Spanish: a backpacker's dream, and easy to learn

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[Spanish] Hello, and welcome to a short video about Spanish.

Can you understand me?

If you could understand that then you could be the one,

the one in three Britons who are able to hold a conversation in another language.

Learning a second language opens up a whole new world to you.

It can make you new friends, and could even get you a new job.

So let’s start with Spanish.

Spanish is one of the world’s most popular languages.

It is spoken around 400 million people worldwide.

However, only around one in ten of these speakers live in Spain itself.

Spanish is also widely spoken in 19 countries across hispanic America,

including Mexico,

Argentina, and Colombia.

You might notice a striking difference in how Spanish is spoken across these areas,

especially since accents and pronunciations can differ not just by country, but even by

region and by town!

The Argentinian dialect is arguably the most distinctive.

Argentinians pronounce the double

'l' of 'me llamo' (my name is) as 'me shamo',

while people in Madrid, for example, pronounce it 'me yamo'.

Pronouns, loanwords, and other vocabulary can all vary by region,

so pay attention to

which variety of Spanish youre learning!

The good news is that most varieties of Spanish are mutually intelligible.

That means someone from Mexico will be able to understand

someone from Paraguay, Cuba,

or Spain.

By learning Spanish, you can communicate with locals whether youre in Europe or Hispanic America.

Lots of celebrities claim to have Spanish as a second language,

such as Gwyneth Paltrow

or David Beckham. But you don’t have to be an international movie star or have played

for Real Madrid to pick up the language.

That’s because Spanish is actually pretty easy to learn if you already know English.

Both languages share an alphabet and a Latin origin,

and Spanish has a pretty straightforward

phonetic pronunciation.

Along with French and German it’s one of the the most popular

second languages to learn in the UK,

and can be studied to degree level at over 70 British

universities.

Learning Spanish offers access to a wide range of countries and cultures,

which makes it the perfect

language for those of you who have an interest in travel and other cultures.

It’s a backpackers dream,

it's easy to learn, and a great launch point into Latin American culture.

What more reason do

you need?

¡hasta luego!