Worldwide, 60 million people spoke Spanish a century ago; today, nearly 400 million people speak Spanish as their first language and another 100 million speak it as their second language. The U.S. now has more than 35 million Spanish speakers. The Spanish-speaking population in the U.S. has grown by 60 percent in the past decade, and by 2050, it is expected to represent 50 percent of the total U.S. population. Europe has 57 million Spanish speakers, including 40 million in Spain.

These remarkable demographic figures are the foundation of the growing importance of studying Spanish. But why study Spanish? Here are a few good reasons:

Growing business and employment opportunities - Bi-lingual graduates have long been in high demand in international business, diplomacy, and development agencies. Today, opportunities are growing more rapidly and in a wider variety of professions in business and commerce, law, communications, and tourism for those who speak Spanish. Education, medicine, and many other service industries also offer ever-expanding opportunities, both home and abroad, if you speak Spanish. Economic integration via the European Union, NAFTA and other Inter-American trade agreements promise to continue to bring new opportunities to those who speak Spanish.

Know your neighbors - If you live in the southwest U.S., south Florida, or in New York City, you know that the ability to communicate bilingually is of great assistance, if not an absolute necessity in all sorts of everyday interpersonal transactions. This is also rapidly becoming the case in an ever-growing number of locations in the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

Cultural enrichment - Spanish culture has made major contributions in the arts, architecture, and literature. If you like Cervantes and García Márquez in translation, wait 'till you read them in their own, rich language! Picasso, Miró, and Dalí also become much more interesting to those familiar with their culture. Spanish-language journalism - now available to all thanks to the internet - offers important insights into how others think and feel - both at home and abraod!

Travel - You can travel to Mexico, Spain or South America without speaking a word of Spanish - but it's not half as much fun or rewarding. Speaking Spanish opens many doors to see and do things that are closed to other visitors.