There are already numerous studies showing the benefits of learning another language. In fact, starting young could even be better idea. According to studies at the Cornell Language Acquisition Lab (CLAL), teaching children another language would not create language confusion, language delay or even cognitive deficit. Learning Spanish may be the best idea for you and also your kids.
Why Spanish?
According to the recent census of the United States government (census.gov) about 49% of residents in California or Texas are Hispanic. About 330 million worldwide speak Spanish. Basically, the places of trade, politics, education and even culture have Spanish speaking communities. Learning how to converse in their native tongue would be able to help in increasing career and educational opportunities.
When a child or a teen starts to learn to a second language, it is not only the language they are learning, they are also catching a glimpse of the culture itself. This would make the child or the teen become more sensitive to other culture, appreciate internationalism, and enhances their social skills.
Language is strongly influenced by culture. Leaning how to speak Spanish would be able to help you identify with others culture. Spanish, Latin American culture is very rich. It could even become an opportunity for travelling. This would surely become a great help when shopping, visiting local restaurants and shops.
Spanish would even open up opportunities for learning other languages like French, Italian and other Latin-based languages. German and Russian language could also help you be easier for you to learn since Spanish shares the same Indo-European roots.
Aside from these, learning a second language could also help them meet their college application requirements. Data from the Admission Testing Program of the College Board in the United States showed that those who have second language programs have higher mean scores in their SAT examinations compared to those who do not have any second language education.
If you are already working, learning Spanish could even increase your marketability. A second language could be very appealing to employers. Some employers would increase the salary and promote those who have Spanish language knowledge. There is a research that showed that there are 17% of individuals employed every year because of their bilingualism. These employees can earn about 30% more than their co-workers.
They would be redirected to jobs where these skills could be put into action. For employers, having employees that could speak Spanish would enable them to connect to an increasing market, the Spanish, Latin American and Mexican communities. It could also mean deployment to other locations. If you know how to speak Spanish, then you do not have to get worried about the language barrier whenever it is travelling or job deployment.
Overall, learning how to speak Spanish is a great experience. You could start learning by attending classes at the local district or community college, you could even get online lessons. There are great online language schools which could easily fit into your schedule especially if you are working or raising a family. Learning Spanish or any second language could be time consuming and we should be prepared for that.
