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Dos cerveza por favor. If you know what that means you have probably vacationed in a Spanish-speaking country that had sandy beaches and nice hot weather. Or maybe you're the person who enjoys going south for the winter and spending some time in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central or South America. Even if you have never had to order a beer in Spanish on a hot day or if you have never visited a Spanish-speaking country, most of us recognize the familiar Spanish phrase "Dos cerveza por favor". You don't realize it yet, but this Spanish phrase is the corner stone on which your desire to learn to speak Spanish fluently will become realized.
Who doesn't like the sand and surf? Summer is quickly approaching and there is enough time to learn Spanish rapidly so that you can take your Spanish experience to the next level, that is, you can go beyond the confines of the resort or your hotel, and enjoy some independence and freedom. At this level, you'll be able to communicate with the locals and by doing so; you will increase your chances of meeting and establishing lifelong friendships with the Spanish-natives. You will be able to share your culture with them and visa versa, to further build and solidify a mutual respect for each other's culture. Your feelings of isolation and existence as part of the tourist "herd" will be a thing of the past. You will be more independent and be the go to "Guy or Gal" for the other English-speaking tourists when they are in need of extra assistance. Your social life will increase, as you will be able to equally interact with the tourists and the locals.
Life and ignorance is not always bliss and as Murphy's Law states, "anything that can go wrong, will go wrong" and it can happen anytime, anyplace and anywhere. Knowing how to speak fluent Spanish puts you at an advantage when traveling or living abroad, and you will be less likely to be taken advantage of due to either your lack of speaking Spanish, or your limited "dos cerveza por favor" means of communication. One of the things that frustrated me the most when I was traveling in Mexico, for example, was the fact that I felt less secure when I couldn't express or communicate effectively if something went wrong. The media often reminds us of the fact that strange things can happen to anyone when you are living or vacationing in a foreign country. Thus, having a proficiency or solid grasp of the local language can protect you from certain situations and can better equip you to handle out-of-the-ordinary situations we sometimes find ourselves in when living or vacationing abroad.
One of the first things to do is to find an excellent Spanish course that will enable you to learn to speak Spanish fluently or enough to be able to converse and communicate at a functional level. You have to find a course that best fits your learning style and needs. Does the course/school have a good reputation? Is the material taught in a way that you can grasp it easily? Do you have access to extra help or assistance with support groups or forums? Are there sufficient resources for you to use? Is it affordable? These are some checkpoints on your checklist to help you make the right choice.
As you learn fluent Spanish, I would recommend that you focus your energy on learning as much relevant cultural and social etiquette information about the country that you will be going to. You will be more alert and aware of what's going on around you and this will keep you out of trouble the smart way. With the right course to learn to speak fluent Spanish, you will graduate from "dos cerveza por favor" to "una botella de vino tinto" and be able to quickly learn Spanish so that you can spice up your travels and/or stay as an expatriate in any Spanish-speaking country. It will be worth the time and effort that you put into this rewarding activity.
In today's unpredictable job market and economy, as Forest Gump said, "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get." With the merging of companies and out-sourcing of jobs, gone are the days when we felt secure in our jobs and when we could take our employment for granted and go on cruise control until retirement. We can no longer be in denial about the fact that our world is becoming more global and contact with people of other countries is increasing exponentially. How can you improve and expand your employment options and security nowadays? The answer is one in which few of us really give serious thought to because it seems too simple. The answer is this: if you learn to speak Spanish fluently, you will increase your marketability, job position, job options, salary and security.
Increased Marketability:
Why should you invest your time and energy to know a second language? More and more jobs today require a minimum of basic proficiency in another language. If you have proven yourself to be a competent employee with the required job skills and you speak a foreign language such as Spanish, you are much more likely to snap up that dream job of yours than if you are monolingual. Even only having a basic knowledge of Spanish may be the deciding factor that puts you in a class above the rest of the applicants for the job you are pursuing.
Increased Job/Career Options:
In the US, with the rapidly increasing Hispanic population, there are many different career fields such as nurses, social workers, teachers, drug enforcement agents, investment analysts and many more, that need Spanish speakers. On the international platform, people who speak Spanish often have opportunities to work in trade or business fields. Other more high profile options include diplomacy, interpretation, and security applications, which all require proficiency of another language.
Increased Salary:
Money talks. Did you know that bilingual highly skilled employees often receive a larger salary than their non-Spanish speaking counterparts? Having an extra language skill that few people have will give you a marketable advantage over your competitors. The fact that companies are willing to pay you more for speaking Spanish is especially seen in the more senior/managerial positions. Thus to secure a senior management position in a large company, a knowledge of languages such as Spanish and the experience of other Spanish countries and cultures which that allows, are now essential. An employer will see you as a bridge to new clients if you know their language. More clients equal more money and profits for the company.
Increased Career Security:
Nowadays government agencies are in search of recruiting professionals with competency in a foreign language such as Spanish. Why? Because when you learn to speak fluent Spanish you will also improve your problem solving skills and this is a skill that is highly regarded in all professions. This in turn will better equip you with the necessary skills required to accommodate, understand and handle the cultural nuances when dealing with US trading and economic partners such as Mexico, Argentina, Columbia, etc. Because of our global economy, this trend of employers of multinational companies seeking employees with foreign language proficiency will continue to increase. Professionals with such a skill are in growing demand and being able to speak fluent Spanish (especially in the US) will be in increasing demand due to the fact that the US and Canada have many Spanish-speaking geographic neighbors who are also important economic/trading partners such as Mexico (through NAFTA) and the countries of Central and South America.
Nothing in life is guaranteed but what we can do is to improve the odds with regards to our job security and overall financial well being by learning Spanish. Spanish could play a unique role in improving your professional portfolio, security and salary. What are you waiting for? Now is the time to learn how to speak Spanish online (for the convenience, student-centered teaching tools and excellent resources available). There is no time like the present to get started and get ahead of the game before it's over.