Why do we need to learn spanish?

<p>God! My spanish class is so boring. I don't even know why I'm in there. I don't learn a freakin' thing, and the teacher is so so stupid. What the heck is wrong? I need to do Forein Language another 3 years. Any advice?</p>

<p>suck it up</p>

<p>I took spanish up to spanish 3 and promptly stopped. I hated spanish, but then of course i hate english class too so its probably something i have against language classes</p>

<p>i dont mind spanish.
you need to learn spanish for a couple reaosns.
if you EVER plan to live in Miami or southern California....... you'll need it.
plus anywhere on the mexican border, spanish is helpful. a definite +</p>

<p>instead of us americans trying to learn spanish....the hispanics should learn english..since it is the universal language.</p>

<p>It'll help incase you need to hire some workers.</p>

<p>Learning a foreign language used to be a requirement to be considered educated. Everywhere else except in the US, it still is. Don't be the stereotypical monolingual American. Just suck it up and learn Spanish.</p>

<p>And excel, I take offense to that. See--writing some fluent English right here! Especially since it's my first language and everything...I'm American-born. :) And I barely get Spanish myself, but it sucks to hear "gringos" complain about it, as if it's below them or something. Passive prejudice and all that.</p>

<p>
[quote]
if you EVER plan to live in Miami or southern California....... you'll need it.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>You know, I grew up and live (well, usually) in SoCal, and my Spanish is awful.</p>

<p>You really don't need Spanish.</p>

<p>
[quote]
instead of us americans trying to learn spanish....the hispanics should learn english..since it is the universal language.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>You know, there's also the fact that the US has a long and storied history with Latin America. Having an American population aware of Spanish and the importance of their Latin American neighbors is important.</p>

<p>Wouldn't the universal language be Mandarin/Hindi/Cantonese?</p>

<p>I would hope not. I'm Indian and can't even speak hindi.</p>

<p>Ahem...</p>

<p>Universal- Of, relating to, extending to, or affecting the entire world or all within the world; worldwide</p>

<p>English is clearly the lingua franca of the world. It is the dominant language of science, business, and politics. Numbers of people speaking a language doesn't make it universal. </p>

<p>Besides, Cantonese?!</p>

<p>No, the universal languages will probably include Mandarin and English. Hindi is spoken by around 500 million people, and Cantonese is spoken by 50 million.
And Spanish is useful since the speakers make up a big section of the world as well as a large trading partner system.</p>

<p>And a big section of our country. But that's obvious, huh?</p>

<p>"I'm American-born. And I barely get Spanish myself, but it sucks to hear "gringos" complain about it, as if it's below them or something. Passive prejudice and all that."</p>

<p>Wait... u said you are american-born and then proceeded to call someone a "gringo"... am i missing something?</p>

<p>I think anyone who comes to America should learn to speak ENGLISH.</p>

<p>American born, but she is still Hispanic.</p>

<p>And the point went right over your head...</p>

<p>Mandarin is a poor candidate for universal language for a number of reasons-</p>

<ol>
<li> China still does not exert the influence on the world that the US and other Western powers (where English is still widely spoken) do.</li>
<li> The learning curve for Chinese is much steeper than English. It is much easier to teach a functional ability in English than in Chinese. Plus, science is much easier to do in English, since letters and new words are easier to creat.</li>
<li> The Internet.</li>
</ol>

<p>Mandarin is a wonderful language spoken by nearly a billion people. Unfortunately, however, English is very unlikely to be replaced or even challenged anytime soon.</p>

<p>
[quote]
I think anyone who comes to America should learn to speak ENGLISH.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Yes, this is true. Although, in the Creole South, one might wonder if bilingualism isn't a prerequisite...</p>

<p>Cajun man!!!</p>

<p>First generation American, and proud of it! My parents are Nicaraguan immigrants; I'm Hispanic. </p>

<p>Studying languages may be difficult sometimes, but I'm telling you, you're not really educated unless you speak two (at least) fluently. You're just not. It's not just being practical, it's the truth.</p>