The Importance Of Learning Spanish :: Learning Spanish

As we approach the 21st cytosine and as the idea of a global village is fast neat a reality, it is vital that we enlarge our worldview and reach an understanding of, and appreciation for, the cultures of the former(a) peoples who share the planet with us. As pagan beings, we are raised with an legitimate way of giving order to the world around us. Very soon, these cultural filters, which allow us to make grit of reality and shape it, stupefy fixed, invisible and unconscious they are part of our worldview which - as unique as we might think it is - rests on the shared values of a position linguistic community. This network of basic assumptions which affects everything in our life (love, family, friendship, child rearing, work, sense of community and of our place within it, view of nature, sense of self, etc.) is never dress into question until it is brought to our awareness by the clash with another system, different from our own. Language, which is the carrier of culture par excellence, opens the door to the world of the other and gives us the message to apprehend other ways of viewing our prevalent world and our common humanity. Why study Spanish? Beyond the argument just do for the truly cosmopolitan view, there are, for the US citizen, compelling internal and impertinent reasons. First, one has to consider the rise of the Hispanic community within our midst. The US Census Bureau shows that the Latinos residing in the United States total about 27 million people and make up almost 10% of the population. Projections repoint that, by the year 2050, almost half of the US population could be Spanish speaking. This fact has strong implications for habit, not only in the gray belt ( from Florida to California ) but also in all major(ip) cities of the nation. In the job market, the bilingual employee will increasingly have the surround over other candidates, especially in the service sector. But employment is only part of the picture. The Hispanic co mmunity with its pride in its senescent traditions - native and European - its own cultural diversity, its strong family values, its artistic thaumaturgist and its rich literature, will make its own unique and distinct contributions to the livelihood cultural tapestry of this nation - today and tomorrow. Learning Spanish is basically learning to relate to our next door neighbor and, more than ever, this makes sense.