15 Reasons Every American Should Learn Spanish
Ever hear about those teachers who used to tape kids mouths shut for speaking Spanish in schools along the U.S.-Mexico border? Turns out they weren't just cruel, they were also limiting their student’s intellectual growth.
“Being bilingual, it turns out, makes you smarter,” Yudhijit Bhattacharjee wrote earlier this year in a piece for the New York Times Sunday Review. “It can have a profound effect on your brain, improving cognitive skills not related to language and even shielding against dementia in old age.”
And in the United States, there’s no question that one of the most practical options for those interested in learning a new language is Spanish. It’s the second-most spoken language in the country and the dominant tongue of many communities along the U.S.-Mexico border, South Florida and Puerto Rico. It’s the language of most of our neighboring countries in the Western Hemisphere. And it just sounds really cool.
So check out above 17 reasons why every American should learn Spanish. Got any more ideas? Let us know in the comments.