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Just because Spanish isn't an official language in the US doesn't make it less useful. The US is the second largest Spanish speaking nation in the world, behind

Just because Spanish isn't an official language in the US doesn't make it less useful. The US is the second largest Spanish speaking nation in the world, behind Mexico. There are a number of careers in the US where speaking Spanish is very useful, especially when you interact a lot with people (e.g., medicine & sales). Every major US market is served by at least two Spanish speaking TV stations over the air. And if you speak Spanish fluently, there is a high degree of mutual intelligibility that lets you communicate with Portuguese speakers (for Brazil). It's an extremely useful language for North, Central, and South America. It also gives the average American much more opportunities to make use of their Spanish skills in every day life when compared to French or German.

beat 8y ago
Indeed, a combination of English and Spanish will get you around 98% of the Americas (assuming you can do enough to comprehend Portuguese in Brazil).
kibwen 8y ago
Seconded. The emphasis on countries with Spanish as an "official language" is misplaced; the US famously has no "official" language (though let's not pretend this is the result of magnanimity, rather than just a peculiar quirk of legislation), and Spanish-speaking enclaves are all over the place. If you're outside the US you might think that Spanish is relegated to the areas near the border, but no: I have driven through towns in middle-of-nowhere Pennsylvania and seen stores with signs exclusively in Spanish; I have hitchhiked through Aurora, Illinois and encountered wandering mariachi bands making their way to a quinceañera; the alley behind my apartment in Massachusetts is filled nightly with the excited Spanish exclamations of children at play. By no means is Spanish strictly required to enjoy the US, but it will give you insight into enormous US subcultures that many won't ever appreciate.
- isostatic 8y ago
  And Polish or Hindi or a dozen other languages will give you insights in the UK. Looking at https://blog.udemy.com/how-many-countries-speak-spanish/ https://blog.udemy.com/how-many-countries-speak-spanish/ tells me that outside of the Americas, I can use Spanish in Spain Gibraltar (which is painfully British) Andorra It makes sense for Americans to take Spanish as a second language, but for Europe; Arabic and Russian are in countries that are far closer, French and German are more widely spoken in Europe. Spanish is only useful if you go to Spain on holiday, and then not in the normal resorts.

beat 8y ago

Indeed, a combination of English and Spanish will get you around 98% of the Americas (assuming you can do enough to comprehend Portuguese in Brazil).

kibwen 8y ago

Seconded. The emphasis on countries with Spanish as an "official language" is misplaced; the US famously has no "official" language (though let's not pretend this is the result of magnanimity, rather than just a peculiar quirk of legislation), and Spanish-speaking enclaves are all over the place. If you're outside the US you might think that Spanish is relegated to the areas near the border, but no: I have driven through towns in middle-of-nowhere Pennsylvania and seen stores with signs exclusively in Spanish; I have hitchhiked through Aurora, Illinois and encountered wandering mariachi bands making their way to a quinceañera; the alley behind my apartment in Massachusetts is filled nightly with the excited Spanish exclamations of children at play. By no means is Spanish strictly required to enjoy the US, but it will give you insight into enormous US subcultures that many won't ever appreciate.

isostatic 8y ago
And Polish or Hindi or a dozen other languages will give you insights in the UK. Looking at https://blog.udemy.com/how-many-countries-speak-spanish/ https://blog.udemy.com/how-many-countries-speak-spanish/ tells me that outside of the Americas, I can use Spanish in Spain Gibraltar (which is painfully British) Andorra It makes sense for Americans to take Spanish as a second language, but for Europe; Arabic and Russian are in countries that are far closer, French and German are more widely spoken in Europe. Spanish is only useful if you go to Spain on holiday, and then not in the normal resorts.