Officially, Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world. More than 550 million people speak this language, and the number continues to grow daily! If we look at Spanish from the perspective of native speakers, there are about 460 million, mainly in the 21 countries where Spanish is the official language. It is the language of popular series such as ‘La casa de papel’, the lyrics of the songs of Rosalía and Maluma… We can list many more important people from Spanish-speaking countries. All this and the various cultures contribute to making Spanish popular among students. Today there are more than 20 million Spanish learners! Let us not doubt that this number will increase in the following years. The following reasons are some that highlight the importance of studying Spanish.
Better connection with culture
The ability to understand other languages, such as Spanish, is crucial. Therefore, it is essential to develop it when we are children. One of the ways to keep culture alive is to teach and study languages. It is important to note that sometimes direct translation from one language to another cannot convey the same essence as in the source language. Therefore, the best way to get to know a culture is to know the language. The mother tongue helps us stay connected with our roots, customs and traditional values. Also, it is part of each person’s identity, so it is essential to preserve and transmit it from one generation to another.
Intellectual development and a foundation for learning other languages
Studies have shown that cognitive and intellectual development is comparatively faster when they are fluent in their mother tongue. Educational success in their mother tongue is higher than that of someone taught in a language other than their mother tongue. If a child reads in his native language early, he will have more substantial reading and writing skills in other languages. Also, if someone can learn Spanish, he will get a head start in learning other Latin languages like French and Italian. Intensive study of the structure of one language lays a strong foundation for learning others.
Read and see the masterpieces in their original language
Pablo Neruda, Julio Cortázar and Gabriel García Márquez are some of the most important writers in Latin America. Learning Spanish allows them to read novels and poems in their original form, understand what they want to say to their readers, and also understand the cultural references they use. Also, watching Almodóvar or Oriol Paulo movies without requiring English subtitles? So people can focus more on the film itself than the translation and understand the film’s thin plot.
Business advantages
The possibilities of earning money with the help of the mother tongue are enormous in today’s economy. Companies are going the local way, so the importance of mother tongues has reached exponentially. Knowing the native language to communicate with local customers if you want to become an entrepreneur is beneficial.
The feeling of honor
Knowing the mother tongue well is a matter of self-esteem. It enriches one’s confidence and creates awareness in one’s mind while connecting with one’s cultural identity.
To summarize, the mother tongue has a tremendous and positive impact on an individual’s personality; however, the medium of education, usually English, also alienates parents from speaking to their children in the second language.
This creates confusion in children’s minds and difficulties in mastering the first and second language. The mother tongue is the language that a child comes to hear after birth and helps to give a definite shape to feelings and thoughts.
Learning the mother tongue is also crucial for improving other critical thinking skills, second language learning, and literacy skills. So we can say that the mother tongue can be a helpful learning tool.