Spanish is a Romance language spoken by over 400 million people worldwide, with over 350 million native speakers. It is the 2nd to 4th most spoken language, and is mutually intelligible with Portuguese. Spanish is relatively easy to learn for English speakers and is an official language in many countries, including the United States.
Spanish is a Romance language spoken by over 400 million people worldwide, over 350 million of whom are native speakers. Depending on calculation, it is between the 2nd and 4th most spoken languages on Earth, and is arguably the most widely spoken of the Romance languages. In Spanish, the term for the language is either español or castellano, depending on the area in question. In English, the term Castilian is also sometimes used to refer to the language, but this usage is much less common. Castilian can also be used as a term to describe the dialect spoken in the Castile region of Spain.
This language is mutually intelligible with a number of other Iberian Romance languages, especially Portuguese. In general, a Portuguese speaker will have a harder time understanding Spanish than a Spanish speaker listening to Portuguese, but both should be able to understand. To non-speakers, the languages often sound like the same language – perhaps just different dialects – but the differences are readily apparent upon closer inspection. Spanish also shares a common enough language with Italian – another Romance language – to allow for a fair degree of intercommunication. While they in no way allow for free understanding or speaking of the other language, many Spanish speakers find that if an Italian speaker speaks slowly enough and avoids slang, most of the speech content can be reconstructed.
Like the other popular Romance languages – Portuguese, French and Italian – most English speakers find Spanish relatively easy to learn. English itself relies on enough Latin vocabulary and grammar that Spanish is littered with cognates that aid in early acquisition of the language. The sounds used are also quite familiar to English speakers – with the possible exception of the rolled and tapped “r” sounds – so there is a negotiable learning curve in pronunciation.
Spanish is an official language of most countries in Central and South America, including Argentina, Colombia, El Salvador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. It is also the official language of the island nations of Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. It is an operational language of both the European Union and the United Nations. The language is widely spoken in the United States and is an official language in the state of New Mexico. Along with Arabic, it is one of the official languages of the African nation of Western Sahara. It is, of course, also one of the official languages of Spain.
As a language, Spanish is a major strength in the United States, where it is spoken by more than 30 million people, making the United States the fifth-ranked nation of speakers of the language, behind only Argentina, Spain, Colombia, and Mexico. Due to constant immigration between the countries where it is spoken and the United States, the language has a permanent place in US culture, and many non-native speakers find learning the language extremely helpful in business and social situations.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
