>> Newsletters & Articles >> 5 Good Reasons to Study Spanish in Spain
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1. Your own personal development.
Taking on the challenge of living in a new country where a foreign language is spoken, and getting by from day to day, will teach you much more than just a language. You'll learn important life-lessons that you might not have had the opportunity to encounter otherwise.
While it can be challenging to face new hurdles, getting over them is extremely rewarding and will serve you for the rest of your life. Many people unfortunately never get to the point of breaking down certain barriers within themselves that prevent them from experiencing life more fully because they never place themselves in a similarly challenging situation.
And challenges are only a part of the experience - most of your time here will be filled with pleasant experiences because Spain is such a nice place to live: the people are open and friendly, the quality of life is excellent, the climate is great, the cultural and historical background is fascinating, the night-life is unbeatable... and a big et-cetera.
2. To expand your mind.
Meeting, communicating with, and understanding people from a different culture has the inevitable effect of opening up your mind to different ways of seeing things and living life.
During your time studying in Spain, you'll probably experience a crawling out of your limited cultural shell and see things in a new and different light. This can be challenging at the least and a bit frightening at worst, but will always result in a more aware, awake and capable you.
On another note, learning something new and eventually being able to communicate well in more than one language gives your brain great exercise and makes your mind more flexible. Being able to switch between linguistic modes entails a higher degree of mental control than is normal and thus enhances one's ability to think creatively and deal with situations in a resourceful way.
3. To be more employable.
Having such a widely spoken language as Spanish under your belt will make you infinitely more appealing to employers when searching for a job. This is true anywhere in the Western world, but especially so in the U.S., where the segment of the population that speaks Spanish is growing rapidly.
Not only will your resume look more interesting, you'll get paid more once you do get a job because of the increasing value of Spanish in the worldwide business community. Knowing Spanish will also make it much easier for you to get promoted within a Hispanic market department that your company might have.
Employers also appreciate candidates who somehow prove to be brave, resourceful and ambitious enough to take on challenges like learning a new language in an unknown environment.
4. To be able to get around the world and communicate with more people.
The number of people throughout the world who speak Spanish as a native language is huge, rapidly approaching the 500 million mark. Besides Spain - which plays an important cultural, artistic, economic and political role in Europe - Nearly all of Central and South America consists of Spanish speaking countries.
To the world traveler, the ability to speak Spanish opens countless doors to a wealth of experiences that wouldn't have been possible otherwise.
5. To expand your ability to appreciate a new culture, its art and history.
Spanish represents a key into a vast diversity of cultures. Both historically and in current times, much of the world's greatest art is produced in a Spanish or Spanish-speaking context.
The experience of studying Spanish in Spain - or in any Spanish-speaking country for that matter - and being able to understand Spanish will put you in the enviable position of being able to delve into a profound culture and enjoy all the artistic beauty it has to offer.