By Sarah Howarth and Mari Cruz Olivan
Spanish is a romance language descended from Vulgar Latin, which originated on the Iberian Peninsula (southwestern Europe). Today, it is an official language of 21 countries, the majority of which are in Central and South America:
Spanish is also widely spoken in a number of other countries including Canada, Morocco, the Philippines, and the United States, where by 2015, there were more Spanish speakers than in Spain.
There are a number of varieties and dialects of Spanish, the two key varieties being Latin American Spanish and European Spanish. Differences relate to vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar.
According to a report by Instituto Cervantes in 2016, there are more than 472 million native speakers of Spanish worldwide – and 567 million speakers for whom Spanish is a first or second language. This report also states that there are 21 million Spanish language learners worldwide.
Today Spanish pips English to the post as the world’s 2nd most commonly spoken language but misses out substantially on the top spot held by Chinese. It is the primary language spoken in Central and South America as well as the 2nd most commonly spoken language spoken in the USA.
Spanish is taught in schools, colleges and universities across the world. Instituto Cervantes, a non-profit organisation set up by the Spanish government, promotes the learning and teaching of the Spanish language and culture worldwide.
Here, at Language Services Direct, we specialise in training professionals to improve their business Spanish in order to conduct their work in this major global language.
1. Gender
Unlike in English, Spanish nouns are either masculine or feminine. The gender of the noun (which must be memorised, noun by noun) affects the form of other words that should be used with it, such as:
This is referred to as ‘agreement’ and applies also to number. Examples:
2. Conjugations
Verbs in Spanish are conjugated according to person and number; specifically, the endings of the verbs change. This means that rather than memorising one form of a verb, you will need to learn five or six different verb endings. These different endings need to be memorised. This is quite a challenge as there are different verb endings for -ar, -er and -ir verbs.
If you compare the English verb ‘to work’ with the Spanish verb ‘trabajar’ in the present tense, the difference is clear:
English: I work, you work, he/she works, we work, you work, they work
(The verb ‘work’ only changes when used with he/she/it.)
Spanish: Yo trabajo, Tu trabajas, Usted trabaja, Él/Ella trabaja, Nosotros/-as trabajamos, Vosotros/-as trabajáis, Ustedes trabajan, Ellos/-as trabajan
(The verb changes when used with each different pronoun.)
3. Ser and estar
Speaking of verbs, one verb that typically poses problems for Spanish learners is the commonly used ‘to be’, which has two forms in Spanish: ‘ser’ and ‘estar’. There are complex rules on which form of the verb to use in which circumstances. ‘Ser’ is generally used for permanent states, for example yo soy alto (I am tall) yo soy Maria (I am Maria), and ‘estar’ is reserved for non-permanent states, such as yo estoy cansado (I am tired) yo estoy enfermo (I am ill). But it’s not quite as simple as that; there are exceptions and additional rules that complicate matters!
4. Listening comprehension
Students of Spanish often feel that whilst they are making good progress learning vocabulary and grammar rules, they still struggle to understand native speakers. Often this is due to the rapid production of native speakers, making it, quite literally, hard for learners to keep up!
In addition to this, as Spanish is spoken in many countries and areas of the world, different varieties and dialects exist. A learner may, for example, have some difficulty understanding a Mexican (or Venezuelan or Columbian) speaker of Spanish if they accustomed to hearing EU Spanish only.
5. Those tricky ‘little words’
Often ‘little words’ of a language cause problems for learners. This includes prepositions – words used to infer direction and position. In English, this includes to, for, on, in, by, etc. And in Spanish: por, para, en, sobre, hacia, desde, etc. Spanish and English use prepositions differently which often leads native English speakers to select the wrong Spanish preposition. This error can be difficult to correct as preposition selection is hardwired according to native language. This is called L1 (or first language) interference.
In particular, the prepositions ‘por’ and ‘para’ present challenges for Spanish learners. Both can be used when English speakers would say ‘for’ (or use another preposition). Knowing whether to use ‘por’ or ‘para’ can be difficult even for advanced learners.
Other small words that can be problematic are articles. Learners grapple with this question: should I use ‘un’ or ‘una’ (a), ‘el’ or ‘la’ or no article at all before a noun? This can be a challenging question as the answer may differ between English and Spanish.
6. Spelling and pronunciation
As Spanish is a phonetic language, once you have mastered the alphabet, you will be able to say what you see as you read aloud. However, working out where the stress falls in each word is not so simple as there are complicated rules governing this and the use of accents in Spanish. Spanish words that appear similar to English ones may be pronounced quite differently, for example using short rather than long vowels or with a different stressed syllable.
There are also a number of sounds in Spanish that do not exist in English and these may be difficult to master for some learners. This includes the rolled ‘r’ sound, which features quite heavily in Spanish. Other frequently problematic sounds include ‘j’, ‘ch’ and ‘b/v’.
As Spanish is the 2nd most widely used language in the world, opportunities for business abound. Put simply, companies must be able do business with and market to its speakers directly.
In 2017, Spain is the world’s 14th largest economy in projected GDP terms – and when you look across the Spanish-speaking countries worldwide, it’s clear to see their importance for business. Reasons include:
1. Read Spanish media:
El Mundo (Spain)
El País (Spain)
El Financiero (Mexico)
La Nación (Argentina)
El Espectador (Colombia)
El Comercio (Peru)
2. Watch the news in Spanish:
TVE- Canal 24 horas
Noticias Univisión
Noticiero Telemundo
CNN español
NTN24
3. Divide your learning into digestible chunks, perhaps 2-5 new pieces of vocabulary every day. If you can pin study to an activity you complete every day, even better. You might, for example, revise a vocabulary list attached to your bathroom mirror as you brush your teeth each day.
4. Get mobile! Use your daily commutes to develop your Spanish in a little-and-often way. With a vast array of effective and engaging apps and websites available for learning Spanish today, your study sessions can be fun and taken at any time, any place!
Duolingo
Babbel
Busuu
Quizlet
Notes in Spanish
Podcasts in Spanish
Videoele
News in Slow Spanish Podcasts
5. Practise, practise, practise! Seize every opportunity to practise your Spanish with native speakers. View your friends and colleagues as potential language buddies. For more advanced learners, enlist your line manager’s support in finding opportunities to use your language skills at work. There are also apps available that match you with native speakers available to practise with you: HelloTalk.
6. Steep yourself in the language: travel, meet, work, read, listen and converse in Spanish whenever you can.
References:
http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/issues/economy/the-world-in-2050.html
http://www.cervantes.es/imagenes/File/prensa/EspanolLenguaViva16.pdf
http://statisticstimes.com/economy/countries-by-projected-gdp.php
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/29/us-second-biggest-spanish-speaking-country
http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-most-spoken-languages-in-america.html
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