Learning Spanish as a Second Language/Essay for School

Most people have some sort of skill. There are butchers, bakers, and candle stick makers. We have engineers, bankers, designers, accountants, builders and so on. If you can think of it there is a skill for it and money can be made doing it. People make money designing blogs for the growing blogging community, never having to leave their homes. Some skills come naturally, some with little practice and some take a life time to learn. Today we live in a predominantly white country but this could change. Hispanics make up the largest minority group in the United States and, they continue to grow. Many of these people come to America, not able to speak English. People need to learn to speak Spanish as a second language. Many people have jumped on this band wagon but more need to.
Today Hispanics make up the largest minority group in the United States of America. In 2007 the US Census reported that there were 44.3 million Hispanics in the United States on July 1, 2006. This makes up 14.8 percent of the American population. In one year, from July 2005 to July 2006 there was an increase of 2.9 million. In 1960 Whites made up 85 percent of the population while Hispanics made up only 3.5 percent. In 2005, Whites dropped to 67 percent and Hispanics increased to 14 percent. According to the Pew Research Center, it is projected that in 2050 whites will drop to under 50 percent while Hispanics will grow to 29 percent. It might not happen in our life time, but if the rates stay constant everyone can see that one day, Hispanics will be the majority and out number whites in the United States.
Reported in the 2007 American Community Survey Spanish is the primary language for 34 million people. Roughly half of these people speak English as well. That means there are at least 15 million people in the nation today that can only speak Spanish. Most of the Spanish speaking residents live in Texas, California, and Florida but that doesn’t mean they migrate to other states as well. It is reported that Alaska, the furthest states from Mexico has 22,649 Spanish speaking residents making up 3.6 percent of Alaska’s population. This is not much, but it does prove that every state has a Spanish Speaking population. California has over 12 million making up 34.6 percent of its state population.
With Hispanics the largest minority today and with 34 million people considering Spanish as their primary language it is smart for people to learn Spanish as a second language. This skill for employees and employers is invaluable. Owning a small business the owner wants to be able to serve whoever enters their doors. Small Business owners that are able to accommodate anyone that walks in results in more sales and more profit. National companies have a much larger need for Spanish speaking employees as they have a 29 percent chance of selling to a Hispanic-American. It’s just good business to be able to cater to the costumer. The business that caters to the Spanish speaking costumer will have the costumer return for future business. A lot of people believe that if they are in America then they should speak English, as it is our primary language. But, no business made money by expecting the costumer to humor an ignorant business owner.
Where can we learn this new skill? There are many ways to learn Spanish. In Yahoo Search, typing in “How to Learn Spanish” will result in 269 million hits. Spanish is taught in schools across the nation, from middle schools to universities. Spanish can be learned online, from a computer program, books, and even a tutor. Rosetta Stone is one that claims to be fast by providing a six month guarantee. Spanish is considered one of the easiest languages to learn and is Latin based with several words similar to those in the English language.
With 29 percent of the population Hispanic today and expected to grow to 47 percent by 2050 and with 34 million people claiming today that Spanish is their primary language it is a smart business move for people to learn Spanish as a second language. It is a great skill that can be utilized in the business world. One day, Hispanics will be the majority and non-Hispanics Whites will be a minority. In order to survive as a business it will take employers and employees speaking Spanish. Plus, with Spanish so readily available, why not start now?


References

1. Passel, Jeffrey. (2008, February 11). Immigration to Play Lead Role In Future U.S. Growth. Message posted to http://pewresearch.org/pubs/729/united-states-population-projections

2. Wikipedia (2008). Spanish in the United States. Retrieved November 9, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_in_the_United_States

3. Bernstein, Robert. (2007, May 17). Minority Population Tops 100 Million. U.S. Census Bureau New. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/010048.html