Around the world Spanish is spoken as a native language by 406 million people, which makes it second only to Mandarin. Spanish is the official language of 21 countries. Spanish is quickly becoming a key language in the modern business world. What this means is that anybody who is able to speak it at fluent business level will not only have a head start with university applications but also considerable advantage when applying for all types of careers later on in life and it will also give you more opportunity for international travel and working abroad. Learning Spanish will also give you a major advantage when trying to understand/ learn any other Latin-based language; such as Portuguese and Italian. Spanish is phonetic, which means you say what you see. This makes it easier to read in comparison to other languages. Hispanic literature is regarded as some of the best in the world. We will also be studying Spanish-speaking cinema, covering the works of legendary Spanish director, Pedro Amaldovar and recent Oscar winning Mexican directors Guillermo Del Toro and Alejandro Iñarritu. Throughout the course you will compare and contrast your own life with that of young people living in Spanish speaking countries, and gain valuable insight as to what their history and culture is like. You will get the chance to experience the rich variety of their festivities, customs, art and music original to Hispanic culture!