1. Learning Spanish is necessary to keep pace with popular culture.
学习西语对于跟上大众文化的脚步来说是必要的。


Learning Spanish will enable you to keep pace with Hispanic influence on culture which is strong and getting stronger. For example, do you remember that Taco Bell commercial with the little dog? Did you know that his motto, "Yo quiero Taco Bell" is actually a play on words? In Spanish, "yo quiero" means both "I want" and "I love." So, that cute little dog was actually pulling your leg as he said both: "I want Taco Bell" and "I love Taco Bell." 
学习西语能使你跟上在文化中日益增强的西班牙语的影响力。比如，你记得那个同“小狗”做买卖的塔可钟吗？你知道他的名言“我爱塔可钟”其实是个文字游戏吗？在西语中，“yo quiero”既有“我想要”的意思，也有“我爱”的意思。所以，当那只可爱的小狗拉着你的腿，它实际上在说“我要塔可钟”和“我爱塔可钟”。


2. Learning Spanish is actually a medical device!
学习西语其实是一种治疗手段！


Research indicates that knowing and using two languages reduces your chances of developing dementia, including Alzheimer's Disease. The scientists who studied this were motivated by earlier studies which showed that bilingualism enhances mental abilities in both children and older adults. Other studies show that studying languages can improve your memory and slow age-related decline in mental acuity. And studying another language makes you smarter! Your critical thinking skills will be improved as you learn to view things through a different lens. Learning a second language stimulates creativity! 
研究指出，认识和使用两种语言能减少你患上痴呆，包括阿尔茨海默氏病的几率。科学家研究它的动机其实来源于早先的研究，这些研究显示了，双语能增强孩子和大人的大脑的能力。其他一些研究表明，学习语言能改善你们的记忆力以及减缓随年龄而逐渐下降的大脑能力。研究其他语言能让你更聪敏！学习从不同方面看待事情可以改善你的批判性思维能力。学习第二外语能激发你的创造力！


3. For many, learning Spanish is rapidly becoming a business necessity.
对于许多人来说，学习西班牙语正迅速变成一个商业必要条件。


Spanish is becoming more and more important with regards to business. Learning Spanish will enable you to better communicate with Spanish speaking employees or co-workers. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to offer your product or service to the 350 million people whose mother tongue is Spanish? In North America, Hispanic consumers are the fastest-growing market segment. As for job opportunities, it certainly wouldn't hurt to have Spanish on your résumé. In the United States, knowing Spanish can be particularly helpful if you work in healthcare or education. Increasingly, the building trades are employing more and more Spanish speaking workers. One thing is certain. If you are bilingual, you will be more marketable and have more career choices than your monolingual counterpart. Globalization, with it's accompanying free trade agreements is shrinking the business world, and those who know more than one language will definitely have the edge. 
就商业而言，西班牙语正变得越来越重要。学习西语能使你更好地同讲西语的雇员或者工作伙伴进行交流。能把你的产品提供给以西语为母语的三亿五千人或者为其服务难道不好吗？在北美，西语裔的客户是市场中增长最快的一群人。而就工作机会而言，在简历上写着会说西语肯定不会让你有任何损失。在美国，如果你在医疗保健或者教育行业工作，懂得西班牙语能更有助益。建筑行业正越来越多地雇佣说西语的工人。有一件事情是肯定的，如果你是双语人士，你会比只会一种语言的同专业人士更有市场，并且有更多的就业机会。随着自由贸易协定的签订，全球化使得商业世界不断萎缩，懂得一种以上语言的人肯定更有优势。


4. Spanish, Spanish everywhere.
西班牙语，到处都是西班牙语


With well over 35 million Spanish speakers in the United States, and with over 40% of the population growth being among the Hispanic people, the stage is set for an enormous increase in Spanish usage in the United States. This has sparked a lot of interest among US citizens, a group not particularly known for their multilingualism. This interest will only increase as the Hispanic population of the US approaches 50 million by the year 2015. 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 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. 
在美国有超过3500万的人口讲西班牙语，且拉美裔拥有超过40％的人口增长，这使西班牙语在美国增长迅速。这已经引发了很多美国公民的兴趣，已经不再是小语种。这种“兴趣”只会增加，在美国到2015年，西班牙裔人口接近5000万。西班牙语不仅在美国很受欢迎，在欧洲，西班牙是第二大流行二外，仅次于英语，约有四亿讲西语的人口。西班牙语是四大洲21个国家的母语和官方语言。讲西班牙语的绝对数量和他们的增长速度，使得学习西班牙语的一个明智的选择。


5. Learning Spanish will (truly) expand your universe.
学习西班牙语开阔你的世界


According to Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, "the limits of my language are the limits of my universe." There is no doubt that learning Spanish will expand your own personal universe. As the Hispanic population continues to grow at a disproportionate rate, it becomes more and more likely that you might marry into a Spanish speaking family, have Spanish speaking neighbors or encounter Spanish speaking people in your daily rounds. No longer are the Spanish speakers in the US confined to the border states and big cities. Today, nearly all areas have some sort of Hispanic population. 
奥地利哲学家维特根斯坦说，“我的语言的局限就是我的世界的局限”。毫无疑问，学习西班牙语将扩大我们的世界。由于拉美裔人口以不均的速度持续增长，你更有可能会嫁入一个讲西班牙语的家庭，有讲西班牙语的邻居或遇到讲西班牙语的人，在你的周遭世界中。美国的西语人口已经不仅仅分布在某些边境和大城市。今天，几乎所有的地区都有西语裔人口。


6. Knowing Spanish will completely transform your travel experience.
懂西班牙语将改变你的旅程


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. Hispanic people are amazingly generous, and if you speak Spanish you will find yourself being welcomed in a way that would never happen if you spoke only English. 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. 
虽然不懂西语在西语国家中旅行也是完全可以的，但你的旅行无法与一个会说西语的人那难以置信的精彩旅程相比。如果你只说英语，你将被迫局限于那些著名旅游度假胜地，在那里几乎每个人都讲一些英语。但是如果你想探索该地区，了解当地人民，你需要知道西班牙语。即使是简单的事情，比如读懂标志和菜单，问路或告诉出租车司机你想要去的地方，都需要一定的语言知识。西语裔人非常大方，如果你会说西班牙语，你会发现自己受到前所未有的欢迎，但如果你只说英语，就没有这种待遇了。简单地说，当您到一个讲西班牙语的国家旅行，了解西语会让你从观察员的身份，变成一个积极的参与者。


7. Knowing how to speak Spanish will enable you to help others.
懂得西语使你可以帮助他人


If you are the type of person who likes to help others, learning to speak Spanish will put you in a postion where you can help both Spanish speakers who don't speak English and English speakers who don't speak Spanish. Now that's what we like to call a "win-win" situation. Unfortunately, the standard of living in many Spanish speaking countries is rather low by normal Western standards. Sometimes, it is appalingly low. Without stereotyping Latin America as a poverty stricken region (in many cases that simply is not true) there are nonetheless a lot of people in serious need. Learning Spanish will prepare you for taking the next step, --- actually going there and making a difference!
如果你喜欢帮助别人，学习西语将让你既可以帮助只懂西语或者只懂英语的人。我们喜欢称之为“双赢”的局面。不幸的是，很多西语国家的生活水平是低于西方国家正常标准的。有时，非常的低。拉丁美洲作为一个贫困地区（这种说法很多情况下是不正确的）仍然有很多人需要帮助。学习西班牙语将使你对这样的局面做出改变！


8. There are reasons to learn language for language's sake.
以下是学习外语的原因


While Johann Wolfgang von Goethe may have been exaggerating when he said, "he who knows no foreign language, knows nothing of his own," it cannot be denied that by studying Spanish you will without doubt gain a better understanding of English. Spanish is what we call a "Romance" language, meaning that it is based on Latin, the language of the ancient Roman Empire. Many English words are also of Latin origin, and so when you learn vocabulary in Spanish you will simultaneously be expanding your English vocabulary. You will also find that your understanding of the deep meaning of these Latin based English words is greatly enhanced. Also, as you study the grammar of Spanish, you will notice how it is similar to English, as well as how it is different. This will raise your awareness of the grammar of your native language. Because Spanish is very nearly phonetically perfect, you can look at almost any word and immediately know exactly how to pronounce it. This characteristic makes Spanish one of the easiest languages to learn. And, when it comes to learning a third language, such as French or Italian, already knowing Spanish will be a huge advantage because these languages, too, are Romance Languages. 
虽然约翰·沃尔夫冈·冯·歌德被夸张化了，他说，“一个人不懂外语，就是对母语一无所知，” 不能否认，通过学习西班牙语，你会更好地理解英语。西班牙语就是我们所说的“罗马系”的语言，它是基于拉丁文，这门古罗马帝国的语言。很多英语单词是有拉丁血统的，所以当你学习西班牙语的词汇，你会同时扩大你的英语词汇。你还会发现，你对这些拉丁美洲的英语单词的深层含义的理解也大大提高。此外，当你学习西班牙语的语法，你会发现它和英语是多么相像，同时也会发现她们的不同。这将提高你对母语语法的意识。西班牙语几乎就是完美的发音，当你看到一个词，就立即知道它如何发音。这种特性使得西语成为的最简单的西方语言。当你学习第三语言，如法语或意大利语，会发现西语对于学习这些罗马语言来说将是一个巨大的优势。


9. Learning Spanish will allow you to better appreciate Hispanic cultural contributions.
学习西语使你能更好了解西语国家文化


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 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. And let's not ignore gastronomy! Learning Spanish can be the perfect excuse for enjoying the cuisine of Spanish speaking peoples. Burritos, tamales, paella, papusas, arroz con frijoles, ceviche, --- the list goes on and on, and is a delicious indicator of the vast diversity of Hispanic culture. 
对于很多人来说，学习西班牙文化变得越来越重要。毫无疑问这需要学习西班牙语。阅读拉美或西班牙的报纸和杂志，为你打开一扇窗，窥探西语国家人民的思维。懂得语言可以使你更好地了解现代西语国家以及它们的经典文化遗产。从塞万提斯到马尔克斯，西语文学都是具有里程碑意义的。从戈雅的皇室肖像画到毕加索的超现实画作，西班牙影响了艺术。我们也别忘了西班牙美食呀！学习西语可以使品尝西语国家美食的完美借口。玉米花，达玛尔(拉美粽子)，海鲜饭……菜单无止境~这是西语国家文化的美味的向导哦！


10. Learning Spanish is fun!
学习西语很快乐！


Learning Spanish opens up lots of opportunities to have more fun. Who doesn't enjoy reading a good book or watching a good movie? Music? You bet! Food? The best! The satisfaction of accomplishment? It's there waiting for you to grab it! For all of the reasons mentioned above, and a whole lot that haven't been mentioned, learning Spanish can be one of the most enjoyable things you will ever do. Whether your motivations are practical, intellectual or sentimental, learning Spanish is something that will benefit you for the rest of your life!
学习西语会有更多机会体验快乐。谁不喜欢看本好书或是好的电影？音乐？美食？最好的美食！还有成就感？这些快乐都在等着你来获得！因为以上所有的原因，以及我还没提到的原因，学习西语都是我们所做的最有趣的事情之一。不管你学习西语是为了实用还是学习还是感觉，这都将使你终生受益！