Studies of languages used on the internet* show, unsurprisingly, that English is the most-used language online, with around 55% of websites using English as their content language. Spanish is among the group of next most highly-used languages along with German and Russian. What is significant though is that use of the Spanish language online increased dramatically in the ten years between 2001 and 2011, expanding at a rate of 743%, compared to 281% for English. This can perhaps be seen as confirmation of the growing importance of Spanish as a world language and the rapid expansion in the numbers of Spanish speakers in recent years, particularly in the US.
This is great news for Spanish students, as it means that there is a wealth of Spanish language content available online so you are sure to find material on a subject that’s of interest to you. Why not challenge yourself by switching your search engine to Spanish and finding pages related to your occupation or interests? Reading information on a subject close to your heart in a foreign language helps to sharpen your interest and make what you’re reading that much more memorable. It’s a great way to expand your vocabulary in subject areas which are relevant to you personally and makes a useful accompaniment to Spanish lessons. You may not understand everything you read at first, but you can make a note of anything which gave you difficulty and ask your native tutor to explain things for you. Your perseverance will soon be rewarded by a marked increase in your level of comprehension.
* Source: W3Techs