While any foreign language training is a plus for a student, Spanish seems to be the language that most students will have a chance to use on a daily basis. Using a language is key to actually understanding it, because in the normal American classroom a child just gets an introduction his chosen language.

When I was in grammar school, I took Latin. I took Spanish and German in both high school and college but it wasn't long before I had forgotten most of what I'd learned (as do most people). It wasn't until I moved to Argentina that I spoke Spanish daily. After a few months I began to hear and understand Spanish as clearly as English. It is like magic! One day, You have conversations with people, and as far as comprehension is concerned, it's not important whether the conversation is in Spanish or English, you simply understand. In fact, in remembering a conversation I sometimes catch myself forgetting in which language the original conversation was held.

Why I've chosen Spanish is, I think, obvious. There are millions of Hispanics residing in the US today and more every year. Whether these new immigrants are legal or illegal most of them are speaking Spanish and have needs that American government agencies and businesses serve. When your the only one in the room who can speak Spanish, to sell a product or serve a customer, you have an advantage and you get noticed. Also, we have much of South America available to us for business and pleasure and they speak Spanish (Brazilians speak Portuguese of course).

Once you do understand Spanish, new worlds open up to you. All of a sudden Italian isn't such a foreign a language, as you can understand many things Italians say. The same thing happens in French or Portuguese, (more or less). If you can learn any one of the other romance languages too, your suddenly a man or woman of the world. One more advantage to learning Spanish is that if you speak to someone from another country (say Brazil), in Spanish, they will probably understand you. So now you can travel the world and increase your chances of being understood (by using two languages).

Multilingualism opens up all kinds of job and career opportunities in the US and overseas. Unbelievable job and travel opportunities become available that most people only dream about. These experiences will enrich you, help you to understand the world and to appreciate all we have in America. At the same time, you will understand better the role of America in the world past, present and future.

Learn more about this author, Gary Gagne.
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