3 Reasons to Choose Spanish as a Second Language

Learning a second language in the early years of life is without a doubt beneficial for all children. As research shows, young children are better suited to picking up a new language since their brains are still developing. We’ve seen that being bilingual can help strengthen core vocabulary skills, help boost test scores and creativity, and provide your child with a broader cultural understanding.

There are approximately 6,500 other languages spoken in the world today, but when it comes to choosing a new language for your child to learn, the choice is obvious: Spanish. Why choose Spanish over all the other languages? We can give you three good reasons.

1. It’s one of the most popular languages to learn.
   Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world, coming in just behind Mandarin. There are over 400 million native speakers worldwide. The United States alone boasts over 41,000,000 native and 12,000,000 bilingual Spanish speakers. In fact, Spanish is the most studied language in the United States, with about 50% of college students and 70% of K-12 students choosing to study Spanish in school. Starting Spanish Immersion at a young age gives your child a head start for when they begin exploring other foreign languages later in their educational career. Being a bilingual Spanish speaker will also prove useful in your child’s future travels. Because Spanish and English are widely spoken, knowing two of the world’s top languages will make communicating with locals easy & can open up a whole new world for your child.

1. Latin-based roots make Spanish easier to learn than any other language.
   Like English, Spanish has most of its roots in Latin making it one of the easiest languages to learn for native English speakers. There’s no need to learn a new alphabet and many words may be recognizable right off the bat because of their similar pronunciation. Spanish grammar is also more consistent and less complicated than English grammar rules, so your child will be able to easily grasp the flow of the language and even make inferences based on the words they may already know in their mother tongue. Your child may also find it easier to learn other Latin-based languages like French, Italian or Portuguese down the line as they all share similar roots to Spanish.

1. It can help advance your child’s career.
   In today’s competitive job market, employers look for candidates that stand out among the rest. Having a second language under their belt is a great resume booster and may make them some extra cash later in life. It’s been found that employees who speak more than one language make an average of two percent more than those who only speak one. Especially in the United States, employers look for those skilled in multiple languages who can communicate with a broad range of people, since most companies these days operate on the global scale. Bilingual employees are in high demand, and it will only grow stronger as time goes on.