Recently, a professor stated in passing that proficiency in English was one of the most important skills a Spanish student could possess and more important than what they would learn in their university classes. It is evident that many young Spaniards do believe this. Study abroad programs in English speaking countries are particularly competitive, and many think of moving to an English speaking country for a time to improve their speaking ability as a necessary post-graduation step. If they would like to be contenders in the very competitive Spanish job market, it is virtually essential that they speak English. It is also required for advanced academics pursuits, as much research is only published in English. In addition, American pop culture has become ubiquitous, and to understand it well, Spaniards must learn English. Before coming to Spain, I knew that English was one of the most practical languages for non-native speakers to learn, but I didn’t understand that speaking it well is often considered a necessity and has consequently become very common.
Being a native English speaker is certainly advantageous in some ways; the time that students from non-English speaking countries spend learning the language is time I can devote to other things. For much of my academic career, I have chosen to devote this time to learning Spanish. One of the reasons I chose to study the language was its practicality. In fact, the number of native Spanish speakers outnumbers that of native English speakers. Since I have been in Spain, however, I have questioned how practical a skill my command of Spanish actually is. When virtually all students in Spain are learning English, is spending my time perfecting my Spanish valuable, or am I swimming upstream? Elementary schools in Madrid have begun incorporating English into their science curricula; soon Spain, like many other countries in Europe, will have a population that is proficient in English. Given this, I have questioned whether I would be better served majoring in something else.
To the extent that learning a language is only useful to improve communication, there are certainly languages that are not useful. This is not the case for Spanish, which remains the second most common native language in the world. However, English is the language of business, tourism, and academia. As nations develop, they teach students English, and it is not improbable that most people in the developed world will speak English during my lifetime. Over the next few decades, speaking Spanish well may not be required to communicate with many people. In this way, it may become obsolete.
However, I don’t believe that the value of a language can be measured solely by quantifying with how many people it enables us to communicate. Learning the native language of another generates greater cultural understanding. I have begun to understand that Spanish interactions are often fairly informal because of the prominence of slang and what Americans might consider profanity. Political correctness in Spain is not prominent in everyday speech, but people are generally quite warm, referring to one another as cariño/a (darling), guapo/a (handsome or beautiful), and corazón (sweetheart). Good communication requires modifying one’s style of speaking in favor of these conventions, thereby helping one to immerse oneself in the culture and acknowledge its value.
Further, learning a second language can be valuable because it involves some important reflections about language itself. Over time, I have begun to reflect on the idea that words are not inherently meaningful but gain meaning from being used in certain contexts and among certain people. There exists a plurality of language and grammatical structures that can be logical and useful depending on the context. This has been an important lesson; English is not the be-all, end-all of communication, but simply one set of rules and structures among many.
Both of these traits of language learning, the development of a better understanding of cultural differences and of language itself, have improved my communication and linguistic flexibility overall. This is not to say learning Spanish is the most practical academic pursuit, and that speaking this particular language may not become less important in the future. However, maximizing practicality is not the only concern in choosing an area of study. Studying in Spain has made me more interested in the language and languages as an institution than ever. My profound interest in Spanish combined with the value of learning a language is enough to justify my major.