Why Study Foreign Language Why Choose Spanish as

Why Study Foreign Language? Why Choose Spanish as the Language of Study?

Why Study a Foreign Language? § Cognitive (brain function) and Academic Benefits § Personal Benefits

Cognitive/ Academic Benefits § Has a positive effect on intellectual growth. § Enriches and enhances mental development. § Leaves students with more flexibility in thinking, greater sensitivity to language, and a better ear for listening. (Source: ACTFL website)

Continued… § Shown to help delay or stop the effects of dementia (alhzeimer’s disease) § Improves understanding of a person’s native language. § Increases job opportunities in many careers where knowing another language is a real asset. (Source: ACTFL website)

Affective (personal) Benefits § Communication § Provides a person the ability to communicate with people s/he would otherwise not have the chance to know. (Source: ACTFL website)

Continued… § Cultural § Opens the door to other cultures and helps a person understand appreciate people from other countries. § Foreign language study tends to help dissolve misconceptions and stereotypes and often helps to create feelings of empathy for native speakers of the language. (Source: Weatherford)

Continued… § Cultural continued… § The study of another language provides the most effective tool for penetrating the barrier of ethnocentrism (a single best language and culture). § Experience with another culture enables people to achieve a significantly more profound understanding of their own. (Source: Weatherford)

Why Study Spanish? § It is the 4 th most widely spoken langauge in the world, after Mandarin Chinese, English, and Hindi, with 400 million speakers worldwide. § Spanish is an official language in 21 different countries. § There are 35 -40 million speakers of Spanish in the U. S. and that number is projected to go up to 50 million by the year 2015.

Why Study Spanish? § It’s easy! – it is one of the most closely related languages to English (Latin based). § It’s fun!