Interesting Spanish Language Facts
Fun Fact #1 - Spanish is the 2nd most spoken language in the world today with 414 million speakers.
Yep, that's right Spanish is the 2nd most spoken language in the world today! 414 million people is a lot of speakers! English comes in next as the 3rd most spoken language today.
In case you are wondering, Mandarin Chinese is the winner with around 1 billion total speakers!
I bet you didn't know Spanish was more spoken in the world today than English (I know I didn't).
Fun Fact #2 - 31 Countries have Spanish as their official language.
Spanish, which can also be called Castellano makes up almost 1/5 of the world's official languages. That's means that 15.8% of countries today have Spanish as the official language. That's a lot of countries.
If you like to travel like I do, learning Spanish means you can communicate with almost 20% of the worlds population. And that's not even including Spanish speakers in the U.S. or other "English speaking" countries.
Fun Fact #3 - You can earn up to $125/hour teaching Spanish in the United States.
That's a lot of money! Speaking another language is only going to increase your skillset and desirability no matter where you look for a job.
There are many high paying translator jobs and teaching jobs in the world today.
Fun Fact #4 - USA will become the largest Spanish speaking country by the year 2050 with 132.8 million speakers.
Yes, you read that correctly. The United States is growing in Spanish speakers at a faster rate than English speakers.
That means, the Spanish speakers are catching up and will eventually pass the English speakers in terms of population in the United States.
That fact right there should give you a desire to learn the language. Any long-term thinker knows that Spanish is going to be as important as English in the future years.
It would be silly for ourselves and our children to not put a greater focus on learning it!
Fun Fact #5 - Experts say that it takes 24 weeks to achieve professional proficiency in Spanish.
I thought about taking this one down as the amount of time it takes to be fluent in Spanish is a little bit of a subjective thing to state.
However, it is what the "experts" say so who am I to disagree with them!
Personally, I reached a conversational fluency in less than a years time using fun and interesting methods, but I wouldn't say I am at a professional level by any means.
For instance, I don't think I can take an accounting job and explain the job well enough in Spanish. Although, I can and have done this in English.
I think a professional level requires a more tailored study towards your profession.
Fun Fact #6 - Spanish is considered the most romantic language on Earth!
Who doesn't want to be more romantic and loving. That's right, Spanish is arguably the most romantic language. This one right here should give you a strong enough reason to learn Spanish.
Personally, I think the tough guys at the gym should totally start learning Spanish.
Fun Fact #7 - Spanish is the 2nd most studied language in the world.
Within 3 generations, almost 10% of the world's population will be able to communicate in Spanish!
There is no doubt English is going to continue to be the worlds language due to its commonality as a universal business communication channel.
However, that is not to say that Spanish isn't going to continue to grow and play a larger affect in the world.
Again, I truly believe that those with the future in mind should start taking Spanish much more serious.
Fun Fact #8 - Spanish grammar was first published in 1492 by Antonio de Nebrija.
1492 is a long time ago. In fact, that's the year that Columbus discovered America!
So when the US was first being discovered, Spanish was developing its own grammar system. Of course this is many, many years before the United States declared its independence as a country.
But which language came first?
Fun Fact #9 - The Spanish language has grown by a rate of 1,312.4% in the last 15 years.
That is quite a staggering rate if you ask me!
This coincides with the projection earlier that Spanish speakers will soon become the majority in the United States. The growth of Spanish speakers is truly quite staggering.
Fun Fact #10 - Spanish is the 3rd most used language on the internet.
This one probably won't come as much of a surprise due to the facts mentioned above.
English is still arguably the "worlds language." Mandarin Chinese has by far the most people and speakers which makes sense that they would be #1. So that means Spanish is the 3rd most used language on the internet.
Here's a bonus fact for you to quiz your friends and family with... What country has the most English speakers?
If you guessed the United States, you are unfortunately wrong.
The correct answer is India! Ok, moving on...
Fun Fact #11 - Before the 18th century, the only democratic language in the world was Spanish.
Everyone always thinks of the United States when they think of the founding of democracy in the world today. This fact is to provide another perspective.
Little do most people know, including me, that Spanish was the first democratice language.
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