If you’ve ever tried studying a foreign language, whether it be Spanish or any other, the thought has probably occurred to you at one time or another how much easier it would be if you could pick it up as easily as you picked up your native language. So why don’t we?

When we learn our mother tongue, we do so at a crucial stage of cognitive development that simply cannot be replicated when it comes to learning a second language later on in life. As children we are driven to acquire language because it is essential if we are to interact with others and enjoy a full role in society. We are not even conscious of the complex rules of grammar that we are absorbing; these simply become second nature to us. However, unless we grow up bilingually, we don’t learn a second language in the same unconscious way – we have to study and memorise grammar. The rules we don’t even think about in our own language cause a sort of ‘resistance’ in our minds which make the new language seem, well, foreign!

That said, learning a second language is not as hard as it might sound. Though we will never again be at the same stage of cognitive development at which we learned our native language, we can use some of the same methods. We learn our first language primarily through natural and continual conversation with our parents. This is something we can replicate to some extent and lots of people find Intensive Spanish Lessons are a great way to break down those mental barriers and get fast results.

Few would dispute that a second language looks great on your CV, and Spanish is certainly one of the most useful when you consider the number of speakers it has worldwide, but can learning Spanish actually

improve your mental well-being? Many believe it can, and here are just some of the reasons.

Getting to grips with Spanish, or indeed any foreign language, certainly brings a great sense of achievement which will help to boost your confidence, but it’s also been proven by physiological studies to bring a wealth of other mental benefits besides. The mental stimulation of learning a foreign language helps to improve cognitive processes, which has been shown to improve concentration, the ability to multi-task and problem-solve as well as sharpening your reading, negotiation and decision-making skills.

Strange as it may sound, learning a second language also helps to improve your first language because it makes you think more carefully about grammar, conjugations and sentence structures. This can help you to become a better communicator and writer, so by enrolling on our Spanish lessons in London, you could gain the added bonus of improving your English into the bargain.

There have also been various studies which consistently link bilingualism to improved memory. Memorising the rules and vocabulary of a second language exercises the brain, encouraging it to function more effectively, just as physical exercise helps keep the body fit. These studies also show that adults who speak only one language suffer the first signs of dementia on average four years earlier than those who can speak two or more languages –compelling evidence that learning Spanish is good for you!

There are many reasons to learn a foreign language – for some it is a matter of business necessity if their occupation requires them to do business internationally; for others it is purely a question of taking pleasure in learning, but most people embark on a language course because they already have an interest in the country in which the language is spoken, and its culture. Those attending our Spanish lessons in London cite all these reasons, as well as many others.

Learning Spanish helps you to understand the cultural heritage of Spanish-speaking countries, whether that is Spain itself or one of the Latin American countries. A good understanding of Spanish will open up opportunities to explore its vast literary contribution over the centuries from greats like Cervantes, Marquez and Neruda, all of whom we have featured in our blog in the past. It also allows you to enjoy more fully some of our wonderful cinema from the likes of screenwriter and director Pedro Almodóvar, whose work we often use as a teaching resource, or to understand the lyrics of the music, both classical and popular, which you may already love for its melody and vitality.

And there is no better way to understand current affairs and prevailing attitudes in the Spanish-speaking world than being able to read newspapers and magazines, online versions of which are freely available for the keen learner, or by watching Spanish-language television without having to rely on subtitled or dubbed versions which often fail to fully capture the nuances of the original dialogue.

If you want to discover the joy of learning Spanish and the wealth of culture it can open up for you, get in touch.

Since the financial crisis of 2008, many international companies have been searching for emerging

markets in which they can grow and recoup some of the losses they have been forced to sustain in their traditional markets in more developed countries. This is particularly true of insurance companies who, due to low interest rates and increased competition at home, have been seeking to branch out in order to spread and mitigate their risks.

Latin America has proved to be an extremely attractive market for such companies due to its high population, expanding economy and growing middle class. Substantial foreign investment in the region has made it more stable and business friendly for insurers who are cautious by their very nature. Industry figures place Latin American gross written premiums higher than Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia put together. Unsurprisingly, around half of this revenue comes from the region’s largest economy, Brazil, but the Spanish-speaking countries are also proving lucrative for insurers, with Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela and Peru also showing strong growth in the insurance market.

However, this rapid growth has led to a shortage of qualified workers, with actuaries particularly sought after. This presents opportunities for expats who may wish to relocate, whilst at home, those working in insurance in the UK are increasingly likely to have business dealings with their Latin American counterparts. Clearly, the ability to speak Spanish is a distinct advantage in either case. Our intensive Spanish lessons are the ideal way to learn the language quickly and with your specific learning objectives in mind. Our native tutors can coach you on the vocabulary which will be important in your specific field as well as providing all the fundamentals for a good command of the language in general. Get it touch for more information or to book your lessons.

Welcome back to our blog after a break for Holy Week (Semana Santa). Easter is an important religious

festival in Spain and Hispanic America with many traditional celebrations taking place across the country. Easter is marked in many towns and cities by processions through the streets during the evening. Ornate floats called tronos depicting part of the Easter story are carried by as many as forty or fifty people in parades lasting several hours.

Some regions have their own specific traditions for their tronos and processions. In Murcia, for example, a tronos depicting the Last Supper is carried which includes a table laid with real food, and on Easter Sunday that food is eaten by the men who have carried the tronos through the town. In Malaga, the Easter traditions include the ritual freeing of a prisoner, who is then blessed by the figure of Jesus Christ. In the village of Hellin, in the province of Albacete, you can witness the Tamborada – a festival of up to 20,000 drums parading through the streets. However, by far the biggest and most famous processions take place in Seville. These are organised by the Easter Brotherhoods, (co-fradias) and often include highly decorated (and very heavy!) statues of the Virgin Mary as the various Brotherhoods vie to put on the most spectacular procession.

If you’re currently taking Private Spanish Lessons then you will certainly be fascinated by the deeply religious and colourful celebrations taking place across Spain at this time.

Learning a language on your own is something that many people attempt with varying degrees of success. These days there are all

sorts of language courses that you can buy in the form of interactive software and/or accompanying books, all claiming to teach you the language effectively without a teacher. Can it really be done?

These courses are not without merit, and they can indeed be a useful supplement to learning with a tutor or as a means of practising what you already know or expanding your vocabulary, but there really is no better way to learn any language than one-on-one learning with a native tutor.

Intensive Spanish lessons such as those we offer in the London area give you the best opportunity to get the most out of your learning. That’s because you have a dedicated tutor who is focused solely on your own abilities and learning objectives. You can learn at a pace that suits you, rather than having to fit in with the pace of the average learner in a larger class. If you struggle with certain grammatical rules, as many people do when learning a foreign language, they can go into more depth where necessary or provide additional exercises that will help get you past these obstacles. No software, no matter how sophisticated, can do this for you.

Being native is of vital importance too. Only a native speaker truly knows all the nuances of a language and can pass them on to their students. You wouldn’t send your child to be taught English by someone who didn’t speak it as their first language, so how can a book or a computer take the place of native Spanish tutor?

Rounding up our series, we take a look at the remaining dialects of the Spanish mainland. These are considered minority dialects

compared to those we have profiled over the last few weeks. Let’s take a look at them, their origins and where they are spoken.

Aragonese

Known as Aragonés or simply fabla, meaning ‘talk’ or ‘speech’, by native speakers, Aragonese originated in the Middle Ages as a Latin dialect. Like many other dialects, its use receded due to dynastic changes, most notably when Ferdinand I, who was of Castilian origin, came to the throne of Aragon in the fifteenth century. With the union of the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile in the sixteenth century, it was relegated to rural and colloquial use. Though suppressed during the Franco years, the language is still spoken in the Aragonese mountain ranges of the Pyrenees and has been recognised as a ‘native language, original and historic’ since 2009.

Asturian and Leonese

Also developing from the break-up of Latin, Asturian is indigenous to the Principality of Asturias in North-West Spain. It is not an official language, but is protected under the region’s Statute of Autonomy. Its status is deemed critical as its speakers have declined sharply in the last century. However, steps were taken by the Academy of the Asturian Language to preserve it, and the indications are that those speaking or understanding it have risen in the last couple of decades, so it may yet survive. Its close relative, Leonese, was formerly a distinct dialect spoken in the provinces of León and Zamora. The two are now usually considered to be a single language, Astur-Leonese.

Thinking of learning Spanish?

Our intensive Spanish lessons are ideal for anyone wanting to learn the language quickly and can be provided by a dedicated tutor at your home or workplace in London.

Aranese is a dialect spoken in the Val d’Aran region of Northwest Catalonia, where it has held official status since 2010 along with

its close relative, Catalan, and standard Castilian Spanish. Like Spanish and its other dialects, Aranese is a Romance language. It is a sub-dialect of Occitan, which is spoken in Southern France, Monaco and parts of Italy, but the influence of Spanish and Catalan mean that it has become quite distinct from its neighbours.

Aranese (Aranés) was once considered an endangered language; its speakers had dwindled to the older people of the region but since 1984 it has been taught in schools bilingually alongside Castilian, which has contributed to something of a resurgence in the language. A linguistic census in 2008 estimated that around 78% of the population of Val d’Aran could understand Aranese, 57% could speak it, though only 35% could write it.

Aranese differs in some spellings from standard Spanish, for example the capital of the Val d’Aran is Vielha e Mijaran rather than the Spanish spelling of Viella. If you are travelling in the region, you may notice these sorts of differences on road signs and maps, which use the local dialect as their official language.

It can seem daunting to think of so many different dialects being spoken across Spain, but it’s no more necessary to learn them all than it is, say, to adopt local vernacular as you travel around the UK. Students attending our Spanish lessons in London will receive a thorough grounding in Castilian, which is official across the whole country and will be spoken and understood wherever you go.

In the latest of our series of blogs on regional Spanish dialects, we take a look at the origins and present-day use of Catalan.

Like other Spanish dialects, Catalan evolved from Vulgar Latin in the 9th century. It enjoyed its golden age during the Middle Ages as the language of the then-powerful Crown of Aragon; this, coupled with its dominance as the language of literature meant that Catalan was widely spoken all around the Mediterranean.

Since that time, it has endured fluctuating fortunes; it began to go into decline following the union of Aragon with other Spanish territories in the 15th century and suffered further after Northern Catalonia was ceded to France in 1659. It was banned by both France and Spain in the early 18th century but a century later underwent a literary revival, which eventually led to its regaining official status. This was relatively short-lived as, like several other dialects, it was once again banned under the Franco regime, but it survived and is now co-official in Catalonia and the Balearics. It’s also an official language of the Valencian Community, where it is called Valencian rather than Catalan, and is spoken, though not officially recognised, in other autonomous communities. Today Catalan is one of the more widely-spoken dialects, with about 9% of the population claiming it as their mother tongue.

Although our Spanish lessons in London are based on the standardised form of the language, there is no need to be apprehensive about conversing with people from areas where regional dialects are common; they are in the main mutually intelligible, but differing in certain pronunciation and vocabulary just as different regions of the UK do.

The Basque dialect, or Euskara, is quite unlike other Spanish dialects in that it is not a Romance language; in fact it is classed as a

‘language isolate’, that is a language with no demonstrable relationship with another language. Known in Spanish as el vasco, la lengua vasca or el euskera, it is spoken by some of the indigenous people of the Basque country, which covers Northeast Spain and Southwest France.

Basque has several sub-dialects not all of which are mutually intelligible, so a standardised form, called Euskara Batua, was introduced in the late 1960s by the Basque Language Academy for use in education and other formal settings to make it possible for all Basque speakers to understand one another. Basque, like other dialects, was suppressed during the Franco years but during the 1980s steps were taken to strengthen the language and it is now spoken by some 700,000 people (around 27% of the population) in the Basque regions.

The origins of Basque are uncertain, but its use can be traced back many centuries. We know that it dates back at least as far as 1349, when a law was passed making the use of Basque, Arabic and Hebrew punishable by a fine of 30 sols. However, it is likely to have its origins much earlier, developing before the arrival of the Romance languages spoken in the surrounding areas, and possibly even as far back as the Stone Age.

While it is interesting to know some of the history of minority languages like Basque, it is the standard Castellano which you will need to communicate in Spain and Latin America. Our intensive Spanish lessons are an excellent choice if you wish to learn Spanish quickly.