Thursday, April 26, 2007

Expert: Spanish second-most studied language in the world

According to news agency EFE, the director of Spain’s Instituto Cervantes claimed that Spanish is the second-most studied language in the world and bested only by English. Speaking at the opening session of a language conference, César Antonio Molina noted that Spanish is a global language that “opens doors to future professions.”

In addition, Molina also noted that one of the language’s main obstacles its expansion into other countries such as the U.S., where Spanish serves as a “vital platform.” Indeed, Spanish is the most taught foreign language in U.S. schools according to a 2002 survey by the Modern Language Association.


Links- Wikipedia Español, Clarin, adfl.org

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4 comments:

  1. Anonymous5:39 PM

    I love Spanish, and learning Spanish. But I'm somewhat confused as to why people are saying it's an economically important language to learn. I don't really know, but it seems to me there is more, better-paying translation work for technical material in like Japanese and German. And won't there be more opportunity for "future professions" in China? I suppose Spanish is easier ;-)

    Can anyone give a clear answer why it might be smarter to study Spanish than Mandarin?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Erwin C.3:52 PM

    Being multilingual is certainly very advantageous regardless of the language one chooses. Still, it would be better to learn Spanish over Mandarin if one's environment would be easier to be in by learning Spanish. (Say if one were residing in Miami rather than San Francisco's Chinatown).

    In addition, it may be better to learn Spanish if one's career track would benefit from it. This could be the case for such tracks as bilingual education teacher or if one lives ina Spanish-speaking country.

    Lastly, you hit on a very good point- it is generally easier to learn Spanish if one's native tongue is English or one of the romance languages. (Mind you, this is based on personal observations not statistical data).

    Hope this helped!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous1:54 PM

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  4. Universidades En China11:22 PM

    Many Spanish language poets have transcended frontiers and become incredibly popular around the world. While most people who read them have done so in English, there’s nothing like enjoying the original version. Thanks a lot.

    ReplyDelete