Being a proud, Hispanic woman, hearing myself ask the question of whether or not speaking Spanish is an advantageous skill makes me immediately want to have a never-ending cultural emulsion, all while yelling to the world “Spanish is a must!” Although there’s nothing wrong with a little cultural pride, the answer to whether or not Spanish sets you apart from the competition in the workforce might not be so simple. As I read through some very interesting articles and studies this past week, I couldn’t help but be intrigued by some of the underlying factors of the Spanish language that we may have overlooked.

Oops! I think I left my culture back home…

Let me just say that from my personal experience, I always thought that speaking Spanish was overrated because there are too many of us who possess the skill. Looking for jobs in the past where I always tried to highlight my full Spanish fluency, I found that there were always a great number of other candidates who had the same skill to offer. However, as it turns out, the Spanish language in the United States is under threat of being phased out (I know – I am just as shocked as you are). Although the Hispanic population does keep rising in the United States, some studies predict that the amount of immigration will most likely decline due to more strict immigration laws, increasing numbers of deportations, border control, and other factors.

So what about the generations already stable and secure in the States? Certainly we don’t just stop growing in population, right? Well, of course not, but it seems that a lot of the second generation folks born in the U.S. are forgetting to teach their children the language of their culture. While many of us who are raised in the U.S. are usually bilingual, the third generation (our children) usually ends up being either completely monolingual with the English language, or can only speak/understand very little Spanish. This means that some years down the road, although the Hispanic population will likely continue to grow, a great majority of it will speak little to no Spanish at all. How sad is this?! 😦 My poor Hispanic heart is just broken to pieces. Of course this, by no means, states that the Spanish language will be “extinct” or anything of the sort, but rather its popularity as it stands today in the United States might not last very long. But no need to fret, there is also good news!

For more on this topic, read this fascinating article called The future of Spanish-speaking America is under threat.

Knowledge is power… and bilingual too!

While some of us are slacking in the teaching-Spanish-to-our-kids department, being bilingual in general still has incredible advantages that cannot be overlooked. Not only do bilingual speakers excel in the job market, but research also shows that there is better development of the brain and problem solving skills. It makes sense – being able to view things from two different linguistic perspectives has allowed me to get mad at my loved ones in Spanish, while being able to apologize much easier in English :). So, even though the Spanish language seems to be heading to a relatively less popular future in the U.S., do be encouraged to learn (or teach your children) the Spanish language anyway.

For Instance, my brother is married to my beautiful Russian sister-in-law, and they have two children who are 4 and 2 years old. My brother only speaks to them in Spanish, while my sister-in-law only speaks to them in Russian, and they speak English only when friends/relatives are visiting. Today, my brother has 2 children that speak Spanish, Russian, and are now learning English. My husband’s family was amazed when they saw these two little nuggets speaking Russian and Spanish, but barely knew any English! Of course, Now that the 4-year-old is getting ready for school English is definitely being added to the mix a lot more, but while they could, their parents made it a priority to make sure these kids knew the language of their culture. Come on, you can’t tell me that’s not cool!

For more, read this other intriguing article: Know more than one language? How your bilingual brain could pay dividends.

Entonces… Si ó No?

Needless to say, my niece and nephew are some of the smartest little kids I know, so of course I want to follow my brother and sister-in-law’s example. Right now I have two small children, a 4-year-old and a 10-month-old, and my husband and I are following the same route – I speak to them in Spanish, he speaks English, and we are loving it. The possibility that Spanish may not always be as prominent in the United States should definitely not discourage you from embracing the language, or any other language for that matter! And no, being fluent in another language will not get you the job every single time, but the additional benefits that come from it are well worth the knowledge. Entonces… Si! Go learn Spanish, teach Spanish, embrace Spanish, or any language of your choosing, and be happy and proud. 😉

Written by Nayadee Wilson