Backpacking Tips: 4 Reasons to Learn Spanish in 2018

1.    Learning Spanish will allow you to appreciate the Hispanic culture

Spain is among the top producer of films and books around the world, together with Argentina. Learning Spanish will allow you to understand the creativity and the messages brought about by these media offerings. Reading the books and watching films in the native Spanish language is much better that the translated version because as much as the translation is correct, there is always some bit of the story that gets lost in the translation. Additionally, learning the language will help you appreciate Spanish cuisines more thus helping you diverge more into the Hispanic culture. You will also appreciate some of the great historic and modern Hispanic cultural contributions, like the royal portraits of Goya and the fine pieces of art from Picasso.

2.    Learning Spanish will expand your travel destinations

It is possible to travel to a Spanish speaking country without necessarily learning their language, but this will mean that you will be confined to locations where the locals have knowledge of more than one language like hotels and parks. When you learn the language, however, this will open up new locations for you as you will be able to travel into the interior of Spanish speaking countries without fear of being stranded.  It will even make your visit easier since you will be able to understand road signs, menus and even other messages that may be sent in the Spanish language. In addition to that, it will also save you the need to move around with a translator to enable you to communicate with the locals. In a nutshell, having knowledge of the language will give you a much better travel experience. You can backpack to places like El Salvador, Honduras and Uruguay with relative ease.

3.    Spanish is the second mother tongue language in the world

Spanish is spoken by about half a billion people all around the world. The number rises by another hundred million if you add those who study Spanish as a foreign language. There are more than 30 million Spanish speakers in the US and the growth of Hispanics is massive, thus in a few years, there will be an enormous increase in the use of Spanish in the US. Spanish is the mother tongue in 21 countries and an official language in four continents, thus learning Spanish is an added advantage.

4.    Knowledge of the Spanish language gives an advantage when job hunting

When you are applying for a job, you are required in your resume to put down what languages you are conversant with. Knowing how to speak Spanish, among other languages does give you an edge over other applicants and give you a slightly better chance of getting the job. In any case, knowing how to speak Spanish can get you a job opening that may require the employee to converse with Hispanics on the job, like being a translator or working in the media. Especially now that Spanish is growing in prominence in the modern world, knowing how to converse in the language will bolster your chances of employment.