In terms of native speakers, Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world. Its significance goes beyond frontiers. From its origin in Europe to North, Central and South American countries, Spanish language and culture is spread worldwide in many different and unique ways. Spanish is an official language in 21 countries, and it has over 572 million speakers around the globe. In fact, it is the second most spoken language in the US, right after English. Therefore, having the chance to start learning a second foreign language like Spanish at an early age would have a positive impact in your child's education.

As mentioned before, the influence of Spanish in English-speaking countries such as the UK and the US is becoming more noticeable in recent times. Spanish as a foreign language is the first choice of British and American high school students and many universities in those countries offer courses focusing on Hispanic studies. For that reason, if, for instance, our students would like to apply for universities in the US, showing a certain level of Spanish could make a difference comparing to other candidates and probably increase their chances to be admitted. Furthermore, from a long-term perspective, learning more than one foreign language could raise their chances to be more competitive in both European and American markets.

Some parents might be a little bit worried about how an extra foreign language may affect their child's learning process, especially when those kids are still struggling to learn English. However, in our experience and according to numerous scientific research, learning more than one language at the same time can be beneficial for children and young persons. On the one hand, it could stimulate their brain, improve their memory, and enhance their concentration. Having to switch from one language to another constantly keeps them alert and ultimately provoke them to be more proactive.

Moreover, the fact that there are many similarities between Spanish and English can make the learning process smoother. Around a 30% or 40% of English words have a relatively close equivalence in Spanish language with minor differences in sound or way of writing. For that reason, the words that they already know in English can help them learn Spanish. Also, as opposed to Chinese and English, which are extremely different languages, the sentence structure is rather similar in English and Spanish, so once they learn the basic grammar differences between the two languages, they will easily improve both. This could even help them to be more aware of how English language works as opposed to Spanish.

Spanish language has been introduced in our school from an early beginner level or level 0. Considering that for most of our students it is their first contact with the language, we are primarily trying to set some of the basics of the language and familiarize our students with its particularities. We are focusing on four core skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Our methodology is project-based, in which teamwork is essential and students can put their knowledge into practice. Since the purpose of learning a language is to communicate, we seek to expose our students to real life communicative situations which will be useful both in daily life and academic contexts. As mentioned before, every language is a new window from where to see the world and cultural perspectives are very important when learning a new language. That is why we try to incorporate cultural aspects in our teaching, such as Spanish manners and customs, eating habits, traditions, etc. Having the opportunity to experience these cultural aspects with Spanish native teachers is, with any doubt, advantageous for our students.

Spanish has arrived recently to our school, and we did not know how students and parents would respond to this new addition to their curriculum. However, the feedback we have received so far from both students and parents is very positive. We would like to thank once again for the warm welcoming. Many of our students are really motivated and willing to take the adventure of learning “español” to a further level. Right now, we are offering Spanish in grades 7 and 8 in our Lower Secondary School and grades 6, 7 and 8 in our International School but, as you may already know, we aim to continue offering Spanish in upper grades. For now, we are focusing on the next step for grade 9 students. Our current curriculum is aiming to follow the official Spanish language curriculum from “El Instituto Cervantes”, an organization created by the Spanish government which is responsible for promoting the study of Spanish language and culture around the world. This curriculum is compatible with the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) used by Cambridge English in the UK: you all must be already familiar with the level of language criteria A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2. Just like Cambridge examinations in the UK, “El Instituto Cervantes” offers official examinations for Spanish learners called DELE on behalf of Spanish Ministry of Education. There are two headquarters of this organization in China, one in Beijing and another one in Shanghai. Our future goal is to prepare those students who are interested in improving their Spanish and get some certification to pass these examinations.