Why did you start learning Spanish and why?
Why did you start learning Spanish and why?
I'll go first...
I started because my schooling required it. I fell in love with the language. I feel quite educated when I speak what little Spanish I knew. I also loved speaking the language with my friends in front of my (not as inteligent in Spanish) enemies, and we could say whatever we knew and they would be completely blank. 
I love spanish! Yo el amor español!
22 Answers
I have always wanted to speak a second language, but never had time in my life before. I actually had collected a few German and Spanish text books a number of years ago, recognizing that I wanted to learn one some day. I truly am bothered by people who tell other people to learn a language and yet have made no attempt to do so themselves (I could go on about this subject for a while). I also think anyone who wants to consider themselves to have a broad-based education should know a second language.
This incipient desire was combined last May with a trip to Mexico in which twice we were in situations where we had to communicate without a common language. This was our second annual trip in what at least for now seems to be an ongoing annual event with our friends. It was not so much a communication barrier- as for instance the cab driver had a clip board with all the likely destinations for anyone to point out where they wanted to go- It was more the hypocrisy of planning to go to a country on a regular basis and expecting them to figure out how to communicate with me.
I am doing this recognizing that language learning is not my strong point (I have frequently said that I am not sure I can even speak one language properly). I also am doing this recognizing that German would be easier for me, as I learned it to some extent in college (at a time when to get a BS in Chemistry at my university you learned German, French or Russian with no other options). Nonetheless the only language that I am liable to use on a regular enough basis to motivate me is Spanish. I find the wonderful people at this site motivate me to continue this quest, even though at times I question as to whether I am truly capable.
I travel to Mexico almost every year, This year I went to quaymas. It´s more fun to interact with the locals by speaking Spanish.
To meet Spanish Ladies!
I started learning Spanish, because I needed to communicate with my parents... being a baby and only speaking "gugu tata"... didn't help very much... so I decided it was time to learn a new one...
My parents decided that language to be Spanish... so well... there you have it...
I decided to learn Spanish for a couple of reasons.
- It has always been on my bucket list because I enjoyed the one year I took in high school.
- A recent report in the Smithsonian magazine noted that by 2030 our hispanic population will account for 30 percent of our children.
- It helps to keep my mind active since I am done with school.
I wouldn't want to discourage anyone just started out learning Spanish by saying how many years I've been struggling away, but I've enjoyed the challenge. Although there has been alot of stops and starts along the way, I'm persistant and believe one day the fog will lift.
I started in 1972 when I was a high school freshman because I thought learning a foreign language would be cool, and Spanish was much cooler than French, my only other option. In 1975 my family and I moved to Venezuela, so it worked out well. I studied it for 4 years in high school, 2 of them in Caracas, then moved back to Michigan for college and didn't use it much for a long time.
I moved to California after college, then my wife and I bought a horse ranch about 10 years ago. The workers mostly speak Spanish. I had been coasting by with what I could remember, until a few months ago when I decided to brush up and joined this place. Use it or lose it.
I started studying Spanish about 14 years ago because it was a requirement for school. I had always loved Latin and grew to love Spanish even more because it's a living language. Unfortunately, once I met my middle school/high school/college requirements, I stopped taking Spanish entirely...I had other courses to pay for!
I recently started studying again after a seven-year hiatus because it's my boyfriend's first language. I've fallen in love with the language all over again. I'm just now starting to get back to the point where I don't have to translate everything in my head and can "think" in Spanish some. It's like putting on an old familiar pair of cozy slippers!
I learned a little last year because I was going to visit my daughter in Buenos Aires. I picked up some more while I was there. After the holiday I continued learning in case she didn´t come home to Australia. She didn´t! She invited me to join her in Ecuador.
I´ve just come back from 3.5 months travelling around Ecuador and Colombia. Whenever I found myself in a place for more than a week I found a teacher. It was heaps of fun.
Now I have too much invested in the language to stop studying it, even tho she is due home in Feb. I have my sights set on Mexico and Cuba.
I love travelling and have got to threshold level in so many languages and then forgotten them. I´d like to do better in Spanish.
I started studying Spanish for three reasons.
First, I attend a church where about half the members are immigrants from Latin American countries. I have participated in the worship services at that church for almost thirty years. We started having bilingual services a few months ago, so I have learned what I need to know to handle portions of the public service. I am now improving to the point of conversing, at a very basic level, with some of the Latin American members.
Second, I retired from my job and volunteer at a free clinic. Some of our patients speak only Spanish, or have a limited use of the English language. Here again, I'm learning as much as possible to handle this new situation.
Finally, I believe it is important for everyone to challenge themselves mentally and physically. Learning a new language is mentally challenging to me.
I moved to Dodge City, Kansas 7 years ago to work as a therapist. Hispanics make up almost 50% of the overall population and about 70% of the school age population. I want to learn as much Spanish as I can to communicate better.
I have always like languages and linguistics. I have spend the best part of the last 25 years learning to speak various Germanic languages, starting with Danish, then German, then Dutch with a passing nod at Swedish and Japanese. I also did French at school but wasn't very good at it. I was 14 at the time and only just arrived in London and was finding English rather difficult. So all you learners of English out there, I have been there and know what it's like !!
Then in the late 90's I started going to France for holidays and was appalled by how little I could say. As a result I started going to evening classes. I have now reached the upper intermediate level (B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages).
And the reason I took up Spanish? Well, recently, a friend of ours married a Spanish chap and moved over to Spain. We have been to visit them and I started learning a bit of holiday Spanish. Then we started visiting other parts of Spain and I slowly came to the realisation that I ought to spend more time on learning Romance languages. I thought about Italian, but my Spanish was already slightly more advanced, I decided to carry on and started going to evening classes again. I have no specific goals or a time frame. I just plod along and hope a small proportion of what I learn and practise will stick. I still have lessons in French and Dutch and I keep up the others by reading papers and listening to radio broadcast on line and by chatting/writing to friends in their languages.
Sorry, a rather long winded response and I hope I haven't bored anybody !!
i love it and i want go to Spain and live there!
I love the language! Most people may think of Italian or French as the "language of love", but in my world Spanish is! I love the different Latin cultures, I love the foods, I love the music...and what better way to fully immerse yourself in a cultural experience than to learn the language? I don't want to have to rely on anyone to communicate for me, I'd much rather do the communicating myself!
I decided to learn spanish because it is a requirement for my school. I started in first grade and have had it for 11 years now. I used to like it til 9th grade year and my spanish teacher is extremely difficult and stupid. In fact some of the worksheets and translation things he gave us for homework this year, i looked up on this website and he marked somethings wrong! grrr lol ruined my gpa
srry to be so depressing dude
