Whenever we talk about the language of international commerce, global economy, and pop culture we only think of English, and it is true up to a certain extent. Currently English is the primary language across the globe in many aspects but there’s another language that is aiming high and shooting at the top of the popularity charts and that language is Spanish. Spanish, a beautiful romance language originated in the central-northern region of the Iberian Peninsula and currently has over 400 million native speakers across the globe making it the second most spoken language on earth after Mandarin, Chinese.

Spanish is currently the most popular language among professionals and students across the globe especially in the United States and some South-Asian countries like India and China. The British Council in its report of 2013 titled “Languages of the Future” identified and acknowledged that Spanish is the most important language for the citizens of the UK to learn. Now a question that must be engrossing your minds at this very moment must be why Spanish? Why is India among the countries experiencing a rise in Spanish as the second language? Well, let us first understand what is the current position of India in the globe in terms of economy and manpower. If we consider Asia in general, then it has already crossed the half-way mark in terms of global economic growth and its only a matter of a decade or so that India will emerge as the global provider in crucial economic spheres such as those related to agriculture, sustainable energy, telecommunications and also space research (keeping in mind the recent historical victories and world records set by ISRO). Now keeping this expanding economy in mind, soon there will be a requirement of humongous workforce globally of which a quarter will be provided by India alone. Thus, this expansion will enhance chances for the millennials to get absorbed in and having a language most widely spoken across Spain and Latin America is icing on the cake. Thus, universities and schools have incorporated Spanish Philosophical Studies in their syllabus and also Spanish is being offered as a Foreign Business Language in many reputed colleges and institutes.

Now apart from economic reasons another reason which is crucial for the growth and appreciation of any language is the art and culture. Spain has a very rich cultural diversity. From exquisite cuisine to its vivid architecture and soul touching literature add onto its beauty. Spain is a hotspot for tourists seeking adventure and fun mixed with historical anecdotes. Spain in 2013 announced welcoming a record 60.6 million international visitors. The music and dance of Spain have another level of fan base across the world. The Spanish pop hit “Despacito” by Spanish singer Louis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee released in 2017 when it was inescapable received record-breaking love and appreciation and documented a record 7.5 billion views on YouTube making it worlds highly viewed musical video on YouTube till date. Spain’s highly expressive and beautiful dance form “Flamenco” has also attracted a lot of young girls and boys across the world and this attraction toward the art, culture, music, and dance is another major factor contributing to the acceptance and popularity of Spanish language among millennials.

Now all these factors are playing an important role in attracting millennials to learn Spanish but there’s one more thing which we often tend to overlook and that is a key player in making people of India and middle east love Spanish language and that thing is Spanish vocabulary which has many words similar to Arabic language. We all know for a fact that for a great amount of time the Iberian Peninsula was ruled by Muslim rulers and their medium of communication was Arabic. Thus, there is a significant impact of Arabic in present day Spanish. According to philologist Rafael Lapesa, the former director of Spanish Royal Academy and a Spanish historian, almost 4,000 words currently used in modern Spanish have their roots from Arabic language. “The Arabic element was, after Latin, the most important in Spanish vocabulary until the 16th century,” he argued in the book Historia de la lengua Española. For example, words with Arab influence include azafrán (saffron), ajorca (anklet), aljibe (cistern), alberca (water tank), albaricoque (apricot), limón (lemon), acelga (chard) and alcachofas (artichokes). Furthermore, the exemplary Arabic word sukkar and the Hispanic-Arabic assúkkar brought forth azúcar (sugar).

All of these elements not only make Spanish easy for people to grasp and understand but also make them feel connected with their own culture. And one thing is very clear that in order to understand and learn any language one must feel connected with the language so much so that he/she feels every word coming out of his/her mouth. Additionally, Spanish offers a great pop culture vibe for millennials who enjoy quick beats and reggaetón [a music genre originated in Puerto Rico in mid 1990s] plus this language offers great career options too. What else a millennial like me and you need. If learning one language can offer so much, we will jump at the chance and that’s exactly what’s happening today. Though, there are still some who do not think that Spanish can offer anything productive, but they will understand the potential of this language soon enough. The Embassy of Spain in India is also working in this direction and offering language learning options to Indian citizens. And as the Spanish saying goes “Cada día trae nuevas opciones” meaning “everyday brings us new options”, options to explore, options to learn, options to succeed. We just have to try.