There has been a dramatic increase in the number of Spanish-speaking Americans over the last several decades. This trend shows no signs of abating. More and more Americans speak Spanish as their primary language..

Because of this, many people who have thus far spoken only English are beginning to consider whether they might want to learn Spanish as well. There are innumerable reasons why one might consider this. I have created this hub to list four of my top reasons why one might consider adding another language, in this case Spanish, to their arsenal.

The primary reason, in the past, why Americans have decided that they wanted to learn Spanish has been economic. This is as true today as it was 30 years ago. If you operate a business or work for a business that deals with the public there is a greater and greater chance that your business will come into contact with Spanish speaking people. Today nearly 12% of people living in the United States speak Spanish fluently, with more than 40% of those people speaking Spanish exclusively. If your business can not service these people then you are likely leaving money on the table. By reaching the Spanish speaking market you can increase your profits.

And even if your business does not directly touch the Spanish-speaking consumer, you may still have individuals working for you that are fluent in Spanish. Restaurants and construction companies are prime examples of these kinds of businesses. If you were able to effectively communicate with these employees that could substantially improve the bottom line.

Another one of my favorite reasons to learn Spanish is that you can safely and easily travel to many more places on the globe if you speak Spanish. Just take a moment and imagine being dropped into the interior of Mexico or Argentina without a guide and being able to successfully make a go of it. If you are a world traveler like I am, I am sure you can see the advantage in this situation.

I am a lover of movies. One of the reasons, that I first endeavored to learn Spanish was that so I would be able to watch Spanish language movies and television without having to read annoying subtitles. This has worked out great. I can tell you that there is nothing like being able to enjoy the actor's performance (without subtitles) in Spanish speaking films. I now have a lot more variety to choose from when picking out a movie to rent.

One final reason why I recommend learning Spanish is that, if you are single, it increases the dating pool available to you dramatically. Imagine being able to successfully date (and even marry) more than 1 billion Spanish-speaking people on planet. Naturally, this is a great benefit that will only apply to single people, but I thought that I would mention it anyway.

Some Final Words

Not every one of these reasons will apply to every person. Still, I believe that the four reasons to learn Spanish listed above can be used to make a great case for learning Spanish for anyone. You can make money, travel more freely, date more people, and watch more movies. What's not to love? Those are my top reasons for learning Spanish in 2009.

I have started a new blog dedicated to those in Austin, TX called Learn Spanish Austin. Please check it out.