Spanish: The Second World Language

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A Litte Bit of Spanish History

The Spanish language has been called the second world language, due to its large world wide distribution. It's origin goes far back into history. Tribes, such as the Celts, Phoenicians, Carthaginians and Greeks, have contributed to the early development of the Spanish language.

Around 200 BC, due to the reign of the Roman Empire and then later on during the 5th to the 8th century, due to the long period of the Muslim invasion of about 750 years, the Spanish language has been influenced and undergone further development.

Our Squidoo lens includes a number of Spanish learning resources, recommended learning tools, videos, rss feeds, and more. So if you are interested in learning Spanish check out the resources below.

A SnapShot of Costa Rica

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Learning Spanish Resources

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1492 and the Rise of Spanish Language

Learning Spanish LanguageThe year 1492 presents a milestone in the start of the wide distribution and influence of the Spanish language When Ferdinand and Isabella sent the all known Italian explorer Christopher Columbus to sea, which led to the discovery of the American Continent.

The worldwide distribution of the Spanish language and the number of speakers has grown tremendously since the rise of the colonial power of Spain. The Spanish language has become widespread, second only to the English language. The Spanish language is one of the romance languages, such like Italian and French.

Photos from Argentina

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The Number of Spanish Speakers Today

type=textThe Spanish language is an impressive number of millions of people are speaking this language today.

The current numbers of speakers worldwide is considerable with alone having 106,255,000 speakers. Other top countries include Spain with 46,000,000; Columbia with 45,500,000; Argentina with 41,248,000; Venezuela with 26,021,000; Peru with 23, 191,000 and Chile with 15,795,000.

There are also many people who are speaking the Spanish language at work or other settings in these 6 countries which are not included in these numbers, as well as children under 5. The Easter Islands is a territory that is possessed by Chile and there are about 3,000 inhabitants that speak Spanish. According to the 2001 census there are also roughly about 95,000 speakers of Spanish in Australia.

Island nations like Guam, Palau, Northern Marianas, Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia all once had Spanish speakers. The Marianas and the Caroline Islands were Spanish colonies until the late 19th century. This has contributed to an influence in the local languages of these regions

Even in Antarctica the Spanish language is the official language. The Spanish language has made its journey worldwide and has been a strong and extensive influence of the language of millions of people. It is estimated that around 500 million speakers, native and other wise speaking this language.

If you're interested in learning Spanish, Pimsleur Programs are an excellent product to consider.

Learning Spanish BlogPosts

Goodness gracias, it's a steep learning curve
BY DANIEL TRAN WHEN Monash University's Marisa Cordella was learning English, navigating the conversational highway was one of her biggest challenges. As a native Spanish speaker, the norms she was used to while speaking were suddenly turned upside ...
Learn about unknown wars
They are fascinating pieces of our history and we might do well to learn about them. Did you know battles in the Spanish-American war were fought in the Philippines and the treaty to end it was signed in Paris? Those wars led to the emergence of the ...
Andalusia: Spain's Diamond Mine of Rich History and Dazzling Visuals
When attending ?La Feria?, you can expect droves of women in flamboyant flamenco dresses from every color in the spectrum, and men dressed as caballeros (Spanish for 'gentleman') with their bolero hats and horse-drawn carriages.
Havana sees US invasion at key art festival
... love with his painting of a plummeting Icarus against a starry background, hanging on the wall of a Spanish colonial-era fortress across the bay from Havana. Nor did he get a name or a hometown, or even learn whether the buyer was a man or a woman.

A SnapShot of Spain

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Learning Spanish Resources

Check out the Resources below:

Spanish Pimsleur Courses
The ultimate audio program for learning conversational Spanish.
Practical Everyday Spanish
Learn everyday Mexican Spanish using this simple software.
The FSI Platiquemos Course
Platiquemos: The Most Complete Spanish Program available: Includes all 8 levels, Cantemos, and Riamos.
Learning Spanish Like Crazy
So What do You get in the Best Spanish course around? The complete, A-to-Z, step-by-step Learning Spanish Like Crazy course allows you to begin speaking real Latin American Spanish as easily and as quickly as a child learns a native Language... Starting even on the very first day!

Learning Spanish Bookmarks

Great Stuff on Amazon for Learning Spanish

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Articles on Learning Spanish

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Learning Spanish Lessons

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Pimsleur Spanish Review

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New YouTube vids on Learning Spanish

Spanish for Children

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Learning Spanish on iTunes

Track Artist Album  
Learn Spanish 5 Learning Spanish Like Crazy Learn Spanish: Learning Spanish Like Crazy (Super Light)
Learn Spanish 4 Learning Spanish Like Crazy Learn Spanish: Learning Spanish Like Crazy (Super Light)
Learn Spanish 6 Learning Spanish Like Crazy Learn Spanish: Learning Spanish Like Crazy (Super Light)
De Colores Whistlefritz: Jorge Anaya ¡A Bailar! Let's Dance! (Spanish Learning Songs for Kids/Canciones Infantiles)
Learn Spanish 8 Learning Spanish Like Crazy Learn Spanish: Learning Spanish Like Crazy (Super Light)
Arrullo Abecedario (Alphabet Lullaby) Whistlefritz: Jorge Anaya ¡A Bailar! Let's Dance! (Spanish Learning Songs for Kids/Canciones Infantiles)
Brilla, Brilla Estrellita (Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star) Whistlefritz: Jorge Anaya ¡A Bailar! Let's Dance! (Spanish Learning Songs for Kids/Canciones Infantiles)
Los Pollitos (The Little Chicks) Whistlefritz: Jorge Anaya ¡A Bailar! Let's Dance! (Spanish Learning Songs for Kids/Canciones Infantiles)
Los Niños Cuando Bailan (When the Children Dance) Whistlefritz: Jorge Anaya ¡A Bailar! Let's Dance! (Spanish Learning Songs for Kids/Canciones Infantiles)
Baila, Baila, Baila (Dance, Dance, Dance) Whistlefritz: Jorge Anaya ¡A Bailar! Let's Dance! (Spanish Learning Songs for Kids/Canciones Infantiles)

Learning Spanish Spotlight

Learning Spanish MP3s on Amazon

Check out my favorite songs! I've handpicked these MP3s from Amazon. Take a listen. If you like, you can click to buy them on Amazon.

CafePress Spanish Products

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Learning the Spanish Language

Talk Now Spanish Software

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Learning Mexican Spanish

Talk Now Mexican Spanish Software

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Learning Spanish Reader Feedback

  • social1sub Oct 6, 2007 @ 3:23 pm | delete
    I like your lens an is a great review for Rocket Spanish. Rocket spanish is a great resource to learn spanish.

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JLumbroso

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