HAVE YOU WISHED TO LEARN SPANISH FOR YEARS …. WHY SHOULD YOU FINALLY DO IT!! By José Sánchez Amén                                      Spanish is the second most studied language and second language in   international  communication. Every year the number of people studying Spanish grows significantly. Traditionally, people educated in the United States have not been obligated to learn another language beyond English. But times have changed. Trends today show that U.S. citizens are studying Spanish in record numbers. Spanish is the second most natively spoken language in the world, after Mandarin Spanish is the primary language of 20 countries worldwide. It is estimated that the combined total number of Spanish speakers is over 500 million. Spanish is the third-most commonly spoken language in the world. In Wikipedia, Chinese, and Hindustani are listed as the most commonly spoken languages. But geographically speaking, these languages are only widely spoken in China and India,respectively. In contrast, Spanish is spoken in more than 20 countries. In the U.S., employment opportunities continue to increase for those who are fluent in both Spanish and English due to ever-increasing population of Spanish-speaking people. To stay competitive in today’s world, it is imperative that we learn more about other cultures and how they think. The list of countries in which Spanish is either the primary language or is the secondary language enumerates 28 different countries. In total, Spanish is the primary language in countries across four continents. The U.S. Population Speaks Spanish .  The estimated number of Hispanics in the U.S. as of 2009 had risen to 48.4 million. This figure means that the United States is home to the fifth largest Hispanic population worldwide (trailing Mexico, Colombia, Spain, and Argentina). In addition, by 2050, the number of Hispanics in the U.S is projected to grow exponentially to more than 100 million people. Spanish is also gainingimportance in Europe, where it is quickly becoming the foreign language of choice after English. Spanish is one of the six official languages of the United Nations and used as an official language of the European Union.Spanish is the fourth most widely studied second language in Western Europe after English, French, and German. Most people who choose to learn Spanish do so because of its popularity, especially in the Western hemisphere and in Europe. They know that learning Spanish will give them practical knowledge—in both their daily and professional lives.