Reasons to learn Spanish as a foreign lenguage<

Reasons to learn Spanish as a foreign lenguage

The reasons are different for every person who wants to learn Spanish: it could be the need to travel for work, for leisure or for studying in one of the countries where Spanish is the official language.

It could be the hunger for knowledge: the purpose of breaking boundaries and ideologies in order to get a global understanding. Other reasons could be the economic and cultural importance of the language, the quantity and quality of physical and digital publications, since Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world by number of inhabitants (natives).
Whatever the motives, I think that the aim should turn into a search of knowledge of the world, of its cultures and of its people. The multilingual and multicultural competence generates interaction and awareness, and creates ties that bind citizens of all corners of the world. Learning a new language means getting ready to move away from ethnocentrism and relativism but also confirms your linguistic and cultural identity.

Learning and unlearning . What do I learn? I learn the knowledge of others (and their country), to share their way of thinking: how to name things, places and create sentences. I learn from their culture, their history, their food and their beliefs (philosophies, religions). I learn about their current situation, their relationship with the environment, with the economy, with other countries.

I learn that we are more alike than different. I learn to share, to accept, to help. I change, I improve.

What do I unlearn? Of course all the stereotypes and prejudices provided by the system and the media. I remove fears and ignorance. I unlearn, I forget. I forget the idea that the differences are "bad", that they hurt me (on the contrary, they enrich me). I change, I improve.

It is important to see the word as the idea that it comprises in that culture: images, sensations and specific meanings. Verbs, nouns, adjectives, structures of sentences, texts, all this dynamic creates a concrete understanding, determines thought, feelings, expressions and interactions with others and with yourself. That`s why it’s important to acquire communicative competence of other languages: to expand your opportunities, your ideas, your confidence and your cultural wealth, reason enough to start or continue learning Spanish beyond the basics.