The Spanish language has been said that it is in third place after French and Italian, among the 10 sexiest in the world. This according to a survey conducted by the US network CNN. But in addition to this data, which some people may consider important and others without relevance, it is the fastest growing language in the world, according to a report by the Cervantes Institute, entitled “Spanish, a living language” (2018).
“Spanish is the second mother tongue in the world by number of speakers, after Mandarin Chinese, and also the second language in a global tally of speakers (native proficiency + limited competence + Spanish students).
For demographic reasons, the percentage of the world’s population that speaks Spanish as a native language is increasing, while the proportion of Chinese and English speakers is decreasing,” said the report.
At the end of 2018 there were 577 million speakers in Spanish and it is the official language in 21 countries. If we take into account that language is the most important feature of a culture, we will immediately see the importance of taking care of our own.
Historically, due to the popular use of people who speak Spanish, it acquires new words and others remain in disuse. Another phenomenon is that which occurs when people take a foreign word and begin to use it to say something other than what that term actually means. They modify the word and give it another use.
Technological challenges
However, at present the great changes that modern technologies produce in the way we communicate, add a new factor that could harm Spanish. An awareness of this could make us more careful in the use of the language, even if it is communication by cell phones or social networks, in terms of the accentuation of the words and their spelling.
“We should write better, take better care of the language. Now we even trust that the computer is what makes the spelling corrections,” says philologist Mauren Chaves Carpio, who has a master’s degree in teaching.
“The language is a living entity, but there must be elements in common so that we can always understand each other, those of us who speak Spanish in the world”, as explained by this teacher. Spanish is “the second most widely spoken language in the world,” explained Juan Manuel Bonet. Director of the Cervantes Institute.
Encouraging its correct use
And although it is “expanding” and is in good health, this language must be encouraged in the face of “tough competition” from the other major languages that seek to position themselves in the world, according to Richard Bueno Hudson, academic director of the Cervantes Institute. “Geographic barriers have been blurred and we have to adapt, always without losing sight of quality,” says Richard Bueno, who is concerned about the “metamorphosis of the internet”.
On the other hand, a debate is currently taking place, especially in Latin America, related to the fact that women in feminist struggle demand “an inclusive language” that gives visibility to women, because they consider that there is inequality in it. .
Defending the language
“It is true that this inequality exists, that we must fight for equality with all the means that we can, and if language is a tool, then also through language”, explains Santiago Muñoz, president of the Royal Spanish Academy of language.
In any case, the undeniable thing is that Spanish is a living and evolving language, an indispensable condition so that it does not decrease or disappear, but quite the opposite. And that the task of taking care of our language concerns us all, to monitor its healthy growth and keep it pleasant or “sexy”, as some have described it.
