Emily Lykins, Campus Carrier Asst. Sports Editor

Español juega un rol grande en nuestra sociedad como es un lenguaje que está hablado por todo del mundo. Solamente una porción pequeña de quienes que viviendo en los Estados Unidos lo saben el español. ¿Entienden lo que esto dice?

If you do not understand what these sentences are trying to say, then you are a part of the majority of Americans who do not speak or know Spanish. The sentences say that Spanish plays a large role in our society, as it is one of the most commonly spoken languages throughout the United States and the world. Although the Spanish language is not required in many high schools, universities and homes, it is something that everyone should know a little about.

Why is knowing the Spanish language so important? More than 400 million people worldwide speak Spanish, and about 45 million speak it within the United States. Among Spanish speakers, only 2.8 million in that number are non-Hispanics. The ratio between speakers and the United States population is about 5:32. This is a small ratio considering the number of how many live in the United States. Spanish is the official language of 21 countries. As the second most commonly spoken language in the world behind Chinese and as the unofficial second language of the United States, you would think that more people would understand Spanish. Hispanics are the largest minority group in America, and their vote alone can shift the results of the presidential elections.  

The United States is one of the few countries that do not have an official second language. In fact, America doesn’t even have an official language. English is just the language that the majority of what people speak. Many outside the United States learn English as a second language as it is such a dominant language in many different countries. If Spanish is such a widely-spoken language in the United States, why would we not teach it as a second language? We force Hispanics to learn our language, and we put very little effort into learning theirs; yet the Hispanic population is almost 20% of the nation’s population and growing. By the year 2050, the United States will be the largest Spanish-speaking country and a majority of the population will know Spanish. Our children will be speaking Spanish. Why not choose to learn Spanish now?

Knowing Spanish as a second language opens the door to more opportunities and various benefits, compared to being unilingual. There are more jobs available to those who are bi-lingual as they become a more competitive source in our society. They are able to reach out to prospective clients and a part of the community that could not be reached with only English-speaking employees. It can also lead to an increase in salary. Many companies now demand that their employees be Spanish speakers.

Knowing a second language helps to improve the cognitive skills that are not associated with language, and reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s and helps to shield against other sources of dementia. One benefit of knowing Spanish is that it can help improve your English. This is because it derives from Latin, as does the English language.  It allows you to improve your cultural understanding of this rapidly growing diverse population in America.

Many people are beginning to realize the importance of Spanish as it is now starting to be introduced in the American culture at a very young age. “Dora the Explorer” is one of the few shows that familiarize many with the Spanish language. Basic Spanish phrases, including “¡Hola!”, “¿Cómo estás?”,  “¿Cómo te llamas?”, and “¡Muy bien!”, are being taught in many preschools in the nation. Why stop there?

I am not saying that everyone in America needs to be completely fluent in Spanish, but in order to understand an influential and growing voice in our country, Americans should make the effort to learn more about the Spanish language. What if colleges and universities required at least two courses in Spanish in order to graduate? If everyone put forth the effort to learn at least basica conversational Spanish, we would have the potential to unite different cultures and strengthen our country.