Spanish is the official language of Spain. However, since the Spanish language is being spoken in 43 other countries, this shows how widely popular the Spanish language is. The language is spoken most extensively in both Americas, Spain and to a small extent in Africa and Pacific Asia. It is also the second most widely spoken language in the United States and by far the most popular studied foreign language in U.S. schools and Universities.
Spanish had its first origins as a Latin dialect in Northern Spain. It eventually became the Spain's principal language. It was then spread by explorers around the world. Spanish is now spoken by nearly 400 million native speakers making Spanish the most spoken language and possibly the second most spoken language by number of native speakers.
In America, Spanish is the most popular foreign language spoken as well as studied at schools and universities. Spanish is also being recognized on a more global scale in other areas such as film, TV, music and literature. At the United Nations, it is one of six official working languages.
Because of Arabic influences, Spanish and Portuguese have many grammatical and vocabulary similarities. Another language that Spanish shares many similarities with is Italian. For that reason it is usually relatively easy for speakers of Spanish and Italian to communicate.
Between the 16th and the 18th century, Spanish was the main language across many parts of Europe. By the 18th century it was replaced by French. From the 20th century Spanish was also taken to areas such as Equatorial Guinea and Western Sahara.
The country with the largest Spanish speaking population is Mexico, where around 106 million people speak it. Other countries with the next largest Spanish speaking populations are Colombia, Spain and Argentina. Spanish is also recognized as the official language of 20 independent countries. Because of trading with their Spanish-speaking neighbors, Brazil is also recognizing Spanish as an important language.
Spanish people tend to call their language español when comparing it with foreign languages, such as French and English. But when comparing it to other languages spoken in Spain (Basque, Catalan and Galician) they call it castellano i.e. Castilian, the language of the Castile region. The name castellano is widely used as a whole in Latin America. As a matter of fact, Latin Americans use it to differentiate their own variety of Spanish as opposed to the variety of Spanish spoken in Spain, or vice-versa.
Different variations of the Spanish language are being spoken in various regions of Spain and throughout Spanish-speaking America. Pronunciation following the Castilian dialect is regarded as the national standard in Spain. Or, simply put, with standard Spanish they mean pronouncing it as it is written.
On the other hand, various regions around the world that speak Spanish have spawned different meanings of the same words. Same words can have different meaning, even embarrassingly so, in different Spanish speaking countries. Most native Spanish speakers can recognize other Spanish forms, even in places where they are not commonly used. However, for a person who is learning Spanish as a second language, sometimes the different meanings of Spanish words can be very confusing if not familiar with other Spanish forms.
For example, in Mexico, 'taco' is food, while in Spain it means swear word. The everyday Spanish words 'coger' (to catch, get, or pick up) and 'pisar' (to step on) are considered extremely rude in parts of Latin America, where the meaning of 'coger' and 'pisar' is also "to have sex."
Other than the different forms of many Spanish words, when speaking Spanish, it is important to know where to place the stress on words. Different stress patterns of the same word can result in totally different meanings for one and the same word. Take for instance the word 'practico'. When the stress is placed on the first syllable [pronounced PRAHK-tee-koh], it means "practical." When the stress is placed on the second syllable [pronounced prahk-TEE-koh], it means "I practice." When the stress is placed on the third syllable [pronounced prahk-tee-KOH], it means "you (formal)/he/she/it practiced."
Spanish is an extremely interesting language, becoming more interesting the more you learn it. Learning Spanish would open the door to a rapidly growing culture in the United States as well as broaden your personal and professional future. Other than making you very marketable in the job search, learning Spanish will make travel to the Spanish speaking countries, such as Mexico and Spain, easier and much more enjoyable.
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