Why Spanish is so Important for Students?

Traditionally, people educated in the United States have not been obligated to learn another language beyond English. But times have changed. Globalization, particularly in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, has elevated the increasing importance of being able to communicate with citizens from other countries. Increasingly, the second language U.S. citizens are choosing to learn is Spanish. Trends today show that Americans are studying Spanish in record numbers. Indeed, education in an international setting is becoming a top mandate for the American government because people need to compete economically. According to Business Week  for example, more students studying for an MBA in today's world are choosing to become trilingual by learning English, French, and Spanish. Moreover, two of the top ten MBA schools outside the U.S. are located in Spain. Many other reasons compel people to learn Spanish as a second language. Why is it important to learn Spanish? First, almost 500 million people worldwide speak Spanish. Even more compelling is the fact that about half of the population in the Western hemisphere speaks Spanish, making it the primary language for as many people as English in this region of the world. Most citizens in South America speak primarily Spanish (aside from Brazil), as do people living in just about all of Central America, Mexico, and Latin America—more than 15 countries in total. In addition, within the United States, Spanish is the second most widely spoken language after English—by a very wide margin. Third, Spanish is the third-most commonly spoken language in the world. In contrast, Spanish is spoken in more than 21 countries. Students at Mount Pleasant Academy in South Carolina are getting an early start at learning foreign language and it’s all thanks to team work and support from parents. Spanish comes to you at Mount Pleasant Academy, and the mobile classroom makes frequent stops. Spanish teacher Amanda Palacio says, “It’s Spanish on wheels. I go to classrooms. Kindergarten through third grade has me twice a week. Fourth and fifth have me once a week, and I spend thirty minutes with each class that I go to, and we do an assortment of things. We play games; we go through a lot of vocabulary. We’ve learned all the basics like greetings, colors, month, we focus on seasons, but a lot of it has been practicing conversations.” Foreign language is not funded by the school district on the elementary levels, so the PTA is footing the bill. This is the first year for the program at Mount Pleasant Academy. “It’s the pride and joy of our school. Our PTA worked real hard to raise the funds to have a Spanish teacher this year. The children love it, the parents love it. I think it’s definitely an advantage to be exposed to a different culture and language so we are real excited about it,” says Principal Jane Davis. MPA is among the highest when it comes to student achievement in the state. The PTA also raised money for a computer teacher and new playground equipment.