Interesting facts about the Spanish language
Interesting
facts about the Spanish language
Spanish
is the second most widely used language on the internet after English. Spanish
increased in popularity by 807.4% from 2000 to 2011, whereas the popularity of
English grew by 301.4% in the same period. According to the World Data Analyst
of Encyclopaedia Britannica, as from 2030, 7.5% of the global population will
be made up of Spanish speakers. This means that in three or four generations,
10% of the people living in the world will speak Spanish. By 2050, USA will
become the country with the largest number of Spanish speakers.
As the
second most widely spoken language in the world, Spanish opens up cultural,
social and economic possibilities in the industry, as well as in financial
exchanges, business internationalisation, immigration opportunities and great
chances for the teaching of Spanish as a foreign language.
The
Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport carries out educational
programmes in foreign countries to strengthen the presence of Spanish in
educational systems abroad. In Brazil, a ‘Spanish bill’ was passed in Parliament
making Spanish the first foreign language being taught in schools. About 5
million students are already learning the language. With regard to higher
education, emphasis is being laid on international relations of Spanish
universities with their counterparts in other counties as well as student and
faculty mobility through exchange programmes like the Spanish-Brazilian Science Without Borders.
In
2007, language tourism in Spain had a €462.5 million turnover, welcoming
237,600 language learners who spent €176.5 million in Spanish courses (86% in
private learning centres; the rest in universities). From 2000 to 2007, the
number of language tourists coming to Spain increased by 137.6%.
Below
is the link to the MARCA ESPAÑA website which includes all sorts of updated
information about Spain, its economy, its society and culture:
MARCA ESPAÑA in Spanish
MARCA ESPAÑA in English