Spanish

Course summary

Thinking of a gap year? Want a holiday job? Planning to travel? Speaking a second language could be just what you need. Spanish is the second most widely spoken first language in the world, spoken by 477 million native speakers, with over 570 million speakers in total. It is currently the 4th most commonly spoken language. It is an official language in 21 countries including the vast majority of South America. There are also some 30-40 million native Spanish speakers in the USA! Speaking Spanish opens the door for you to communicate with half a billion speakers worldwide. It is also a great stepping stone if you are intending to learn Portuguese or Italian later down the line. Know a second language? Great, you’re hired! If you have proven yourself to be a capable employee with just the right job skills and you speak a foreign language such as Spanish, you are much more likely to land that dream job than if you are monolingual. In fact, many jobs today require at least a minimum of basic proficiency in another language. The CBI Educational and Skills Survey (November 2018) said that Spanish was rated as “in demand” by 50% of businesses who recognise that our foreign language skills are currently unsatisfactory. The British Council’s post-Brexit study Languages for the Future (2017) into Britain’s preparedness for business opportunities and international relations after Brexit rates Spanish as the most important language, basing its findings on both economic and non-market factors such as: exports and future trade; the needs of UK business; emerging high growth markets; diplomatic and security priorities; outward and inward tourism; the prevalence of different languages on the internet.