Why learning Spanish language?

This is a complicated answer for me.

I live in America and was monolingual (English) until high school. During my freshman year, I studied Spanish and hated it. After my second year, I started to like it--my teacher said I had some skill in it. I decided to take a third year (because she basically forced me into it) and I started to realize how interesting the culture is and how interested I was in the field of linguistics. Spanish is an international language, spoken on 4 continents, in many countries of varying economic states. I have come to realize the profitability in learning the language as a language of business. However, I tend to focus more on the cultural aspects of the language.

I've been studying for 5 years.

I started learning it 9 year ago in my freshman year of high school and I chose it over French because I thought it to be more practical than the other choices.. First and foremost, though, I'm learning it because I'm so interested in foreign languages. It's really a beautiful language, and even though I'm OK at it and have carried on conversations with people on trips to Mexico, I feel like I still have a lot of work to do.

Being around people who speak Spanish. I am sorry about this but I hate this "American" people trying to speak Spanish and the look really dumb, specially when then are trying to look cool or funny. Take it serious. As someone else said, look for books for kids, find Spanish speaking friends, buy a dictionary, watch "univision" [though it sucks]...Some channels have the option SAP, to switch the audio from English to Spanish and vice-verse. Try doing that. When doing hw, find someone [a friend] that speaks Spanish to assist you. When you listen to Spanish music, look for the lyrics, translate it, and sing them... And always do more. If you have an assignment that ask you to make 20 questions, or learn 20 verbs... OK... then you make as more as you can...make 30... Spanish is way harder than english, if you think there is too much grammar and spelling in English, in Spanish is almost double of each... Good luck! Last thing...PRACTICE!!! I see that you are having very good advice with these guys...!

The original reason I took Spanish in high school, to be honest, was that I wanted to understand the ladies whom I would hear at the grocery store and also the students in my class (I used to be very paranoid) to see if they were saying bad things about me. After the first year, I fell in love with both the language and the culture. I started absorbing Spanish like una esponja. Now I'm excited that I can converse with the Spanish-speaking students in my classroom and use it at my job. I live very close to Mexico, so I use it daily. I also like the shock that I can see on hispanohablantes' faces when I, a very white American, speak nearly fluent Spanish to them. =]

The reason I am studying Spanish is because I plan on growing up to be a social activist and journalist. This requires communication with different people, and helping people in different regions of the world. I live in Nevada, a state which, while not bordering Mexico, has many people from Latin America (in addition to Ethiopia and the Philippines, which is odd). Political issues in Latin America interest me a lot, and I support the feelings of most Latin Americans involved and informed about their communities, and their strong commitment to changing the world around them; while they are poor, they resist ignorance and oppression. The political changes going on in Latin America are something that are very important, as they represent a direct, participatory democracy and a vision for equality. It is not represented by Chávez or any other leader, but by social activists who want to help their communities and empower themselves.

I am from the United States, I have been studying on and off for about 5 years.

i'm learning it to communicate.

there is a large hispanic population in my town. having traveled in europe, i know how it feels to not speak the language.

i figure, if i make the effort to learn their language and culture, maybe they'll do the same.

and as a bonus, i'll be able to travel through central and south america without feeling like an alien.

(i really wish i would have payed more attention in my high school spanish classes)

I like other languages and cultures so dont only study it for its carrer advantages, but also personal interest. Im thinking of becoming a language interpreter so that would be kind of necessary. I've taken 3 years and am about to begin my 4th this fall.

Hello,

I'm from Brazil. I speak portuguese. I can understand what the Spanish speaking but i never did a Spanish course. Portuguese is very similar to the Spanish language. the Spanish language is beautiful.

Portuguese - Spanish

Amigo - Amigo

Feliz - Feliz

Boa pergunta - Buena pregunta

Bye

I'm learning it because it was available at my school and because a lot of the bullies at my school speak Spanish (especially the girls) and I don't want to wait around for my friend to translate whatever crap they say about me... Plus I just think any Latin-based language is kind of pretty.

NOT just Spanish language. It can be ANY other language, including ENGLISH for some NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS <==== WHY? Because I have seen MANY PEOPLE make common grammatical errors in their writings and English is supposed to be their primary languages.

Here are some of the grammatical errors that I've seen the "NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS" make:

"Me and my friend go to the mall." ===========> It should be "My friend and I...."

"He don't understand nothing about no body." ====> WTF

"If I was you, I wouldn't do that."=============> It should be "If I were you..."

Common spelling errors:

Defiantly(wrong word), Definately, Differately, Differnitely ====> It should be "Definitely"

Threw, Drew, Through

Shall, Shout, Shell

See, Sea, She

My question to those Native English Speakers:

Why do we even bother to learn another foreign languages if we can NOT read/write/speak our native languages CORRECTLY in our own countries?