of the value of language learning are very positive - this a strong basis for beginning to address the ongoing decline in the number of people taking up language qualifications in school and higher education.

The Cognitive Benefits of Language Learning project was led by Professor Bencie Woll FBA, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London and Professor Li Wei, Institute of Education, University College London.

Benjamin Kulka is a Policy Advisor (HE & Skills) at the British Academy.

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'The cognitive benefits of learning a language' in two minutes

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Learning a language opens new worlds, lets us engage with a wide range of ideas, peoples and cultures - and is even rumoured to make us appear more attractive. But does it increase our ability to acquire new knowledge, to reason, to understand other people's emotions, our creativity or our memory - in short, our cognitive abilities?

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This LinkedIn article lists five ways that you can advance in your career by learning Spanish. While it is a short and easy read, it contains information that anyone looking to move up the ladder would find appealing, such as how bilingual professionals earn 10% more on average than their monolingual counterparts, or how by learning Spanish, you gain a better understanding of Hispanic culture, and therefore are able to cater to a wider market.

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We're guessing you've already seen articles on the personal benefits of learning Spanish, such as improved memory and longevity, but here at AIL Madrid we also know the importance of learning Spanish as a second language for professional purposes. Though this list could easily be much longer, we've boiled it down to the top five most important ways Spanish will help advance your career and encourage you to comment with any additional benefits you can think of:

5. Greater cultural understanding

A huge benefit of speaking Spanish is that it opens your understanding of other cultures: Spanish is an official language in 21 countries, as well as multiple dependent territories. So not only will you be able to communicate with more people (more on that in #3) but, through culture focused class activities, you will also be able to better understand their motivations and product consumption, allowing you to better cater to a vastly wider market.

4. Improved reasoning and multitasking skills

Learning a language causes your brain to become more active as it makes new connections and juggles multiple forms of expression. This activity then causes you to reevaluate your native languages and vocabulary, allowing you to become more articulate and to present yourself in a more professional manner. In addition, your ability to balance multiple ways to say things translates into the rest of your life and helps you to efficiently manage long term projects and your daily tasks. It also helps you identify clearer paths to simple solutions, giving you better reasoning and problem solving skills for everyday situations.

3. Networking in Spanish

This may rank 3rd, but it's still absolutely crucial: speaking Spanish opens the door to 427 million new potential clients and contacts worldwide, allowing your business/department/startup to compete on an international level. It also improves peer communication, leading to new partnerships and joint ventures that can span multiple continents. Finally, it makes business travel that much easier: as we mentioned, Spanish is an official language in 21 countries, so having even a basic understanding of the language can smooth over miscommunications and travel glitches.

2. Higher average salary

This just in (via Rosetta Stone's research dept): professionals who speak more than one language earn 10% more on average than their monolingual counterparts. If you were lacking motivation to sign up for Spanish classes before, we're sure you're now reconsidering it in a new light. Language skills make you far more valuable to your employers, and they're more than willing to prove it with some extra cash!

1. Beat out the competition and get hired

Though some of you may argue that earning a higher salary should be reason #1 to learn Spanish, it's important to remember that you first need to get your foot in the door, so we think this is a clear winner: 9 out of 10 recruiters say that speaking a second language helps you edge out the competition. So if you want to stand out in a pool of similar candidates and grab an opportunity that could change your life, speaking Spanish could be the deciding factor that gets you the final offer.

This also applies if you already have a job in your preferred sector since speaking Spanish will provide more opportunities for promotion as well: by being able to communicate with more clients, complete successful business trips, and having a greater understanding your market, you'll be the first person to come to mind when a promotion is up for grabs.

Let's face it, these facts speak for themselves to let's wrap up in just a few words: sign up for Spanish classes now and work your way to professional success. We can't wait to see your career progress!

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The Top 5 Ways Learning Spanish Will Advance your Career

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We're guessing you've already seen articles on the personal benefits of learning Spanish, such as improved memory and longevity, but here at AIL Madrid we also know the importance of learning Spanish as a second language for professional purposes. Though this list could easily be much longer, we've

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La contribución del español a la salud mental

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La contribución del español a la salud mental

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El aprendizaje de un segundo idioma mejora la conexión de las neuronas en el cerebro. Esto implica como resultado el retraso, si son dadas, de enfermedades de desorden neurológico. Esto se debe a que al aprender otro idioma "requiere la participación de muchas regiones del cerebro" -acorde con el Dr. Antoni Rodriguez Fornell. Sin mencionar la mejora de la atención, la percepción, la memoria y la inteligencia.

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Por qué aprender idiomas contribuye al desarrollo cognitivo

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El conocimiento de lenguas no es solo una gran habilidad a la hora de obtener empleo, sino que aprender un idioma fomenta una mejor salud mental.

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Poniendo el idioma del español en un contexto social podemos apreciar a simple vista los grandes beneficios de aprender este idioma exquisito. Pero pasemos a un campo más amplio y observemos que el español y el inglés son los idiomas más hablados del mundo y considerados idiomas del futuro. Esto significa que al estudiar este idioma en crecimiento agigantado, no solo te permite expander tu círculo social y disfrutar más de tus viajes a países latinoamericanos pero además es una herramienta de mejora para tus salidas profesionales y laborales.

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En los últimos años, la importancia de aprender español se ha incrementado de manera notable al contar cada más este idioma con un papel relevante en todo el mundo. El español (castellano), es un idioma que crece a un ritmo vertiginoso por diferentes motivos y por lo que estudiar y aprender español se está convirtiendo en los últimos años en una "obligación" más que una "opción". Sin miedo a equivocarnos, podemos hoy decir que el español, junto con el inglés y el chino, está en el podium de idiomas más importantes a nivel mundial, siendo sin duda el más importante en territorios tan amplios como Amércia del Sur o América Central.

Desde Prize English, estamos convencidos que, el español y el inglés son los idiomas del futuro, y dominar perfectamente los dos debe ser algo por lo que toda persona debe luchar. Sí aún no estás convencido/a, te damos 7 razones por las que aprender español. Hay muchas razones para aprender español en nuestros cursos de español en España, algunas tienen que ver con relaciones familiares o el gusto por la cultura española e hispanoamericana. Desde Prize English te damos 7 razones de peso que pueden ayudar a que te decidas por estudiar español con nosotros, por ejemplo en uno de nuestros cursos de español en Cáceres:
1- Es uno de los idiomas más hablados del planeta.
El español es en la actualidad el tercer idioma más hablado del mundo, después del chino y del inglés con casi 500 millones de personas en todo el mundo. Es importante aprender español porque es la lengua oficial en un total de 21 países de todo el mundo (España en Europa, Guinea Ecuatorial en África y casi la totalidad de los países de América del Sur y América Central). Por sí fuera poco, es la lengua materna del 16,4% de la población de Estados Unidos, llegando a conocerlo más del 25% (1 de cada 4) de la población estadounidense. Para acabar con las razones para aprender español en términos de volumen, diremos que hoy día es el segundo idioma más utilizado en las comunicaciones internacionales después del inglés.
2- Una lengua en contínuo crecimiento.
Estudiar español es estudiar una lengua en auge. Se estima que, en el año 2030 el 7,5% de la población mundial entenderá español (unos 535 millones de personas) debido al crecimiento de la población hispanohablante en Estados Unidos y en los países iberoamericanos. En cuanto a Europa, casi el 20% de la población hablará español ya sea como primera o segunda lengua.

Como puedes ver, aprender y estudiar español no es aprender un idioma en decadencia, sino todo lo contrario. Es un idioma con un futuro muy prometedor, que se impondrá a idiomas tan importantes en la actualidad como el francés, el árabe o el chino mandarín.
3- Disfrutarás mucho más de tus viajes.
Saber español te convertirá en una persona no solamente más educada sino también con muy buenos conocimientos culturales de una de las lenguas más ricas del planeta. Aprender español te permitirá ampliar horizontes culturales y te ayudará a ver el mundo desde múltiples perspectivas. Gracias a tu dominio del idioma, podrás adentrarte en culturas y lugares tan diferentes entre sí y espectaculares como pueden ser España y sus fiestas, Cuba o República Dominicana y sus playas, México y sus pirámides o Centroamérica y las culturas precolombinas.

Estudiar y entender español te abrirá las puertas al teatro en español, la música, el cine y la literatura dándote la oportunidad de descubrir obras como don Quijote de la Mancha o la serie Narcos en versión original. Una lengua con muchos matices cuyo conocimiento te permitirá descubrir culturas fascinantes.
4- Tu radio de amistades y conocidos crecerá exponencialmente.
Puedes comunicarte con hablantes de español por todo el mundo o en tu propia ciudad. Por ejemplo si eres de EE UU podrás contactar con muchas personas que hablan español habitualmente en ciudades de Estados Unidos. Si sabes español, cuando viajes a España e Hispanoamérica te resultará más fácil y divertido ya que el conocimiento de la lengua te permitirá conocer mejor la cultura de los lugares que visites mejorando tus experiencias de viaje. Por sí fuera poco, conocer, en su mismo idioma a la comunidad latina, te hará ver el mundo de una forma diferente, ya que son personas muy dicharacheras y con un gran sentido del humor.
5- Estudiar español te permite estudiar fuera.
Aprender español te ofrece la oportunidad para estudiar en otros países como pueden ser España o toda latinoamérica. En muchas Universidades y otros centros de formación, es necesario tener conocimientos de español para poder estudiar en alguno de sus cursos, Máster, etc. Si hablas español tienes la oportunidad de aprender de otras culturas y hacer amigos hispanos para toda la vida.
6- Mejora tus salidas profesionales y laborales.
El conocimiento del español te puede abrir muchas puertas y nuevas oportunidades laborales y de negocios. Hay muchos trabajos que requieren un conocimiento del español como segunda lengua. En el mundo globalizado en el que vivimos es importante poder comunicarse en otros idiomas y eso te hará mejorar tu valía como trabajador. Hablar español es un valor añadido para cualquier Currículum Vitae, ya que los negocios y empresas de hoy en día quieren en plantilla a personas lo más preparadas posibles y que les puedas ayudar en un mundo cada vezmás globalizado. En definitiva, aprender español te hará mejorar profesionalmente, y ello te dará la oportunidad de acceder a puestos de mayor relevancia, importancia y valía.
7- Aprender español es relativamente fácil.
Comparándolo con otros idiomas como el inglés o el chino, el español es relativamente fácil de parender, pues no hace falta aprender un nuevo alfabeto como puede ocurrir sí queremos aprender por ejemplo ruso o árabe, y no tiene las diferencia de enfásis tan grande que tienen otros idiomas como el chino o el japonés. Otra ventaja es que las palabras del español se deletrean fonéticamente, lo que supone una menor pérdida de tiempo aprendiendo las reglas ortográficas y una mejor oportunidad de pronunciar correctamente.

Al ser una lengua románica, aprender español es relativamente sencillo para personas cuyo idiomas nativos provengan del latín (italianos, franceses, rumanos, bulgaros...).

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5 +2 razones para aprender español - ¿Por qué estudiar español?

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En los últimos años, la importancia de aprender español se ha incrementado de manera notable al contar cada más este idioma con un papel relevante en todo el mundo. El español (castellano), es un idioma que crece a un ritmo vertiginoso por diferentes motivos y por lo que estudiar y aprender español se está convirtiendo en los últimos años en una "obligación" más que una "opción".

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La necesidad de hispano-parlantes en la industria médica

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La necesidad de hispano-parlantes en la industria médica

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Acorde con el censo del 2015 de los Estados Unidos, para el 2050, podría llegar a ser el país con la tasa de hispanos más grande del mundo; esto conllevaría a convertirse en el país con el idioma español más hablado del mundo. Sin duda que la necesidad de en la industria médica ya es escasa, a eso agreguémosle la gran deficiencia por parte del idioma para aquellos latinos que no dominan el idioma. Es importante recalcar que aquellos con conocimiento básico del español no deberían colaborar en discusiones clínicas que pueden tener como consecuencia un resultado negativo. Es por eso que la educación y la instrucción a un nivel elevado y con destrezas específicas en el idioma del español son sumamente importantes tanto para la economía como para el bienestar de aquellos que reciben servicios de interpretación y traducción.

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Lisa C. Diamond, MD, MPH, ¹ Delphine S. Tuot, MD, CM, 2, ³ and Leah S. Karliner, MD, MAS 3, ⁴

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND

Language barriers present a substantial communication challenge in the hospital setting.

OBJECTIVE

To describe how clinicians with various levels of Spanish language proficiency work with interpreters or their own Spanish skills in common clinical scenarios.

DESIGN & PARTICIPANTS

Survey of physicians and nurses who report ever speaking Spanish with patients on a general medicine hospital floor.

MEASUREMENTS

Spanish proficiency rated on a 5-point scale, self-reported use of specific strategies (own Spanish skills, professional or ad-hoc interpreters) to overcome the language barrier.

RESULTS

Sixty-eight physicians and 65 nurses participated. Physicians with low-level Spanish proficiency reported frequent use of ad-hoc interpreters for all information-based scenarios, except pre-rounding in the morning when most reported using their own Spanish skills. For difficult conversations and procedural consent, most used professional interpreters. Comparatively, physicians with medium proficiency reported higher rates of using their own Spanish skills for information-based scenarios, lower rates of professional interpreter use, and little use of ad-hoc interpreters. They rarely used their own Spanish skills or ad-hoc interpreters for difficult conversations. Physicians with high-level Spanish proficiency almost uniformly reported using their own Spanish skills. The majority (82%) of nurses had low-level Spanish proficiency, and frequently worked with professional interpreters for educating patients, but more often used ad hoc interpreters and their own Spanish skills for information-based scenarios, including medication administration.

CONCLUSIONS

Physicians and nurses with limited Spanish proficiency use these skills, even in important clinical circumstances in the hospital. Health-care organizations should evaluate clinicians' non-English language proficiency and set policies about use of language skills in clinical care.

KEY WORDS: physician-patient communication, interpreter, language barriers, nurses, inpatients

BACKGROUND

According to the 2007 American Community Survey from the US Census, of the 34.5 million people who spoke Spanish at home, 47% had limited English proficiency (LEP), defined as the limited ability to speak, read, write, or understand English. Lower quality of health care and worse health outcomes are more likely when language barriers exist between patients and providers, independent of socioeconomic and insurance status. ⁻ These disparities are likely to be exacerbated in the inpatient setting, given the frequent, brief nature of communication between patients and clinicians (physicians and nurses). Language barriers can prevent clinicians from obtaining an adequate history, and may lead to longer hospital stays and higher readmission rates., Language barriers also affect a clinician's capacity to engage patients in joint decision making, and limit a patient's ability to fully express thoughts, understand instructions, and engage in self management. ⁻ However, the effects of language barriers can be mitigated by working with professional interpreters. ⁻

Despite evidence of the benefits of working with professional interpreters, studies suggest that that they are underused by clinicians. ⁻ Ease of access to professional interpreters, experience using professional interpreters, and the importance placed by clinicians on direct communication with patients all likely play a role in determining whether a clinician uses a professional interpreter.,,⁻

Research has shown that fluent, bilingual clinicians' direct communication with LEP patients can result in improved health-care quality and outcomes, including better patient satisfaction with care,, medication adherence, patient understanding of diagnoses and treatment, outcomes for LEP patients with diabetes,, patient centeredness, and more health education., Having a language-concordant provider leads to fewer emergency department visits, lower likelihood of missing medications, and lower cost of care.,, Although full language concordance between LEP patients and clinicians is beneficial, the effects of partial language concordance are unknown. Even for partially fluent clinicians, providing language concordant care may be appropriate and even desirable in some settings and circumstances.,, Nevertheless, there are obvious concerns that inadequate communication may lead to lower quality of care and threaten safety during interactions that rely on partial language concordance. To date, there is no research to guide standards for use of less-than-fluent non-English language skills with LEP patients.

Accordingly, we sought to describe how and when physicians and nurses with various levels of Spanish language proficiency use professional or ad-hoc interpreters or their own Spanish skills in common clinical scenarios in the acute care hospital setting.

METHODS

The study focused on the 66-bed General Medicine floor of the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Moffitt-Long Hospital, a 400-bed urban academic medical center with an ethnically and linguistically diverse catchment area. According to the medical center's administration, approximately 18% of patients on the General Medicine floor are LEP, with Spanish, Chinese, and Russian being the most common non-English languages. Health-care providers on the floor include staff nurses, Internal Medicine attending physicians, and the resident physicians they supervise.

As part of a quality improvement project with the UCSF Medical Center Interpreting Services Department, we implemented an easy-access professional interpreting program by placing dual-handset telephones at every patient's bedside on the General Medicine floor in July 2008. We surveyed physicians and nurses working on the General medicine floor about their communication with all LEP patients both before and after implementation of the bedside dual-handset phones. Details of the intervention, recruitment and survey development, and overall results are described elsewhere. This analysis did not rely on the quality improvement intervention, but was conducted to describe how clinicians used their Spanish skills in a hospital setting with available professional interpreting services, and thus included the 68 (86%) physicians and 65 (79%) nurses surveyed who reported ever speaking Spanish directly with patients.

Based on previous instruments used by the investigators,, we asked physicians and nurses who reported ever speaking Spanish directly with patients to rate their own Spanish language proficiency on a 5-point scale. The scale was: (1) a little (rudimentary conversation skills), (2) fair (can converse casually, (3) well (can usually interview a patient), (4) very well (can always interview a patient), and (5) excellent (fluent like a native speaker). For the purposes of this analysis, we collapsed codes 1 and 2 to indicate low Spanish proficiency, code 3 indicates medium Spanish proficiency, and codes 4 and 5 were combined to indicate high Spanish proficiency.

The survey also asked about use of strategies to overcome the language barrier during common clinical interactions with Spanish-speaking patients. We asked physician participants about the following types of clinical scenarios: presenting information to patients (discharge instructions, consent for procedures, and updating the patient on his/her clinical condition), obtaining information from patients (obtaining a medical history and morning pre-rounds), and difficult conversations (end of life discussions, providing bad news, and conducting a family meeting). We asked nurse participants about the following types of clinical scenarios: presenting information to patients (discharge instructions, explaining plan of care, and administering medication), obtaining information from patients (conducting an admission assessment, conducting ongoing patient assessments, and symptom management), and educating patients (discussing disease process, explaining tests and procedures, and patient education).

For each of the clinical scenarios asked of physicians and nurses, we analyzed which mode of communication was used. Respondents chose from the following categories: professional interpreters (telephonic or in-person), ad-hoc interpreters, and use of clinician's own Spanish skills without an interpreter. We compared responses among the physicians and nurses separately. According to the National Council on Interpreting in Healthcare, a professional interpreter can be defined as someone "with appropriate training and experience who is able to interpret with consistency and accuracy and who adheres to a code of professional ethics" and an ad-hoc interpreter as "an untrained person who is called upon to interpret," which for the purposes of this study included bilingual family or friends of patients, nurses, or clerks.

We used descriptive statistics to characterize provider demographic characteristics, including sex, age, years of experience, shift worked (for nurses), attending or resident (for physicians), race/ethnicity, US born, fluency in a non-English language as a child, and self-reported proficiency in Spanish (3-level variable).

Since there was limited overlap of respondents in the pre- and post-survey groups (25% for physicians and 30% for nurses) and no differences observed between the pre- and post-intervention groups of nurses and minimal differences observed for physicians, further analyses were conducted on the whole sample, consisting of the first survey completed by each participant. Thus, if a physician or nurse completed both the pre- and post-surveys, only the pre-survey was included.

We performed χ2 or Fisher's exact tests, where appropriate, for categorical variables, and t-tests for continuous variables to characterize the association between clinician Spanish proficiency and strategy used to overcome the language barrier in common clinical scenarios. Data were analyzed using STATA statistical software (STATACorp, Version 11, College Station, TX).

RESULTS

Sixty-eight physicians and 65 nurses participated in the study. Tables (physicians) and (nurses) show baseline characteristics of participants overall and by Spanish proficiency level. Among physicians, there were no significant differences across Spanish proficiency level for sex, attending status, age, or years of experience. The largest proportion of physicians reporting high Spanish proficiency were Latino and multiethnic, and the majority in the high proficiency group spoke a non-English language at home growing up. Among nurses, there were no significant differences in any of the characteristics by Spanish proficiency level.

Table 1

Table 2

There were no differences in the use of the three strategies to overcome language barriers (professional interpreter, ad-hoc interpreter, and use of own Spanish skills) observed among physicians or nurses by sex, shift worked (for nurses), attending or resident (for physicians), or years of experience. There were some differences according to language spoken at home as a child. Physicians who reported speaking a non-English language as a child were more likely to report using their own Spanish skills (rather than a professional or ad-hoc interpreter) for difficult conversations and when obtaining consent for procedures. Their nurse counterparts were more likely to report using professional interpreters when administering medication (Table ).

Table shows the relationship between physician Spanish proficiency level and strategies used to overcome language barriers for each clinical scenario. Some consistency in the strategies used by physicians with low Spanish proficiency was noted. They reported frequent use of ad-hoc interpreters (46-50%) for all information-based scenarios, except for pre-rounding in the morning, for which 62% reported using their own limited Spanish skills, whereas most worked with professional interpreters for difficult conversations and procedural consent.

Table 3

Compared to physicians with low proficiency, those with medium Spanish proficiency reported higher rates of using their own Spanish skills (38-94%) for presenting information to and obtaining information from patients (other than obtaining procedural consent, for which 88% reported working with professional interpreters and 13% reported use of their own Spanish), somewhat lower rates of professional interpreter use (33-39%), and little use of ad-hoc interpreters, except for communicating discharge instructions (25%). They rarely used their own Spanish skills or ad-hoc interpreters for difficult conversations.

Physicians with high Spanish proficiency almost uniformly reported using their own Spanish skills when presenting information to and obtaining information from patients (92-100%). While most also used their own Spanish skills for difficult conversations, a substantial minority worked with professional interpreters (27-33%).

Table shows the relationship between nurse Spanish proficiency level and strategies used to overcome language barriers for each clinical scenario. Compared with physicians, nurses with low Spanish proficiency demonstrated greater variability when bridging the language barrier for all clinical scenarios. This group encompassed most of the nurse participants, and their use of interpreters was inconsistent. The majority worked with some kind of interpreter, although frequently an ad-hoc, for: giving discharge instructions (28%), explaining the plan of care (31%), discussing the disease process (19%), and explaining tests and procedures (20%). For other common clinical interactions, they were more evenly split in the use of all strategies, including their own limited Spanish skills for: administering medication (31%), managing patients' symptoms (37%), and conducting ongoing patient assessments (35%).

Table 4

Nurses with medium Spanish proficiency, like their physician counterparts, were largely split between using professional interpreters and using their own Spanish skills for all clinical scenarios.

As with the physician participants, nurses with high Spanish proficiency largely reported using their own Spanish skills, with occasional use of ad-hoc or professional interpreters, particularly for educating patients and explaining care plans.

DISCUSSION

In this unique study, we characterize the strategies that physicians and nurses with varying levels of Spanish proficiency use in common clinical scenarios to overcome language barriers with Spanish-speaking LEP patients. Generally, physicians and nurses with low Spanish proficiency worked with interpreters; however, they were at least as likely to work with ad-hoc interpreters as professional interpreters. There was significant variability in the use of the strategies to overcome language barriers among physicians and nurses with medium proficiency, particularly among physicians engaged in mainly unidirectional communication (e.g., presenting information to patients or obtaining information from patients). Finally, clinicians with high proficiency primarily used their own Spanish skills.

The frequent use of ad-hoc interpreters by low proficiency physicians and nurses is inappropriate based on federal policies and existing research. Federal regulations require health-care organizations to assure the competency of language services offered by bilingual staff, including clinicians, although guidance is lacking on how this should be accomplished. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act states that people cannot be discriminated against as a result of their national origin, which has been interpreted by Federal guidance to include their primary language., The Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services standards in Health Care, include four standards that reflect current Federal mandates under Title VI for the provision of language access services, including one that specifically condemns use of family or friends as interpreters and emphasizes that health-care organizations must assure the proficiency of language services offered by interpreters and bilingual staff. Research has shown that untrained, ad-hoc interpreters, compared to professional interpreters, are more likely to commit communication errors. These errors can include omission of information from the clinician or patient, addition of words or phrases not used by the clinician or patient, substitution of words, editorializing by the interpreter on what s/he thinks the clinician or patient meant, and the use of incorrect words or phrases.

The variability in the use of the strategies to overcome language barriers among clinicians with medium proficiency highlights the importance of conducting further research to inform policy about the appropriate use of non-English language skills by health-care providers. In our study, providers with medium proficiency were more likely to decide between working with a professional interpreter and using their own non-English language skills, with fewer using ad-hoc interpreters. For such clinicians, opting to use their own Spanish skills over a professional interpreter is likely related to interpreter availability, their perception of the patients' preferences, the clinical circumstances, and the degree of "language gap" between patient and clinician. Future investigations should focus on characterizing clinician language proficiency, understanding how medium-proficiency physicians and nurses decide to use professional interpreters vs. their own language skills, and formulating guidance for clinicians about when, why, and how to effectively work with professional interpreters.

Our findings have important implications for policies regarding physician and nurse training. Given the abundance of Spanish-speaking US residents, many medical and nursing schools, residency programs, and health-care organizations offer courses in "Medical Spanish," in which clinicians are taught medical vocabulary in Spanish with the intent to improve communication between clinicians and patients with LEP. These courses may be taught by untrained instructors without the ability to accurately assess participants' proficiency levels. Although some research has suggested that teaching Spanish language skills to clinicians improves their tested language abilities, ⁻ these programs can lead to unintended negative consequences, including the potential for impaired communication when non-fluent clinicians fail to recognize their limitations in Spanish. Studies evaluating brief language training programs for medical students and residents have demonstrated less use of professional interpreters and more communication errors after the course., The degree of language proficiency required by a clinician to provide safe and effective care in that language has not yet been determined, and thus, no standards exist to guide clinician behavior after taking language courses. Research has shown, however, that care provided by non-fluent physicians can be as problematic as care provided by clinicians using ad-hoc interpreters to bridge the language barrier., Therefore, while these language courses may improve rapport between clinicians and patients with LEP, course participants must be taught that their language skills should not replace working with professional interpreters during clinical encounters.

Testing and certification of language proficiency for clinicians is likely to be informed by the process of national certification for professional interpreters, which has been evolving over the past several years. There is a need to establish standards for clinician non-English language proficiency to ensure the quality of communication with LEP patients. The lack of consistency in reporting fluency currently impedes the development of strategies aimed at eliminating health-care disparities, which could include matching LEP patients with truly bilingual clinicians or improving access to and use of professional interpreters. While some health-care organizations have instituted language proficiency testing for bilingual staff, few have broached the topic of testing for physicians and nurses., Our results, however, highlight the potential benefit of characterizing clinician language proficiency on a standard scale, such as the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR). The ILR has been used extensively in non-medical fields and could be adapted for use in health-care settings. Health-care organizations could then limit clinicians providing language-concordant care to those who self-identify as having high non-English language proficiency. Alternatively, health-care organizations could consider testing clinicians who wish to use their language skills with patients, regardless of their self-reported proficiency level. There are several different commercially available oral proficiency interviews for language fluency with varying levels of validation, but the most notable is one from the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. However, most of these tests evaluate interpreting ability rather than direct communication. One available test, the Clinician Cultural and Linguistic Assessment, was developed by clinicians and researchers affiliated with Kaiser Permanente and is the first, and to date, the only tool designed and validated explicitly for use in health-care settings to assess both the linguistic and cultural proficiency of clinicians.

If research can demonstrate a correlation between self-reported language proficiency and formal testing, such assessments of clinicians who self-report either high- or low-level language proficiency may be unnecessary, and policies can be set for these clinicians without further evidence; clinicians with high-level proficiency can be allowed to use of their non-English language skills directly with patients and work with professional interpreters at their discretion, whereas clinicians with low-level proficiency must document working with professional interpreters with LEP patients. Resources can thus be focused on clinicians who report medium-level proficiency on the ILR or comparable scale. Indeed, clinicians who test close to a hypothetical passing score could be remediated in specific skills that could improve their ability to communicate effectively in that language. For example, clinicians who test at a medium to high level could get specific feedback about the language skills they need (e.g., medical vocabulary, use of the past tense) so that they can improve those skills and be retested prior to routinely using their language skills with patients. Until the relationship between the use of medium proficiency non-English by clinicians and the quality of care provided to LEP patients is better understood, initial policies cannot be set for that group.

Although our study has important implications for policy and professional education, there are some limitations to consider. First, this was a single site study conducted on a general medicine floor. Thus, results may not be generalizable to other units, departments, hospitals, or the outpatient setting (including small practices). However, the strategies to overcome language barriers that clinicians report in our study are likely to be similar in other inpatient settings, given the common clinical scenarios used in our survey. Second, the language assessment tool used in this study was based on self-report of language proficiency by physicians and nurses, which may not correlate to tested ability. However, there are not yet any validated self-reporting scales of non-English language proficiency in existence for clinician-patient interactions. Third, the quality improvement effort from which this analysis began was not aimed at physicians and nurses using their own Spanish skills, but simply at increasing access to professional interpreters. Overall, that project was a success, and this analysis was designed to characterize how Spanish-speaking physicians and nurses bridge the language gap in specific clinical scenarios, not as a result of the intervention. Finally, this study did not account for patient perspectives, and thus cannot evaluate the relationship between strategies to overcome language barriers and quality of care, clinical outcomes, or patient satisfaction. Future studies should focus on these relationships.

In summary, physicians and nurses with limited Spanish proficiency use these skills, even in important clinical circumstances in the acute care setting. Health-care organizations should evaluate clinicians' non-English language proficiency levels and set policies about the use of non-English language skills in clinical care. More research is needed to inform such policies, particularly for medium proficiency clinicians; however, those with low proficiency should work with professional interpreters.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The project was funded in part by the UCSF Medical Center Patient Care Fund. Dr. Diamond was supported by the Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute and The California Endowment.

Conflict of Interest None disclosed.

REFERENCES

29. Carter-Pokras O, O'Neill MJ, Cheanvechai V, Menis M, Fan T, Solera A, et al. Providing linguistically appropriate services to persons with limited English proficiency: a needs and resources investigation. Am J Manag Care. 2004;10:SP29-36. [[ PubMed] Google Scholar]

32. Tuot DS, Lopez M, Miller C, Karliner LS. The Impact of an Easy Access Telephonic Interpreter Program in the Acute Care Setting: an Evaluation of a Quality Improvement Intervention. Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety. 2010; In Press. [ PubMed]

33. Karliner LS, Hwang ES, Nichleach D, Kaplan CP. Language Barriers and Patient-Centered Breast Cancer Care. Patient Education and Counseling. 2010 Aug 2; ePub ahead of print. [ PubMed]

37. US Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health. National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health Care. US Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Minority Health; 2001 [updated 2001; cited 2011 May 20]; Available from: http://www.omhrc.gov/assets/pdf/checked/executive.pdf.

38. Schenker Y, Lo B, Ettinger K, Fernandez A. Navigating language barriers under difficult circumstances. Ann Intern Med. 2008;149(4):264-9. [[ PMC free article] [ PubMed] Google Scholar]

39. Mazor S, Hampers L, Chande V, Krug S. Teaching Spanish to pediatric emergency physicians: effects on patient satisfaction. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2002;156(7):693-5. [[ PubMed] Google Scholar]

40. Nora L, Daugherty S, Mattis-Peterson A, Stevenson L, Goodman LJ. Improving crosscultural skills of medical students through medical school-community partnerships. West J Med. 1994;161:144-7. [[ PMC free article] [ PubMed] Google Scholar]

48. Tidwell L. Kaiser Permanente-Southern California Physicians Language Concordance Program: Meeting the Needs of LEP Patients. Health Care Interpreter Network. Oakland, CA: From Ad-Hoc to Best Practices in Healthcare Interpreting; 2009. [ Google Scholar]

49. Interagency Language Roundtable. Interagency Language Roundtable. 2009 [updated 2009; cited 2011 May 20]; Available from: http://www.govtilr.org.

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The Use of Spanish Language Skills by Physicians and Nurses: Policy Implications for Teaching and Testing

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Lisa C. Diamond, MD, MPH, 1 Delphine S. Tuot, MD, CM, 2, 3 and Leah S. Karliner, MD, MAS 3, 4 Language barriers present a substantial communication challenge in the hospital setting. To describe how clinicians with various levels of Spanish language proficiency work with interpreters or their own Spanish skills in common clinical scenarios.

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Better communicators by taking others perspectives

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Better communicators by taking others perspectives

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This article discusses how being bilingual helps people become better communicators by helping them take others perspectives. It discusses how bilingual people have to monitor who speaks what language and with who they speak it, and how when speaking multiple languages people have to take into account more context than just the words being spoken. It talks about a really interesting study that tested if children would take the perspective of another person or their own when asked to manipulate objects.

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Keysar, Kinzler and their co-authors, doctoral students in psychology Samantha Fan and Zoe Liberman, had 72 4- to 6- year- old children participate in a social communication task. The children were from one of three language backgrounds: monolinguals (children who heard and spoke only English and had little experience with other languages); exposures (children who primarily heard and spoke English, but they had some regular exposure to speakers of another language); and bilinguals (children who were exposed to two languages on a regular basis and were able to speak and understand both languages). There were 24 children in each group.

Each child who participated sat on one side of a table across from an adult and played a communication game that required moving objects in a grid. The child was able to see all of the objects, but the adult on the other side of the grid had some squares blocked and could not see all the objects. To make sure that children understood that the adult could not see everything, the child first played the game from the adult's side.

For the critical test, the adult would ask the child to move an object in the grid. For example, she would say, "I see a small car, could you move the small car?" The child could see three cars: small, medium and large. The adult, however, could only see two cars: the medium and the large ones. To correctly interpret the adult's intended meaning, the child would have to take into account that the adult could not see the smallest car, and move the one that the adult actually intended-the medium car.

The monolingual children were not as good at understanding the adult's intended meaning in this game, as they moved the correct object only about 50 percent of the time. But mere exposure to another language improved children's ability to understand the adult's perspective and select the correct objects. The children in the exposure group selected correctly 76 percent of the time, and the bilingual group took the adult's perspective in the game correctly 77 percent of the time.

"Language is social," noted Fan. "Being exposed to multiple languages gives you a very different social experience, which could help children develop more effective communication skills."

Liberman added, "Our discovery has important policy implications, for instance it suggests previously unrealized advantages for bilingual education."

Some parents seem wary of second-language exposure for their young children, Kinzler commented. Yet, in addition to learning another language, their children might unintentionally be getting intensive training in perspective taking, which could make them better communicators in any language.

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Children exposed to multiple languages may be better natural communicators

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Keysar, Kinzler and their co-authors, doctoral students in psychology Samantha Fan and Zoe Liberman, had 72 4- to 6- year- old children participate in a social communication task.

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Effect of bilingualism on the Brains Executive Function

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Effect of bilingualism on the Brains Executive Function

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This article discussed why being bilingual improves the executive function of the brain including, planning, solving problems, ability to do specific mental puzzles, ignoring distractions, and switching attention. It discusses how it is now believed that both languages are active when you only use one language, but that is what helps “workout” the brain. It discusses how bilingual people are more efficient at observing their environment in general because they have to switch between languages.

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In the first task, the children had to sort the shapes by color, placing blue circles in the bin marked with the blue square and red squares in the bin marked with the red circle. Both groups did this with comparable ease. Next, the children were asked to sort by shape, which was more challenging because it required placing the images in a bin marked with a conflicting color. The bilinguals were quicker at performing this task.

The collective evidence from a number of such studies suggests that the bilingual experience improves the brain's so-called executive function - a command system that directs the attention processes that we use for planning, solving problems and performing various other mentally demanding tasks. These processes include ignoring distractions to stay focused, switching attention willfully from one thing to another and holding information in mind - like remembering a sequence of directions while driving.

Why does the tussle between two simultaneously active language systems improve these aspects of cognition? Until recently, researchers thought the bilingual advantage stemmed primarily from an ability for inhibition that was honed by the exercise of suppressing one language system: this suppression, it was thought, would help train the bilingual mind to ignore distractions in other contexts. But that explanation increasingly appears to be inadequate, since studies have shown that bilinguals perform better than monolinguals even at tasks that do not require inhibition, like threading a line through an ascending series of numbers scattered randomly on a page.

The key difference between bilinguals and monolinguals may be more basic: a heightened ability to monitor the environment. "Bilinguals have to switch languages quite often - you may talk to your father in one language and to your mother in another language," says Albert Costa, a researcher at the University of Pompeu Fabra in Spain. "It requires keeping track of changes around you in the same way that we monitor our surroundings when driving." In a study comparing German-Italian bilinguals with Italian monolinguals on monitoring tasks, Mr. Costa and his colleagues found that the bilingual subjects not only performed better, but they also did so with less activity in parts of the brain involved in monitoring, indicating that they were more efficient at it.

The bilingual experience appears to influence the brain from infancy to old age (and there is reason to believe that it may also apply to those who learn a second language later in life).

In a 2009 study led by Agnes Kovacs of the International School for Advanced Studies in Trieste, Italy, 7-month-old babies exposed to two languages from birth were compared with peers raised with one language. In an initial set of trials, the infants were presented with an audio cue and then shown a puppet on one side of a screen. Both infant groups learned to look at that side of the screen in anticipation of the puppet. But in a later set of trials, when the puppet began appearing on the opposite side of the screen, the babies exposed to a bilingual environment quickly learned to switch their anticipatory gaze in the new direction while the other babies did not.

Bilingualism's effects also extend into the twilight years. In a recent study of 44 elderly Spanish-English bilinguals, scientists led by the neuropsychologist Tamar Gollan of the University of California, San Diego, found that individuals with a higher degree of bilingualism - measured through a comparative evaluation of proficiency in each language - were more resistant than others to the onset of dementia and other symptoms of Alzheimer's disease: the higher the degree of bilingualism, the later the age of onset.

Nobody ever doubted the power of language. But who would have imagined that the words we hear and the sentences we speak might be leaving such a deep imprint?

Correction: March 25, 2012

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In the first task, the children had to sort the shapes by color, placing blue circles in the bin marked with the blue square and red squares in the bin marked with the red circle. Both groups did this with comparable ease.

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Individual skills and international business benefits of learning Spanish.  

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Individual skills and international business benefits of learning Spanish.  

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This article talks about how learning Spanish improves your employ-ability opportunities by  teaching you problem solving skills, improving math skills, and improving your native language. Learning Spanish opens your world to almost half a billion people, 20 countries whose official language is Spanish, and many who speak it widely, and it opens you to how they communicate, their culture, and their way of looking at situations. It explains how there is an increase in the amount of Spanish speaking countries and just people using Spanish for business in the International business market, and in the need for bilingual professionals like health care providers.

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Economically-minded language learners are always considering cost versus benefit.
Actually, pretty much all language learners wonder about this.

Especially when we get frustrated with the more challenging aspects of language learning.

In the middle of conjugating some pesky Spanish verbs, a learner might well ask himself, "why am I doing this to myself?"

He asks, "what good will learning Spanish do me?"
"Will speaking it make my life any better?" "Will it win me a Nobel Peace Prize?"
Fair questions.

Here come the answers.

In this post, we'll focus on the economic benefits of learning Spanish. There's a whole world of economic advantages brought about by the fact that you know the answer to "¿qué tal?"

Sure, you've known for a long time that learning the language drastically improves your employment prospects and increases your earning potential. But do you know exactly what the numbers are and how these economic benefits come about?

Well, you're about to find out.

So hold on to your seats because this rollercoaster ride has more surprising twists and turns than your mama's telenovelas.

1. Spanish Widens Economic Horizons and Personal Potential

Spanish not only gives you more ways of saying "hi," it opens you up to a world of almost half a billion people ( 470 million speakers) who have different ways of thinking and go about looking at situations and experiencing the world in different ways.

This single fact alone, that you'll be opening your mind to the possibility that your culture isn't the only one doing awesome things, is enough motivation to learn Spanish.

But the thing is, Spanish not only frees you from your biases and promotes openness, it opens doors that'll ultimately fatten up your wallet.

The Advantages Start Early

If you think learning a new language pays off only when you get into the labor force and start working, you'd be wrong. The pay-offs start early-even when you're still in school.

Studies have shown that students in the third, fourth and fifth grades who receive language instruction outperform their peers in achievement tests. This has been found across the board-regardless of race and gender.

Students who receive language instruction do better in standardized college entrance exams (SAT and ACT).

Interestingly, Mathematics skill, the ability to work with numbers, is significantly improved when working with the languages. Yep, learning language helps you to "find X in the equation." Imagine that.

Notice here how, very early on, language learning, in general-and Spanish, in particular-can affect the trajectory of one's life? If it can positively impact your academic performance and your SAT scores, how much more will it boost your life's overall potential?

Not only do the advantages start early, they accrue very fast. A good SAT score will get you to a good college. A good college will look good on your resume. And a good resume will lead the way to a high-paying job and a rewarding career.

So by learning a language, you get a deadly combo of skills and a serious chain of events that will raise your life's trajectory to another level.

The Spanish Premium

Employers put a premium on employees who speak different languages.

And Spanish has a premium. It's like simply writing " Speaks Spanish " on your resume magically adds dollars to your bank account.

Irene Missen, of the language specialist recruitment agency Euro London, estimates that in jobs like sales, marketing or technical support, a language can increase your salary by about 10-15%.

A language is an additional skill. It can open doors. Knowing Spanish, for example, would prove vital in jobs that involve close contact communication, negotiation and salesmanship. It's an important differentiator and a competitive edge. If I'm an employer looking at the CVs of 2 essentially similar persons, but one has Spanish in his resume, I'll always be thinking of the Spanish-speaking population who can now potentially become my clients.

An extra language is an extra tool for building productive relationships. In the field of healthcare, for example, doctors and nurses with Spanish backgrounds are better able to serve patients and address their needs. One can always hire a translator for medical staff, but knowing the language yourself saves the hospital administration money, and therefore makes you a prized medical professional.

Furthermore, Spanish can be the stepping-stone to an international career. After all, how many countries speak Spanish? Twenty. A person who speaks the language has just increased his employment potential twenty-fold.

Because globalization has brought different cultures together, it has brought personal economic benefit to the person who can bridge and mediate those cultures. In the next section, we'll further flesh out the business side of Spanish.

2. Spanish Serves as a Business Lubricant for Corporations

The Spanish GDP

Spanish is spoken in 20 countries today. In addition, there are 44 countries who have at least 3 million Spanish speakers.

If you want to engage in commerce in the world today, it's helpful to know that the combined GDP of Spanish-speaking countries easily tops $6 trillion. Mexico and Spain alone have $1.7 and $1.4 trillion respectively. One can only participate meaningfully in this huge (and rapidly growing) market if one understands the culture and speaks the language-not just the language of business, but the language of the person who sits across the table.

Spanish ranks 4 th in terms of highesst global GDP, following English, Chinese and Japanese. Tied to 6.5% of the world's GDP, Spanish is a lingua franca worth the monetary investment.

Spanish in International Business

Latin America is gaining the attention of the world, not only because of its beautiful people, but because of its bright economic potential.

There's crude oil in Venezuela, copper in Chile and Peru and soybeans in Argentina. China seems to agree. In fact, it has pledged to invest $250 billion over the next 10 years. And believe me, if superpower China is betting that large on Latin American countries, it's on to something.

Spanish-speaking economies are on the rise, backed by a commodities boom. Their populations are gaining buying power. And I'm not just talking about Carlos Slim Helu, the telecom magnate who dislodged Bill Gates and Warren Buffet as the richest dude in the world in 2010, I'm taking about the half a billion people who speak the language who could one day order half a billion sandwiches from your store.

English may be okay when you want to buy something. But when you want to sell a product and when you want to entice customers, you've got to speak the language that they understand.

If you're a keen observer of international business, you'll notice that Spanish corporations are making moves on British banks and companies-Santander has taken over Abbey, Telefonica is buying O2, and Iberia is merging with BA.

And if after all this, you're still wondering whether a Spanish language course is worth it, Jane Weightman, director of Commercial Language Training, says that Spanish has overtaken German as the most important business language.

Isn't that worth something?

3. The Economics of Better Decisions

Language Learning as a Problem Solving Activity

If you're someone who has already spent many an hour learning a new language, then it will be very easy to see the process as a kind of problem solving activity. Each language has a distinct set of rules, contexts and complexities. When you approach a new language, it's like approaching a new puzzle-in some ways it's all very similar to a puzzle you've previously mastered (your native language), but in many ways it's unique and it comes with its own set of eccentricities.

In Spanish for example, you'll be challenged by gendered nouns and the variety of ways to conjugate regular and irregular verbs. English is quite a different proposition.

In language learning, you'll have to negotiate meaning, notice nuances and learn the contextually appropriate conditions when a certain expression is used.

You'd have to accept the fact that, in a different tongue, a different set of tones, sounds and letters are used to describe the same object. So what English calls "apple," Spanish calls " manzana. "

You're confronted with the unfamiliar and it tells you to adapt. A new language puts your brain through its paces by requiring you to operate under a different set of rules. You need to productively integrate all these new rules into your communication as you proceed. So with a swarm of mental tasks foisted on your brain, is it really any wonder that bilinguals have been proven to have numerous improved brain functions?

Let's look more into that in the next section.

The Effect on Cognitive Abilities

In brain imaging studies, scientists have discovered that bilinguals have higher density of gray matter in the area of the brain associated with vocabulary acquisition.

Studies point to a host of cognitive advantages that accompany bilinguals. They've been found to have more creativity and are therefore better at solving complex problems. They're also better at multitasking-demonstrating cognitive flexibility and the capacity to adapt to unexpected circumstances.

They also have longer attention spans and stronger working memories. Their brains are a little bigger overall and less prone to dementia. They get all these cool benefits, in addition to being able to order tapas and possibly meet the loves of their lives in foreign lands.

I know, right? Who wouldn't want all of these mouth-watering rewards? It's really hard to put a dollar value on these cognitive advantages, but a lifetime of good decisions? Being able to think creatively, on your feet, with a sharp memory and high concentration? It's all priceless.

That's why, if you've paid your dues, and you weigh the time and the effort that you invest in learning Spanish, you'll always come out the winner no matter how you slice it.

4. Cost of Losses Due to Lack of Language Fluency

A study by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) reports that in the UK alone language deficits cost around £48 billion a year.

This comes in the form of exporters failing to enter new markets and build their businesses internationally, breakdowns at negotiating tables and failures to build lasting economic relationships. In short, the lack of language skills kills business.

We've already known that over $6 trillion dollars' worth of business is done by people who say "hola!" Spanish-speaking nations are experiencing growth and their populations' buying power is too attractive to ignore. So much so that while English is still the language of international business, Spanish has increasingly become a second "de facto" language for any corporation with global aspirations.

So you see, speaking Spanish, (the language), and speaking Spanish (the culture) is vital for business collaboration and expansion.

But in other fields, language has an even purer impact.

Being fluent in Spanish can mean the difference between life and death-especially if you're working in a US hospital frequented by patients able to talk only in Spanish. If a competent interpreter is vital to business, how much more vital is that interpreter to healthcare when a simple misunderstanding can cause irreparable harm to the patient?

And if we really wanna put a figure on the cost of the lack of language fluency in the field of healthcare, there's a study by the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health. It looked into 35 cases of malpractices where language barriers played a major role in patient harm. It reports that $2,289,000 in damages or settlements and $2,793,800 in legal fees were paid by carriers because of the failure to render proper and timely medical care as a result of language barriers.

Is there really any question as to the need for language fluency in a well-functioning global society?

The good thing is, the world is taking notice and doing a self-correction, at least as far as Spanish in concerned. In 2010, A-level Spanish class enrollments in the UK reflected the surge of Spanish learners. While enrollments for French and German where down 3.8% and 3.4% respectively, Spanish was up 4%.

The Japanese, who are easily the world's most forward-thinking people, are now offering Spanish in all their high schools. There are now 2,000 language schools in Japan.

One can only hope that this trend happens for other international languages, as well.

5. The Knock-on Effect on Your First Language

Before we wrap up this post, let me give you something to think about: Learning Spanish not only will improve your Math skills, it will also improve your English. Who would've thought that?

Research has shown that studying a new language strengthens your linguistic skills in your first language -for example, English.

Such skills include vocabulary, listening skills, reading comprehension and overall memory for language.

This is because studying a new tongue makes you more aware of the vocabulary, grammar, structure, sound, intonation and idioms of your own language. This greater awareness and juxtaposition results in an appreciation that can't be experienced by monolinguals.

In addition, practicing a new language involves the language areas of the brain, which positively affects first language skills.

So it's true what Geoffrey Willans once said, "You can never understand one language until you understand at least two."

How about that, huh?

There you go! 5 economic benefits of learning Spanish. And we haven't even talked about what it will do to your love life. So continue the fight! Don't be discouraged. You will get there.

Talking of "getting there," there's a great tool to help you reach the top right here: FluentU.

Sign up and subscribe to the greatest resource of language learning videos online. Have a go at the movie trailers, music videos, news videos that not only entertain, but also teach you a new language. On those nights when you'd rather bang your head against the wall, go to FluentU and have a jolly good time instead.

Start using FluentU on the website with your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the App from iTunes or the Google Play store and bring FluentU's innovative language-learning experience to your iOS and Android device.

If you liked this post, something tells me that you'll love FluentU, the best way to learn Spanish with real-world videos.
Experience Spanish immersion online!

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The 5 Huge Economic Benefits of Learning Spanish

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Economically-minded language learners are always considering cost versus benefit. Actually, pretty much all language learners wonder about this. Especially when we get frustrated with the more challenging aspects of language learning. In the middle of conjugating some pesky Spanish verbs, a learner might well ask himself, "why am I doing this to myself?"

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6 Reasons Why Everyone Should Learn Spanish

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According to science, learning to speak Spanish will help you to improve your brain function.

Most people set out to learn a new language because it will enhance their career or they want to visit a foreign country. While these are the primary reasons there is one benefit that is often ignored. Learning Spanish can actually help improve brain function. This revelation comes after extensive research and studies. If you are interested in improving your brain function, you should definitely join a language class. The age genuinely does not matter because the study showed that brain function had improved in young children and teenagers.

The Study

Dr. Thomas Bak led the study and it was published in the Journal Frontiers in Psychology. Bak is a lecturer at Edinburgh's School of Philosophy, and Psychology and Language Sciences. The study did not involve the middle age group mark, so the effects of learning a new language are not clear. Of course, Bak said that he had plans in place to focus on more studies, involving the middle age group to retirement age. There is a lot of to learn about the brain, but this new revelation is astonishing.

Another study that involved brain research focused on Indians, who spoke one or more languages. It appears in this study that Indians, who learn more than one language during their youth developed dementia four years later. This revelation is astonishing, especially when it is compared to those that only spoke one language. So, Bak set out to do his own investigation and that he did.

Bak's new study involved bilingual young adults, focusing mainly on their performance and how they ignore irrelevant stimuli.

Staying Mentally Active

It is possible for mental decline to impact you at any age. However, it is believed that remaining mentally active can offset mental decline to some degree. Keeping your brain active can help to increase vitality, while also potentially promoting the growth of brain cells. Believe it or not, those with lower levels of education will be much more likely to suffer from Alzheimer's.

There are numerous ways to keep your mind active. Reading, gardening, playing games, and learning to speak Spanish will all help! Just remember that it is not necessary to take dramatic changes. Instead, you should just work on each activity a little every day, so your brain never rests for too long.

Improves Listening Skills

Another way learning a new language will help your brain is by improving your listening abilities. It is widely believed that being bilingual helps to improve listening skills. This is true because the brain is required to work a little bit harder to differentiate between two or more languages. This can also lead to increased language sensitivity. By learning a second language, your brain will find it much easier to pick up the differences between other languages. For instance, if you know English and French, you'll be able to tell the difference between Catalan and Spanish much easier.

Growing The Brain

By learning a new language, it is possible to grow the language centers of the brain. The thickness of the cortical will grow after studying a second language intensely. The hippocampal volumes will also increase. This will help protect the brain from physical damage and mental disease.

After reading this information, what are you waiting for? Learn to speak Spanish!

Copyright © 2012-2019 Learning Mind. All rights reserved. For permission to reprint, contact us.

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How Learning to Speak Spanish Can Boost Your Brain Power at Any Age

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Most people set out to learn a new language because it will enhance their career or they want to visit a foreign country. While these are the primary reasons there is one benefit that is often ignored. Learning Spanish can actually help improve brain function. This revelation comes after extensive research and studies.

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If you don't already speak Spanish, you really should consider learning, like, ahora!

Whether you want to improve your job prospects, keep your mind sharp, or explore new cultures without having to rely on Siri to ask for directions, Spanish is the one tool that will help you achieve all of that and more -- and we're not just saying that because we're Latino Voices. No (said in español )!

Spanish is the second-most spoken language in the United States, after English, and is the dominant language in many of our neighboring countries in the Western Hemisphere. It also happens to be an extremely beautiful language that is as useful as it is melodic.

Here are 15 really good reasons why every American should learn Spanish. De nada!

Do you have info to share with HuffPost reporters? Here's how.

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15 Reasons Every American Should Learn Spanish

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This article explores the many cognitive benefits of being Bilingual. While it doesn't deal with Spanish speaking directly, it shows how the process of learning a second language can help your cognitive understanding. When someone is bilingual, their brain becomes rewired in a way, and it helps with cognitive processing, being able to multitask, and even lowers the risk of age-related mental decline.

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Editor's note:

Today, more of the world's population is bilingual or multilingual than monolingual. In addition to facilitating cross-cultural communication, this trend also positively affects cognitive abilities. Researchers have shown that the bilingual brain can have better attention and task-switching capacities than the monolingual brain, thanks to its developed ability to inhibit one language while using another. In addition, bilingualism has positive effects at both ends of the age spectrum: Bilingual children as young as seven months can better adjust to environmental changes, while bilingual seniors can experience less cognitive decline.

We are surrounded by language during nearly every waking moment of our lives. We use language to communicate our thoughts and feelings, to connect with others and identify with our culture, and to understand the world around us. And for many people, this rich linguistic environment involves not just one language but two or more. In fact, the majority of the world's population is bilingual or multilingual. In a survey conducted by the European Commission in 2006, 56 percent of respondents reported being able to speak in a language other than their mother tongue. In many countries that percentage is even higher-for instance, 99 percent of Luxembourgers and 95 percent of Latvians speak more than one language. 1 Even in the United States, which is widely considered to be monolingual, one-fifth of those over the age of five reported speaking a language other than English at home in 2007, an increase of 140 percent since 1980. 2 Millions of Americans use a language other than English in their everyday lives outside of the home, when they are at work or in the classroom. Europe and the United States are not alone, either. The Associated Press reports that up to 66 percent of the world's children are raised bilingual. 3 Over the past few decades, technological advances have allowed researchers to peer deeper into the brain to investigate how bilingualism interacts with and changes the cognitive and neurological systems.

Cognitive Consequences of Bilingualism

Research has overwhelmingly shown that when a bilingual person uses one language, the other is active at the same time. When a person hears a word, he or she doesn't hear the entire word all at once: the sounds arrive in sequential order. Long before the word is finished, the brain's language system begins to guess what that word might be by activating lots of words that match the signal. If you hear "can," you will likely activate words like "candy" and "candle" as well, at least during the earlier stages of word recognition. For bilingual people, this activation is not limited to a single language; auditory input activates corresponding words regardless of the language to which they belong. 4

Some of the most compelling evidence for language co-activation comes from studying eye movements. We tend to look at things that we are thinking, talking, or hearing about. 5 A Russian-English bilingual person asked to "pick up a marker" from a set of objects would look more at a stamp than someone who doesn't know Russian, because the Russian word for "stamp," " marka," sounds like the English word he or she heard, "marker." 4 In cases like this, language co-activation occurs because what the listener hears could map onto words in either language. Furthermore, language co-activation is so automatic that people consider words in both languages even without overt similarity. For example, when Chinese-English bilingual people judge how alike two English words are in meaning, their brain responses are affected by whether or not the Chinese translations of those words are written similarly. 6 Even though the task does not require the bilingual people to engage their Chinese, they do so anyway.

Having to deal with this persistent linguistic competition can result in language difficulties. For instance, knowing more than one language can cause speakers to name pictures more slowly 7 and can increase tip-of-the-tongue states (where you're unable to fully conjure a word, but can remember specific details about it, like what letter it starts with). 8 As a result, the constant juggling of two languages creates a need to control how much a person accesses a language at any given time. From a communicative standpoint, this is an important skill-understanding a message in one language can be difficult if your other language always interferes. Likewise, if a bilingual person frequently switches between languages when speaking, it can confuse the listener, especially if that listener knows only one of the speaker's languages.

To maintain the relative balance between two languages, the bilingual brain relies on executive functions, a regulatory system of general cognitive abilities that includes processes such as attention and inhibition. Because both of a bilingual person's language systems are always active and competing, that person uses these control mechanisms every time she or he speaks or listens. This constant practice strengthens the control mechanisms and changes the associated brain regions. 9- 12

Bilingual people often perform better on tasks that require conflict management. In the classic Stroop task, people see a word and are asked to name the color of the word's font. When the color and the word match (i.e., the word "red" printed in red), people correctly name the color more quickly than when the color and the word don't match (i.e., the word "red" printed in blue). This occurs because the word itself ("red") and its font color (blue) conflict. The cognitive system must employ additional resources to ignore the irrelevant word and focus on the relevant color. The ability to ignore competing perceptual information and focus on the relevant aspects of the input is called inhibitory control. Bilingual people often perform better than monolingual people at tasks that tap into inhibitory control ability. Bilingual people are also better than monolingual people at switching between two tasks; for example, when bilinguals have to switch from categorizing objects by color (red or green) to categorizing them by shape (circle or triangle), they do so more rapidly than monolingual people, 13 reflecting better cognitive control when changing strategies on the fly.

Changes in Neurological Processing and Structure

Studies suggest that bilingual advantages in executive function are not limited to the brain's language networks. 9 Researchers have used brain imaging techniques like functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate which brain regions are active when bilingual people perform tasks in which they are forced to alternate between their two languages. For instance, when bilingual people have to switch between naming pictures in Spanish and naming them in English, they show increased activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), a brain region associated with cognitive skills like attention and inhibition. 14 Along with the DLPFC, language switching has been found to involve such structures as the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), bilateral supermarginal gyri, and left inferior frontal gyrus (left-IFG), regions that are also involved in cognitive control. 9 The left-IFG in particular, often considered the language production center of the brain, appears to be involved in both linguistic 15 and non-linguistic cognitive control. 16

The neurological roots of the bilingual advantage extend to subcortical brain areas more traditionally associated with sensory processing. When monolingual and bilingual adolescents listen to simple speech sounds (e.g., the syllable "da") without any intervening background noise, they show highly similar brain stem responses to the auditory information. When researchers play the same sound to both groups in the presence of background noise, the bilingual listeners' neural response is considerably larger, reflecting better encoding of the sound's fundamental frequency, 17 a feature of sound closely related to pitch perception. To put it another way, in bilingual people, blood flow (a marker for neuronal activity) is greater in the brain stem in response to the sound. Intriguingly, this boost in sound encoding appears to be related to advantages in auditory attention. The cognitive control required to manage multiple languages appears to have broad effects on neurological function, fine-tuning both cognitive control mechanisms and sensory processes.

Beyond differences in neuronal activation, bilingualism seems to affect the brain's structure as well. Higher proficiency in a second language, as well as earlier acquisition of that language, correlates with higher gray matter volume in the left inferior parietal cortex. 18 Researchers have associated damage to this area with uncontrolled language switching, 19 suggesting that it may play an important role in managing the balance between two languages. Likewise, researchers have found white matter volume changes in bilingual children 20 and older adults. 21 It appears that bilingual experience not only changes the way neurological structures process information, but also may alter the neurological structures themselves.

Improvements in Learning

Being bilingual can have tangible practical benefits. The improvements in cognitive and sensory processing driven by bilingual experience may help a bilingual person to better process information in the environment, leading to a clearer signal for learning. This kind of improved attention to detail may help explain why bilingual adults learn a third language better than monolingual adults learn a second language. 22 The bilingual language-learning advantage may be rooted in the ability to focus on information about the new language while reducing interference from the languages they already know. 23 This ability would allow bilingual people to more easily access newly learned words, leading to larger gains in vocabulary than those experienced by monolingual people who aren't as skilled at inhibiting competing information.

Furthermore, the benefits associated with bilingual experience seem to start quite early-researchers have shown bilingualism to positively influence attention and conflict management in infants as young as seven months. In one study, researchers taught babies growing up in monolingual or bilingual homes that when they heard a tinkling sound, a puppet appeared on one side of a screen. Halfway through the study, the puppet began appearing on the opposite side of the screen. In order to get a reward, the infants had to adjust the rule they'd learned; only the bilingual babies were able to successfully learn the new rule. 24 This suggests that even for very young children, navigating a multilingual environment imparts advantages that transfer beyond language.

Protecting Against Age-Related Decline

The cognitive and neurological benefits of bilingualism also extend into older adulthood. Bilingualism appears to provide a means of fending off a natural decline of cognitive function and maintaining what is called "cognitive reserve." 9, 25 Cognitive reserve refers to the efficient utilization of brain networks to enhance brain function during aging. Bilingual experience may contribute to this reserve by keeping the cognitive mechanisms sharp and helping to recruit alternate brain networks to compensate for those that become damaged during aging. Older bilingual people enjoy improved memory 26 and executive control 9 relative to older monolingual people, which can lead to real-world health benefits.

In addition to staving off the decline that often comes with aging, bilingualism can also protect against illnesses that hasten this decline, like Alzheimer's disease. In a study of more than 200 bilingual and monolingual patients with Alzheimer's disease, bilingual patients reported showing initial symptoms of the disease at about 77.7 years of age-5.1 years later than the monolingual average of 72.6. Likewise, bilingual patients were diagnosed 4.3 years later than the monolingual patients (80.8 years of age and 76.5 years of age, respectively). 25 In a follow-up study, researchers compared the brains of bilingual and monolingual patients matched on the severity of Alzheimer's symptoms. Surprisingly, the brains of bilingual people showed a significantly higher degree of physical atrophy in regions commonly associated with Alzheimer's disease. 27 In other words, the bilingual people had more physical signs of disease than their monolingual counterparts, yet performed on par behaviorally, even though their degree of brain atrophy suggested that their symptoms should be much worse. If the brain is an engine, bilingualism may help to improve its mileage, allowing it to go farther on the same amount of fuel.

Conclusion

The cognitive and neurological benefits of bilingualism extend from early childhood to old age as the brain more efficiently processes information and staves off cognitive decline. What's more, the attention and aging benefits discussed above aren't exclusive to people who were raised bilingual; they are also seen in people who learn a second language later in life. 25, 28 The enriched cognitive control that comes along with bilingual experience represents just one of the advantages that bilingual people enjoy. Despite certain linguistic limitations that have been observed in bilinguals (e.g., increased naming difficulty 7), bilingualism has been associated with improved metalinguistic awareness (the ability to recognize language as a system that can be manipulated and explored), as well as with better memory, visual-spatial skills, and even creativity. 29 Furthermore, beyond these cognitive and neurological advantages, there are also valuable social benefits that come from being bilingual, among them the ability to explore a culture through its native tongue or talk to someone with whom you might otherwise never be able to communicate. The cognitive, neural, and social advantages observed in bilingual people highlight the need to consider how bilingualism shapes the activity and the architecture of the brain, and ultimately how language is represented in the human mind, especially since the majority of speakers in the world experience life through more than one language.

References

4. Marian V, Spivey M. Bilingual and monolingual processing of competing lexical items. Applied Psycholinguistics. 2003;24(2):173-193. [ Google Scholar]

8. Gollan TH, Acenas LA. What is a TOT? Cognate and translation effects on tip-of-the-tongue states in Spanish-English and Tagalog-English bilinguals. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. 2004;30 1 246:269. [[ PubMed] Google Scholar]

11. Abutalebi J, Pasquale ADR, Green DW, Hernandez M, Scifo P, Keim R, Cappa SF, Costa A. Bilingualism tunes the anterior cingulate cortex for conflict monitoring. Cerebral Cortex. 2011 doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhr287. [[ PubMed] [ CrossRef] Google Scholar]

12. Green DW. Bilingual worlds. In: Cook V, Bassetti B, editors. Language and bilingual cognition. New York: Psychology Press; 2011. pp. 229-240. [ Google Scholar]

13. Prior A, MacWhinney B. A bilingual advantage in task switching. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition. 2010;13(2):253-262. [ Google Scholar]

15. Abutalebi J, Green DW. Control mechanisms in bilingual language production: Neural evidence from language switching studies. Language and Cognitive Processes. 2008;23(4):557-582. [ Google Scholar]

29. Diaz R, Klingler C. Towards an explanatory model of the interaction between bilingualism and cognitive development. In: Bialystok E, editor. Language processing in bilingual children. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1991. pp. 167-192. [ Google Scholar]

Articles from Cerebrum: the Dana Forum on Brain Science are provided here courtesy of Dana Foundation

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The Cognitive Benefits of Being Bilingual

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Today, more of the world's population is bilingual or multilingual than monolingual. In addition to facilitating cross-cultural communication, this trend also positively affects cognitive abilities. Researchers have shown that the bilingual brain ...

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According to this article, Spanish is the 4th most spoken language in the world. It gives many social reasons as to why speaking Spanish would be beneficial, including that Spanish speakers now live in every state in the US, it would make traveling more enjoyable, and how it's easy and fun.

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If you want to know why you should learn Spanish, look first at who already is: For starters, residents of the United States, a bunch not known for conquering monolingualism, are studying Spanish in record numbers. Spanish, too, is becoming of greater importance in Europe, where it often is the foreign language of choice after English. And it's no wonder that Spanish is a popular second or third language: with some 400 million speakers, it's the fourth most commonly spoken language in the world (after English, Chinese and Hindustani), and the most geographically widely spoken after English. According to some counts it has more native speakers than English does. It is an official language on four continents and is of historical importance elsewhere.

The numbers alone make Spanish a good choice for those wanting to learn another tongue. But there are plenty of other reasons to learn Spanish. Here are a few:

Knowing Spanish Improves Your English

Much of the vocabulary of English has Latin origins, much of which came to English by way of French. Since Spanish is also a Latin language, you will find as you study Spanish that you have a better understanding of your native vocabulary. Similarly, Spanish and English share Indo-European roots, so their grammars are similar. There is perhaps no more effective way to learn English grammar than by studying the grammar of another language, for the study forces you to think about how your language is structured.

Your Neighbors May Speak Spanish

Not all that many years ago, the Spanish-speaking population of the United States was confined to the Mexican border states, Florida, and New York City. But no more. Even states along the Canadian border, such as Washington and Montana, have their share of native Spanish speakers.

Spanish Is Great for Travel

Yes, it is perfectly possible to visit Mexico, Spain, and even Equatorial Guinea without speaking a word of Spanish. But it isn't nearly half as much fun. Among the real-life experiences people have had simply because they speak Spanish are getting invited to people's homes for meals, being given lyrics so they can sing along with mariachis, being asked to translate for monolingual travelers, taking dance lessons without being a part of a group of travelers, and getting asked to join a pick-up game of soccer (football), among many others. Time and time again while traveling in Latin America and Spain, doors will be open to you if you speak Spanish that aren't open for most travelers

Learning a Language Helps You Learn Others

If you can learn Spanish, you'll have a head start in learning the other Latin-based languages such as French and Italian. And it will even help you learn Russian and German, since they too have Indo-European roots and have some characteristics (such as gender and extensive conjugation) that are present in Spanish but not English. And it wouldn't be surprising if learning Spanish might even help you learn Japanese or any other non-Indo-European language, since intensively learning the structure of a language can give you a reference point for learning others.

Spanish Is Easy

Spanish is one of the easiest foreign languages to learn for English speakers. Much of its vocabulary is similar to English's, and written Spanish is almost completely phonetic: Look at almost any Spanish word and you can tell how it is pronounced.

Knowing Spanish May Help You Find Work

If you're in the United States and work in one of the helping professions including medicine and education, you'll find your opportunities expand by knowing Spanish. And wherever you live, if you're in any occupation that involves international trade, communications, or tourism, you'll similarly find opportunities to use your new language skills.

Spanish Can Keep You Informed

If you're into international news, you'll find it's much easier to stay informed about developments in Spain and much of the Western Hemisphere if you know Spanish. There are plenty of interesting news stories-recent examples include anti-Uber taxi strikes in Bogotá and the impacts of migration from Venezuela-that are covered little in the English media or not covered at all.

Spanish Is Fun!

Whether you enjoy talking, reading, or mastering challenges, you'll find all of them in learning Spanish. For many people, there's something inherently enjoyable about successfully speaking in another tongue. Perhaps that's one reason children sometimes speak in Pig Latin or devise secret codes of their own. Although learning a language can be work, the efforts pay off quickly when you finally get to use your skills.

For many people, Spanish offers the most rewards with the least effort of any foreign language. It's never too late to begin learning.

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If you want to know why you should learn Spanish, look first at who already is: For starters, residents of the United States, a bunch not known for conquering monolingualism, are studying Spanish in record numbers. Spanish, too, is becoming of greater importance in Europe, where it often is the foreign language of choice after English.

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Jobs that Require Spanish Language Skills

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Jobs that Require Spanish Language Skills

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This article shows how important and marketable the ability to speak Spanish is within different career fields. It features information about population percentages that speak Spanish, where to find bilingual jobs, then shows a "Top 10" list of potential jobs for Spanish Speakers. Some of these jobs include being a teacher, interpreter, and sales professional.

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There are plenty of compelling reasons to learn Spanish, but there's one that really makes bank: Employability.

In virtually any career field, Spanish can come in handy and help you advance. However, there are some careers that actually require Spanish language skills.

If you travel to any Spanish-speaking country for work, you'll certainly need to know travel phrases at the very least. In any work scenario in which you need to use Spanish, you'll also ideally understand advanced phrases to communicate more fully. Conversational fluency is key. But regardless of how you intend to use Spanish in the workplace, it's important to brush up on your Spanish for business.

With your incredible Spanish language skills at the ready, you'll be one step closer to some great jobs.

Why Do So Many Jobs Require Spanish?

It's no secret that more and more employers are seeking Spanish-speaking employees at home and abroad-but why?

One reason is that the Hispanic population in the US is steadily climbing. The US Census Bureau reports that the Hispanic population is over 55 million (over 17% of the population) and rising. With a decent percentage of this population speaking Spanish as a primary (or at least favored) language, all areas of the economy need employees who speak both Spanish and English to engage and accommodate the changing demographics.

Additionally, international business is flourishing. Mexico is the USA's third largest trade partner. The US is the largest trade partner of many Spanish-speaking countries, including Mexico, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Colombia, Honduras and Panama.

Needless to say, all this leads to a great need for Spanish-language skills.

How to Find Jobs That Require Spanish

Searching for jobs that require Spanish is remarkably easy. With most job websites offering a search feature, all you need to do is search "jobs" or "trabajo" and a geographic location and you'll have plenty of job options.

Indeed - Indeed is a particularly helpful resource because it gathers job postings from a variety of websites. It also saves your search information, so you won't have to type in what you're looking for each time you visit.

Career Builder - This popular job search website offers plenty of options and a convenient format.

Bilingual Jobs - Dedicated exclusively to jobs that seek bilingual candidates, the vast majority of listings on this website are seeking candidates who speak both Spanish and English.

1. Teacher

You're probably thinking "well, of course you need to speak Spanish to be a Spanish teacher." You're right. But there are other teaching jobs that require Spanish, too.

For instance, bilingual education focuses on presenting information in two languages. In the US, many bilingual schools and programs use Spanish. If you're interested, you might want to check out the National Association for Bilingual Education's job board. Additionally, in areas with large Hispanic populations, many ESL jobs require or prefer someone with Spanish skills.

Looking to leave the country? You can try teaching English abroad. Speaking Spanish will certainly give you a leg up for landing gigs in Spanish-speaking countries, both so you can nail your interviews and so you can switch to Spanish to explain English language concepts on occasion.

2. Interpreter/Translator

Interpreters and translators help people who don't speak the same language to communicate with each other. Whether the communication is spoken or in writing, they take information from one language and change it to the other.

Interpreters and translators can work in a variety of settings. Medical translator/interpreter jobs are particularly common, but there are also jobs available in government, the court system and through private translation companies. Not to mention, you can always try your hand at freelancing in your area and online, using websites like translate.com and ProZ.

3. Customer Service Representative

While there are plenty of customer service jobs available that don't require Spanish, the jobs that do require Spanish often pay more due to the additional skill required. And let's face it-who doesn't want to get paid more?

And it only makes sense that you get paid more-after all, speaking English and Spanish means the number of customers you're able to assist is much greater than representatives who speak only one of the languages.

Customer service representatives work in call centers or retail locations, at home in your English-speaking country and abroad in Spanish-speaking countries. Similar jobs working in tourism are also available, and if you're looking for an adventure, you can sometimes find jobs working at hotels, resorts and cruises abroad.

4. Sales Professional

Remember that booming trade industry we discussed? Well, someone needs to negotiate those sales and purchases. This is where sales professionals come in.

International sales professionals buy and sell goods from around the world. With your Spanish skills, you're ready to do business with Spanish-speaking countries. Companies in Spanish-speaking countries will often greatly appreciate the presence of a sales professional who can interact with their English-speaking clients, suppliers and business partners.

On a smaller scale, if you live in a community with a large Hispanic population, you'll probably be able to find local sales jobs selling anything from cars to mattresses.

5. Medical Professional

Sure, there are plenty of jobs in the medical field that don't require Spanish. But in areas with large Hispanic populations, Spanish is in high demand. After all, it's much better for patients to be able to communicate directly with a doctor or nurse rather than through a translator.

Any medical profession from nursing assistant to nurse, doctor, EMT and medical receptionist may use Spanish language skills. Even if the job doesn't require it, it can certainly help you advance in your field or make you a more desirable candidate. Additionally, since medical professionals often deal with emergency situations, speaking Spanish can literally help you save lives.

6. Law Enforcement Professional

Law enforcement is another career where communication is very important, and not being able to communicate clearly could prove fatal.

In communities with large Hispanic populations, police officers often need to know at least some Spanish so that they can better protect everyone living in these bilingual communities.

Since the US has nearly 2000 miles of border with a Spanish-speaking country, many positions with the FBI and Border Patrol also require Spanish.

7. Social Worker

Social workers work with individuals and families on very intimate levels. They're privy to private information about sensitive situations such as abuse, mental health issues and other challenges that families face. Therefore, it's best to communicate in the language the clients are most comfortable with. For this reason, communities with large Hispanic populations often recruit Spanish-speaking social workers.

8. Writer

Whether it's journalism, content writing, blogging or public relations writing, the large Hispanic population in the US means there's a large market for written materials in Spanish.

The ability to share information clearly in both Spanish and English doubles your potential market. For this reason, many employers seek writers who can write in both languages. Additionally, since some writing jobs require interviewing skills, it will help to be able to communicate with the interviewee in their primary language.

9. Administrative Assistant/Receptionist

Administrative assistants and receptionists interact with a lot of people. Some of them, of course, will not be native English speakers. Because of this, some positions may require the receptionist or administrative assistant speak Spanish. However, even if speaking Spanish is not a requirement, it's a helpful asset that's likely to give you the edge over other candidates applying for the position.

10. Teller/Personal Banker

Bank tellers handle the customers' money, while personal bankers help them manage their accounts in more depth. Since money is always a sensitive issue, it helps to be able to speak about it in a language the customer will better understand.

Many teller and personal banker positions do not require Spanish, but in communities with large Hispanic populations, many positions will require Spanish, and this is likely to be a requirement more and more often.

With all these great jobs requiring Spanish, you'll surely find something great to make dinero (money).

So practice your Spanish and get to work!

And One More Thing...

If you're excited about the prospect of using Spanish in your everyday life, you've got to start using FluentU.

FluentU takes real-world videos like music videos, commercials, news, and inspiring talks and turns them into Spanish learning experiences.

Other sites use scripted content. FluentU uses a natural approach that helps you ease into the Spanish language and culture over time. You'll learn Spanish as it's actually spoken by real people.

FluentU has a wide variety of videos-topics like soccer, TV shows, business, movies and even magical realism, as you can see here:

FluentU brings native videos within reach with interactive transcripts. You can tap on any word to look it up instantly. Every definition has examples that have been written to help you understand how the word is used. If you see an interesting word you don't know, you can add it to a vocab list.

Learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentU's Learn Mode. Swipe left or right to see more examples of the word you're on.

The best part is that FluentU keeps track of the vocabulary that you're learning, and it recommends you examples and videos based on the words you've already learned. Every learner has a truly personalized experience, even if they're learning the same video.
Experience Spanish immersion online!
Start using FluentU on the website with your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes store or get it on Google Play for Android devices.

If you liked this post, something tells me that you'll love FluentU, the best way to learn Spanish with real-world videos.

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Have You Tried Applying for These 10 Jobs That Require Spanish Language Skills?

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There are plenty of compelling reasons to learn Spanish, but there's one that really makes bank: Employability.In virtually any career field, Spanish can come in handy and help you advance. However, there are some careers that actually require Spanish language skills.If you travel to any Spa

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According to this article, learning Spanish is particularly useful for those who will be traveling abroad for work, and those who will be working in areas with lots of immigrants or in sectors, such as banking, that have a lot of Spanish-speaking customers.

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Dan Woog, Monster Contributing Writer

You're an international banker, marketing manager or production supervisor. You call a colleague, supervisor or supplier in Latin America or Spain. The only foreign word you know is hola, but when the receptionist answers the phone speaking rapid-fire Spanish, you don't panic. You ask to be transferred to Mr. So-and-So. "Just a minute, sir. I'll put you through," the receptionist responds in perfect English.

With Americanized English the common tongue for much of the industrialized world, knowing a second language might seem as useless as learning Morse code. However, executive recruiters and hiring personnel say North Americans who speak Spanish can do far more than chat up Latino receptionists. Bilingual skills help job seekers land work. They can lead to key assignments and pay raises. In some cases, they may even be a job requirement.
Bilingual Means Feeling Comfortable and Productive
According to the January 2005 Korn/Ferry International Executive Recruiter Index, 88 percent of executive recruiters say the ability to speak more than one language is critical to international business success. Seventy-nine percent of North American recruiters cited Spanish as the additional language most in demand by employers. French was next at 43 percent, followed by Mandarin Chinese (30 percent).

"If I send US nationals into another country, I want them to acclimate and assimilate quickly," says Tom Birmingham, Korn/Ferry's managing director of global accounts. "Sure, in certain areas of Latin America they can get around OK without knowing Spanish, but personally and professionally I want them to feel comfortable."

Birmingham notes that an employee who can navigate a foreign environment with ease will probably be both happier and more productive than one who cannot. From a business standpoint, speaking another person's native language helps win trust.

"Global companies look at people who have global skills," Birmingham says. "And the ability to speak other languages, especially Spanish, is a global skill."
Not Just Global
Spanish-speaking ability is also important in the US. Birmingham recently drove through the Atlanta suburb of Norcross and estimates 70 percent of the billboards were in Spanish. "It's not just California and Texas anymore," he says. "Throughout the Southeast, more and more people are speaking Spanish." They come to work in agriculture and manufacturing, which translates into job opportunities for bilingual managers and supervisors.

Customer service operations are also hiring bilingual workers. From clerks at the Department of Motor Vehicles to call center representatives to supervisors in the hospitality industry, the growth of Spanish speakers as both customers and workers means more demand for bilingual customer service. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, up to 20 percent of call center companies' staffs are bilingual. Salaries vary depending on additional skills required, but some call centers pay bilingual workers 50 cents to a dollar more per hour.

The Korn/Ferry survey showed the greatest need for bilingual employees is in the consumer services sector, particularly banking, retail and telecommunications. Bilingual executives are most frequently needed in marketing, sales and general management and to serve as president or CEO.
The Cultural Shift
The rise of bilingualism represents a cultural shift for many Americans. "We're not a multilingual country," Birmingham says. "A lot of students take another language because they have to, to graduate." However, he sees a shift in attitude, particularly among people who want to work in the global economy. "If you see yourself doing work internationally or going into banking or trade or any other business where you'll travel, you'll take Spanish more seriously," Birmingham says.

Spanish-speaking job seekers can do more than simply highlight their language ability on a resume, Birmingham says. One suggestion: Offer to conduct a job interview in Spanish, which shows you're confident and assertive.

Keep in mind both English and Spanish may one day be less relevant in the global marketplace. According to the Information Please database, 329 million people now speak Spanish as a first language, and 328 million speak English. However, more than 1.2 billion people speak Mandarin Chinese.

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Being able to speak Spanish can help you find work, land key assignments and perhaps earn raises. Are you prepared for the bilingual workplace?

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Dan Woog, Monster Contributing Writer You're an international banker, marketing manager or production supervisor. You call a colleague, supervisor or supplier in Latin America or Spain. The only foreign word you know is hola, but when the receptionist answers the phone speaking rapid-fire Spanish, you don't panic.