By Emilia Benton
Last week, I was lucky enough to travel to Spain for Thanksgiving break to visit my twin sister, who is currently studying abroad at New York University's Madrid campus. Although I didn't think much of it before my arrival, I was able to thoroughly practice Spanish for the first time in about eight years, and I felt very fortunate to be bilingual.
While I know I hold a great advantage over others when looking for jobs, for instance, by being able to list "fluent in Spanish" on my résumé, I haven't felt as though I had really been able to put this skill to use before my trip. My sister certainly didn't have vacation days for Thanksgiving in a foreign country, so I was, for the most part, left to navigate the calles (streets) of Madrid on my own. So off I went, café con leche in hand, to cheerfully play "tourist." I predictably got lost, which resulted in having to ask for directions several times-en español, of course.
Although I was born and raised in Houston, Texas and have lived in the U.S. my entire life, my sister and I were first taught Spanish, which we spoke primarily until we were four and started pre-school and learned English. From then on, I was able to use it here and there, between being cared for by Spanish-speaking nannies and visiting my mother's native Lima, Peru both before and after her death when I was 11 years old.
Fast forward a couple of years later, when I began high school in the small town of Newport, Oregon. Throughout high school, I often listened to many of my classmates complain about what a drag it is to be forced to learn another language, with some even going as far as saying it would be better to have the rest of the world be made to learn English.
Well, much of the world already knows English, anyway, and cheating ourselves with such a "quick fix" certainly isn't a step in the right direction. These appalling, negative attitudes played a big part in my choosing to get as far away as possible and go somewhere profoundly less lacking in cultural diversity for college.
Here in America, more and more native English speakers are making the choice to learn Spanish, as it is spoken by nearly 400 million people throughout the world. In the U.S., Spanish is the second-most widely known language (and the fourth-most commonly spoken language in the world) by a large margin, thus resulting in more opportunities being available to those who are fluent in both.
For example, if you are considering a career in business, global communication is essential. Or if your field is education, you are likely to be able to perform research in foreign countries or teach anywhere in the world. In the communications world, having the skills to translate documents or perform bilingual interviews would be undoubtedly valuable. It goes without saying that foreign language skills can open one's eyes to endless possibilities around the world.
When I came to the University and learned that my print journalism major required a liberal arts minor, I immediately picked Spanish without a second thought. After all, in addition to it being my first language, it was fresh in my mind after I enjoyed studying it all four years of high school. (¡Gracias, Señora McConnell!) Additionally, I'm certain it could eventually prove useful in my prospective career in journalism.
If you're currently unsure of what to major or minor in, I would highly recommend considering Spanish or another foreign language, as the University offers courses in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Modern Greek, Persian, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish and Swahili.
It's likely that many of my peers spent at least a year or two learning Spanish in high school, if not here at the University, and I would most definitely encourage any of them to keep at it. And if anyone ever needs help with it, by all means, ¡Pregúnteme!
Emilia Benton is a junior print journalism student. You may e-mail her at ebento1@pride.hofstra.edu.
(Andres Soto)