Spanish Language | Yak Academy

"It's great to be in such a friendly environment! From the moment I walk in the door, the atmosphere is always cheerful. I can tell the instructors genuinely care for the children."

— Serena, mother of Jack, Maddie and Will

Why Enroll in Spanish for Kids?

This predominant world language is getting closer to home every day. Many of us have a native Spanish speaker in our family, someone that we work with, or met someone at the local playground with one of the many recognizable Spanish accents. In fact, projections tell us that we’re only a few years away from one fourth of the population being native Spanish speakers here in the USA! At some point in the very near future, it is possible that speaking Spanish will be a necessity and not a luxury.

Interested in enrolling your little one in Spanish classes? Click here to view prices and schedules at a location near you.

History

The Spanish language emerged during the 7th century in regions north of Spain that had not been conquered during the Moorish invasion. Just like all romance languages, its roots are in Latin, though through the years of prolonged contact with Germanic and Arabic languages, it evolved quite differently than its French and Italian counterparts.

Much later, when the Spaniards ‘discovered’ the Americas, the language of Spain (Castilian Spanish) had emerged and become the standard speech of the explorers. During colonization, the indigenous inhabitants of Latin America were forced to learn Castilian in order to cohabitate. As to be expected, the natives exerted a great influence on the Spanish language and the Latin American Spanish dialect emerged.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the influence of American English on Latin American Spanish started another language revolution, changing pronunciation and even vocabulary. Even though this created significant changes in the Latin American dialect, most experts would agree that the differences between Castilian Spanish and Latin American Spanish are still equivalent to those between British English and American English.

Facts & Stats

Spanish is the 4th most popular language spoken in the world and is the native tongue of the majority of the Western Hemisphere.

The United States has the 5th largest Hispanic population in the world with nearly 48 million native speakers. By 2050 it is expected that the US population of native speaking Hispanics will grow to over 100 Million, which will make up one fourth of the country’s population.

There are nearly 400 million Spanish speakers worldwide, just a hair above English speakers; however, due to perceived population projections, the margin will only get wider with Spanish taking the lead.

Many countries in Latin America have signed or are on the verge of signing on to NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement). It is anticipated that this will strengthen trade and business ties between these countries and the USA making the Spanish language an even more important asset for Americans in the business world.

Click here to view our schedules for kids Spanish classes and pricing in your area.

Interested in learning about other languages we offer? Just click below: