There has been an important growth of second language Spanish speakers in Canada. While it remains well behind English and French, in 2006 Spanish became the third most widely spoken language in the country and Canada’s most important non-official language, as per the 2006 Census of Population. In 2011, some 439,110 persons reported that their mother tongue/first language was Spanish. Of all over the 439,000 people, 252,020 still use it as the language spoken at home. The other good news is that Spanish is among the languages with higher rate of growth with an increase of 32% between 2006 and 2011 as per the 2011 Census of Population.

Although these numbers no doubt pale by comparison with the numbers of Spanish speakers in the United States, the growth of Spanish in Canada and the transmission of the language merit greater attention from researchers and policymakers.

When the number of native Spanish speakers and second language speakers are combined, the United States, with its roughly 50 million Spanish speakers, is the second largest Spanish speaking country in the world, behind only Mexico and ahead of Colombia, Spain and Argentina. Some projections indicate that the US could even surpass Mexico by 2050 and become the world’s largest Spanish-speaking country.

But it's not only in the US where Spanish is popular. In Europe, Spanish is the second most popular second language, after English. With some 400 million speakers, Spanish is the fourth most commonly spoken language in the world. Only Mandarin, English and Hindi have more speakers. If you count only native speakers, Spanish outranks English. Spanish is an official language on four continents and is the mother tongue in 21 countries. The sheer number of Spanish speakers and their rate of growth makes learning Spanish a smart choice.

Know a second language? Great, you're hired! When faced with the choice of two equally qualified candidates, employers in all fields say they will choose a candidate who can speak another language – especially Spanish – over a monolingual candidate. If you have proven yourself to be a capable employee with just the right job skills AND you speak a foreign language such as Spanish, you are much more likely to land that job of your dreams than if you are monolingual. In fact, many jobs today require a minimum of basic proficiency in another language.

With the world becoming ever more global, contact with people from other countries has increased tremendously in recent decades. Just having a basic knowledge may be all it takes to separate yourself from the crowd of applicants for the job you are pursuing. With the rapidly increasing Hispanic population, there are a multitude of career fields that need Spanish speakers.

If you've ever dreamed of visiting far-off, exotic, tropical places, you don't have far to look when you consider the great number of Spanish-speaking countries that fit this description.

While it is certainly possible to travel to a Spanish speaking country without knowing any Spanish, your trip will in no way compare with the incredible adventure that awaits the traveler who speaks Spanish. If you only speak English, you will be forced to confine yourself to popular tourist resorts where nearly everyone speaks some English. But if you want to explore the area and get to know the local people, you need to know Spanish. Even simple things, such as reading signs and menus, asking directions or telling a cab driver where you want to go requires some knowledge of the language. Simply put, when you travel to a Spanish speaking country, knowing the language will allow you to move from the role of observer to that of an active participant.

For many people, developing a deeper understanding of Hispanic culture is becoming more and more important. There is no more certain way to gain this insight than to learn to speak Spanish. Reading Latin American or Spanish newspapers and magazines will open a window into the Hispanic mind. Knowing the language will prepare you to better appreciate some of the great Hispanic modern and classic cultural contributions. From Miguel de Cervantes to Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Hispanic literary contributions are monumental. From the royal portraits of Goya to the surreal depictions of Picasso, Spanish influence on the fine arts has been substantial.

In recent years, film stars from Spain and Latin America such as Penelope Cruz, Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Jennifer López and Sofia Vergara have become recognized not just at home, but in Hollywood as well. And let's not ignore gastronomy! Learning Spanish can be the perfect excuse for enjoying the cuisine of Spanish speaking peoples. Burritos, tamales, paella, pupusas, arroz con frijoles, ceviche, the list goes on and on, and is a delicious indicator of the vast diversity of Hispanic culture. Is it any wonder then that more and more people want to partake of these cultural delights?

Written Spanish is almost completely phonetic — look at any Spanish word, and you can tell how it is pronounced. While mastering the grammar of Spanish can be a challenge, basic grammar is straightforward enough and many vocabulary words are similar to English. Spanish is classified as one of the easiest languages for native English speakers to learn due to its grammatical and cultural proximity to English. Since the number of Spanish speakers in the U.S. continues to rise, chances are it will become even easier to learn and practice this language.

Spanish is from the Romance language family of languages, its roots coming primarily from Latin, the language spoken by the Romans. As you might know, English has many words of Latin origin too. Because of this, knowing Spanish helps speakers of English (as well as some other European languages) broaden their vocabulary in their native language. Often times, these same Latin roots are at the base of many sophisticated words in English.

In addition, a recognition and understanding of these words of Latin origin is especially helpful in certain professions in science, medicine, law, and many others with specialized vocabulary, as the many centuries of Roman rule left their mark linguistically in these and other modern scientific and professional fields.

Learning a foreign language, although intimidating at times, opens many doors to meeting new and exciting people that wouldn't otherwise be possible. Getting to know somebody by communicating with them in their own language is a great way to really get to know that person.Language study, practice, and exposure to the language are vital to effective and successful communication.

Even though becoming proficient in Spanish might take a lot of effort, dedication, and time on the part of the learner, the rewards can be great. Imagine all of the friends it is possible to make while on vacation, during study abroad, through having a common interest in music, or even while at work? Having lifelong international friends not only opens future travel opportunities but makes you a cultural ambassador both at home and abroad.

Once Spanish has been learned to a proficient level, when the grammar concepts, vocabulary, and other facets of the language have become fairly automatic, picking up a new language comes much more effortlessly. The new languages studied, especially of European origin, tend to have a lot of recognizable, common elements that are more easily assimilated and expanded upon by tapping into previous language-learning experience. In fact, once you know Spanish, other languages in the Romance language family such as Italian, French, Portuguese, or even ancient Latin, will almost seem like "cousins" to the Spanish you've already learned!