...College is a huge step and an important part of life. Students are anxious and nervous about starting college. They are leaving their comfort zone and will soon experience the life of a college student. College courses are structured to prepare students for what their futures hold. Spanish is a college course that should be required in every student’s curriculum for many reasons; like the employment opportunities one can choose from are enormous; traveling to different countries can open up many abroad opportunities, and students will be able to communicate with millions of people who speak Spanish. Students will also have a better understanding of different Spanish speaking cultures. Many people do not see the enormous opportunities that learning Spanish has. Studying Spanish will help students gain an overall better knowledge of the Spanish language. Spanish speakers are a fast growing population, especially in the United States because the U.S is where the majority of Spanish speakers migrate to. The Spanish language is spoken everywhere in the United States. Young children can now learn basic phrases and can count to ten thanks to educational television such as Dora the Explorer. Understanding and speaking Spanish is extremely valuable when it comes to employment opportunities. Many corporations are giving preference to bi-lingual candidates. These potential employees become more desirable, especially in a rough job market and in a down economy. Today, most companies...
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...If you live in the United States, you must have rarely or even never thought about studying foreign languages. Indeed, why would you? English is spoken in both Americas (mostly), Europe, Slavic countries, and even India; only China, Japan, and some other far east countries have problems with the English language. However, being able to speak a foreign language – at least one – nowadays is becoming a necessity. Spanish, among all other foreign languages, seems to be the most necessary for the United States, and every U.S. student should know it. Why? For the United States, Spanish is not a foreign language anymore. With a regular flow of new immigrants from South America, as well as with the extensive growth of a Spanish-speaking population, which is large already, Spanish is rapidly becoming the second most used language in the United States in terms of the amount of speakers. According to a Pew Research Center report, an estimated 37.6 million people in the U.S. speak Spanish as their first language; in 2060, analysts predict the United States will have 128.8 million people for whom Spanish is their native language, thus turning the country into the world’s largest Spanish-speaking country (Businessinsider.com). Considering all this, Caucasian, African American, and Asian students (and actually people of all ages) might want to be able to improve communications with such an enormous group of people; soon enough, it will be a regular situation when in some public places, there...
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...CSM 104 Research Essay Why you should learn Spanish before you learn French? Speaking a new language helps you to get to know another people and culture, as language and culture go hand in hand. Because language simultaneously is defined by the world around us, learning another language opens one's mind to new ideas and new ways of looking at the world. While most of us can't hope to learn the languages of more than one or two cultures other than that of our own, those that we can learn help us to learn how other people learn and think. In North American, most people choose French and Spanish as their second or third language. Many people believe that Spanish is actually more useful than French, and obviously the foreign language most spoken and studied--by far--in the North America is Spanish. Compare with French, Spanish can offer a wealth of literature of Latin language, both modern and traditional. For example, when you are reading a Latin American websites, you may find that you could gain a sense of how other people think and fee if you know Spanish. As a matter of fact, both of the languages belong to the Latin group of languages. Hence, they show some similarities too. On the one hand, French is spoken by the country of France in the continent of Europe. On the other hand, Spanish is spoken in the country of Spain in the continent of Europe. However, French and Spanish are two languages that show enormous differences between them when it comes to the pronunciation...
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...so swiftly throughout the Philippines in the 1500s, it began to decline in the 1600s despite the Spanish clergy’s attempts to use it for evangelization. Filipinos continued to sign their names with baybayin letters throughout the 17th, and even into the 18th century, though most of the documents were written in Spanish. Gaspar de San Agustín still found the baybayin useful in 1703. In his Compendio de la lengua Tagala he wrote, “It helps to know the Tagalog characters in distinguishing accents.” And he mentioned that the baybayin was still being used to write poetry in Batangas at that time. But in 1745 Sebastián Totanes claimed in his Arte de la lengua Tagala that, Rare is the indio who still knows how to read [the baybayin letters], much less write them. All of them read and write our Castilian letters now. However, Totanes held a rather low opinion of Philippine culture and other writers of the period gave a more balanced view. Thomas Ortiz felt it was still necessary to describe the Tagalog characters in his Arte y Reglas de la lengua Tagala of 1729 and as late as 1792 a pact between Christians and Mangyans on the island of Mindoro was signed with baybayin letters, which is not surprising because the Mangyans never stopped using their script. Many people today, both ordinary Filipinos and some historians not acquainted with the Philippines, are surprised when they learn that the ancient Filipinos actually had a writing system of their own. The complete absence of truly...
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...For years now, the U.S. (United States of America) grew with diversity. Recent reports show that learning Spanish has a great advantage in the United States. Americans support that learning Spanish gives great benefits in careers. Also, learning a new language such as Spanish benefits the human health. Finally, many people could fluently use this language when traveling the world. This is why everybody should learn Spanish. One benefit to learning Spanish includes a variety of careers options to choose from. Spanish and English language offers a higher pay in the career fields that are chosen. Careers such as teachers, bilingual clerks, and bank tellers. Also, reports have shown that employers are now seeking employees who are bilingual....
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...Hispanics Must Know Spanish When I left North Carolina a few years ago and moved to Puerto Rico, I had no idea why understanding the Spanish language as a Hispanic was so important until I moved out there. While being around many Hispanics, I discovered most of them spoke Spanish towards each other and would only speak English to someone who looked non-Hispanic. If I was a non-Hispanic and self-identified as one, knowing the Spanish language would not be considered mandatory for me. However, that is not the case. Because I look Latina and self-identify as Latina, I have been stereotyped as someone who must know Spanish. My first encounter was when I was living in Puerto Rico and stumbled across a Walgreens somewhere in Mayaguez, a woman approached me speaking in Spanish. By her tone of voice, I assumed she was asking me a question, but I did not know how to respond because I did not...
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...Sergio is struggling in school because he has not been in school long and he is an English Language Learner (ELL). Prior to Sergio entering the sixth grade at an American school, he attended school for four years in Mexico. Sergio’s problem is speaking and reading the English language because it is difficult to him. He is behind a year in his Spanish writing and reading but that is because he has been in an American school for one year. Sergio should not try to read on an English sixth grade level because it is too difficult. Reading on a sixth grade level is difficult for him in Spanish and English, thus, discouraging him along the way. Because the current sixth grader’s reading level in his first language is fifth grade, he should not attempt...
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...The majority of language learners in the United States study Spanish ("Most Studied Foreign Language in the U.S.”). Some people might ask a student that studies Spanish, why that student would study Spanish or what would studying Spanish do for that person. Well, first of all, that person that should mind their own business because who cares what others say about that student learning Spanish. That person should worry about himself instead of the student. Despite what some people say, studying Spanish can be really useful. A person should study Spanish instead of not studying Spanish because not only Spanish beneficial and important for that student but for others as well. When a person studies Spanish, it will broaden their job opportunities, allow that person to travel abroad, and that person can meet new people. Studying Spanish can broaden a person’s job opportunities. The...
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...two hundred years before the Spanish arrived, Aztecs Empire were formed after they entered the valley of Mexico and settled the center of Lake Texcoco. They built a great capital called Tenochtitlan and became their homeland. Tenochtitlan located about 7,500 feet above sea level between the Gulf of Mexico and North Pacific Ocean where it was the largest city in the world (Schmal).They created a great civilization in Central Mexico called The Aztec. The small city was built to hold population that approximately two fifty thousand people. The Aztec religion was established on the forces of nature and worshipped themselves to their gods. According to Aztec belief the human heart was the most precious gift that offered to the God. Their mission was to give the sun the human blood to have enough energy to fight cross the sky, and feed the earth with their bodies to have enough nutrition (Schmal). The god of war, Huitzilopochtli, was the most important deity. They had many other important gods, such as Tlaloc, the god of rain whom was scarified by children’s’ tears, Quetzalcoatl, the god of wind and of learning, and Tenochtitlan, the sun god whom was offered the kids’ heart. The Aztecs believed in order to appease these and many other gods that they needed to perform human sacrifices (Evans 2008, p.451). According to (Crystalinks) website, twenty percent of Aztec population was dedicated to agriculture while eighty percent were warriors. That explains why Tenochtitlan had the most powerful...
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...In regards to the Hispanic culture this means learning Spanish or Portuguese. This immediately sends the message "I was willing to spend the immense time and energy to learn this language so I can speak to you and learn about your culture directly without a translator." Subsequently it also sends the message that "I am not expecting you to accommodate me an outsider by speaking in my native language."(3) Aside from learning the language we live in the information age where essentially everything someone wants to know is available on the internet. It isn't difficult to simply type into Google, "Hispanic culture", "social norms of the Hispanic culture," or if traveling to a Hispanic nation, "does and don'ts of (country...
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...leaders, manager, to the boss, and other employees that was not a part of your crew. It was a small net family not a big cooperation. The communication between the employees was limited, just because most of your time was spent on the phone taking or making calls. In our organization gender was not a big factor. The two owners of the company were male and a female, so labor was balanced. The job is not hard labor so everybody has the same task. Depending on your position did you do different jobs, and these were filled by both male and female employees. The cultural differences in our company were very important. Speaking Spanish and English was a big advantage in our company. If you were not able to speak to a Spanish client you would transfer the call to someone that speaks the language. Reason why it is an advantage is because like thirty percent of the callers spoke Spanish and required a representative that spoke same...
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...in a Spanish‐speaking country? The main difference between a United States celebration and a fiesta in a Spanish-speaking country is that celebrations in Spanish-speaking countries revolve around dancing. 2. Mention a factor that allows Spanish speakers to celebrate and dance with family members of all ages. Because of the emphasis on familial bonds, Spanish speakers can celebrate and dance with family members of all ages. 3. In your opinion, what are the reasons that Spanish‐speaking culture could be considered to be more family oriented than some other cultures? Spanish speaking cultures are more family oriented because Spanish families’ lives are more intertwined. Many family events occur through a child’s life, for...
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...of a dominant or majority group (Schaeffer, 2011).” The differences of each group help us to understand the differences of each and their accomplishments and struggles. We have learned with these differences so much with statistics for health and other related issues that give us insight to better prepare ourselves for different outcomes. I am a Mexican American. My mother was raised in Texas and my father in Wyoming. I have been fortunate to learn the culture, especially how to make Mexican food. Recently, with my work, I am have been able to learn more Spanish than I have growing up. My parents did not speak much Spanish to my siblings and I when we were younger. They did take us to events that celebrated significant dates that are special to Mexico though. My life was kind of comical because I was the minority in my school being part of the only family that was Mexican American and we only had one family of African American nationality. So you can kind of see why I did not learn or retain much Spanish when I was surrounded with the English language. I grew up though in a predominantly African American neighborhood. I felt a little lost, but I was able to...
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...my own for a short period of time. I strived to make friends from all backgrounds. I have never looked at the color of skin or dress or religion as a reason why or why not I should not befriend someone. I befriend people just because they interest me and can teach me something new or expand on knowledge I already have acquired! The majority of my friends love to learn and share about world cultures. Because I love to learn about cultures so much, I will have more opportunities not only to reach out to my students in ESL, but also to their parents, which is extremely important to me. I feel that if I can make a difference in a child’s life just by learning a little about their own culture, I can get the parents more involved in the child’s education and possibly their future activities. We as future educators are always talking about ways to get parents involved more. I believe the key is to making the parents see that we as teachers care, not only for their child’s education, but also for the parents influence in the child’s future. I have strived to try and learn at least enough Spanish to understand enough to be able to comprehend the majority of what is being said, even though my syntax and conjugation is rough. For instance, the article we read “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” had many paragraphs in Spanish with...
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...itself for territorial expansion. But the Spanish-American War which took place in 1898, was the United States first time broke the geographic boundaries and began to set a goal as one of the most powerful countries in the world in 20th century. From isolationism to expansionism, the Spanish-American War led America into the modern era, the war was a symbol that the United States was rising power. The Spanish-American War was a war which launched in order to despoil the Spanish colonies. At that time, the Philippines not only had the important economic value, but also was the strategic base of America, so it was necessary to occupy the Philippines. On February 15th, the American vessel the Maine sunk in Havana harbor, and the United States seized the chance as an excuse, began to take military actions to declare war to Spain. There are many reasons to explain why the United States won this war, and many people consider that the main reason of it is because the huge strength disparity between the United States and Spain. “Spain was even less ready for war than the United States.”(ushistory.org). That’s true, the burgeoning America had strong economic and military potential, and it had built a powerful navy. At the same time Spain had declined, and it was isolated in the National position, also. Especially the Cubans and the Filipinos armed themselves to struggle against the Spanish colonial rule, and suppressed a large number of Spanish troops. “The relations between Spain and...
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