Spanish is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, and its popularity is growing. It is the primary language of 21 countries, and it is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Nearly 400 million people speak Spanish as their first language, and it’s the 4th most popular world language behind Chinese, Hindustani, and English. There are no indications that Spanish will do anything but become more popular either. As the Hispanic population grows, and as more people study Spanish as a second language, the number of speakers will continue to increase. This popularity is one of the reasons to learn Spanish. Free online Spanish lessons, Spanish audio lessons, and Spanish podcasts make the language even easier to learn.

Other reasons to learn Spanish are travel, ease of learning, and bilingual opportunities. With so many countries having Spanish as their official language, there are many places travelers can practice Spanish. Knowing the language of the places you visit allows you to see and experience parts of the culture that people who don’t speak Spanish will not get to enjoy. You will gain insights into the people who live there and their way of life. Also the logistics of traveling become infinitely easier if you can read the street signs and know how to ask directions. Any amount of study you do before visiting a Spanish-speaking area will help when you travel there. Don’t think that you have to be fluent. Even spending a few minutes online learning Spanish a few days or weeks before your trip will help.

Spanish is one of the easiest languages for native English speakers to learn. Its pronunciation system is straightforward, making it easy to learn to read aloud. Spanish also has a similar sentence structure and alphabet to English, so there are not as many grammatical differences for English speakers to have to learn. It’s an excellent first foreign language for native English speakers, and once you’ve learned a language like Spanish, it takes less time to learn another foreign language because your mind has had practice learning how to learn another language.

Being bilingual, especially with a widely spoken language, also creates opportunities. Some employers give preference to people who know Spanish. The more you know about a particular subject or another language, the more opportunities can open up to you, even if you can’t foresee those opportunities while taking your first online Spanish lesson.