Top 100 Languages by Population
Many people from almost all sections of Australian society either know Spanish reasonably well, are functional (or fluent) in Spanish or are studying Spanish. Many Australians of Italian descent, know Spanish.
Typically, they like most other people, they like the joy of learning, and having mastered both Italian and English are keen to take their studies further. Spanish is the perfect vehicle for them to take their studies further. For them, Spanish is obviously the nearest thing there is to painless language learning. They are smart people and they take this opportunity to learn Spanish - They realize that the more languages that they know, the better are their chances of surviving in this world. I have spoken with many Italian Australians (I also have friends who are Italian Australians) in Spanish and have not come across one of these people who did not demonstrate a good knowledge of Spanish. There may always be a first time.
Based on the information presented above, and particularly if this sort of phenomenon is repeated in other places around the world, one would have to say that it is probable that the figures given for the number of Spanish speakers in the world are underestimates
The number of people in the States who are "functional" in Spanish is also fairly high. I've run into many, many people who may have little love of the language or culture, but need it to function in schools, hospitals, law firms, social work, business, etc. And as the most studied language in the States, you do get a good number of people who learn it well because they like the language or culture(s).
CATERVA DE FANTOCHES should be "Group of Puppets", but I'm not sure, I know Italian, not Spanish;)
Pero te digo que no es así, y créeme yo sé perfectamente lo que me digo , pero lo que más me preocupa en este momento son las lágrimas que se me saltan en los ojos. La tristeza que me envuelve me obliga a volar hacia otra parta más alegre así como así! ¿Pero volar? ¿Cómo volar? Que los hombres no somos capaces de tal grandeza. No puede volar el Hombre. Solo sabe caer, y caer hacia el fondo de un pozo profundísimo , algunos dirían sin fondo, pero yo digo que sí hay fondo, porque al fondo estoy por llegar ya!
<<The number of people in the States who are \"functional\" in Spanish is also fairly high. I\'ve run into many, many people who may have little love of the language or culture, but need it to function in schools, hospitals, law firms, social work, business, etc. And as the most studied language in the States, you do get a good number of people who learn it well because they like the language or culture(s).>>
This really made me laugh....
Spanish is a beautiful language. Even here in Europe more and more people learn it.
K.T, es un placer responderte.
<<I haven't guessed and actually I've never been much interested in the French-Spanish wars here>>
Haces bien. Sometimes I try to do the same but others I can’t bear rudeness. Comments like:
“if you want to be poor learn Spanish.” Or “Spanish is a poor people language” Or
"other Spanish speakers are so ashamed of the Mexicans that they pretend Mexico doesn't exist" Or
“I always thought Spanish was the language of top-notch bullfighting, Mexican food , and fine hand-rolled cigars.”
(You know , hispanic character: Cuando nos buscan, nos encuentran )
<< On the other hand, "caterva de fantoches" is interesting. What does it REALLY mean to the poster? >>
Caterva means more or less ‘gang’
Fantoche: is a person who is conceited, arrogant because he wants to conceal their own weaknesses. It’s more or less like a fake person.
Basically what I’m trying to convey is that these group of guys are pretentious and their comments don’t deserve respect.
Is the poster a fan of Chilean poetry?
Kind of. Pablo Neruda’s poetry is nice. But there are many others from different countries like Ruben Dario, Juan Ramon Jimenez(I recommend Platero y yo), Bécquer,Antonio Machado , etc .
PD: I’ve written some comments in spanish because I know you know it.
Spanish GDP per capita is bigger than Italian GDP. It's better to study Spanish. Spain is rich and Italy is poor. Also Italians are very machist and racist. Look at those poor gypsy girls who died at the beach and nobody helped them , instead they recorded their death while taking sun. Atrocious! That happened in Naples, so figure out how much racist they must be in Milan, the fascist capital of Europe. Don't learn Italian, it's the language of losers and mamma boys.
Italy is the country with the richest and poorest regions of Europe.
Wow.
So much negative generalizing here. Folks, don't bash each other!
And if you are angry, use facts instead of foul language.
I previously owned a home and several properties in Mexico, and it's true that it's a highly impoverished land.
The people are friendly enough to Anglos like myself, yet I don't understand the culture of parties, parties and more parties, but little education. I can see why the Hispanic world is embarrassed of Mexico, I would be too, if it were my homeland. Now, I'm not bashing, I am stating how I feel about the culture there.
Approximately 90% of the people live in rural communities where a good education is secondary to helping the family survive. Imagine if we lived during the 1800s and farming was what we had going to earn a living. That is my impression of how many or most Mexicans still live except for the obvious advances in machinery, electronics and the like.
"This really made me laugh.... "
Who cares if you laugh? It doesn't change the facts.
"K.T, es un placer responderte.
Basically what I’m trying to convey is that these group of guys are pretentious and their comments don’t deserve respect.
Is the poster a fan of Chilean poetry?
Kind of. Pablo Neruda’s poetry is nice. But there are many others from different countries like Ruben Dario, Juan Ramon Jimenez(I recommend Platero y yo), Bécquer,Antonio Machado , etc .
PD: I’ve written some comments in spanish because I know you know it."
Thank-you for your interesting post. I like Neruda a lot, but I was actually thinking of another Chilean poet who used the same term you used.
I have heard of some of these poets and I will look into the two whose work I don't know. TY. Spanish is well-suited for poetry. I think many languages can be better appreciated if one hears a speaker with a good voice reading great poetry.
Approximately 90% of the people live in rural communities where a good education is secondary to helping the family survive. Imagine if we lived during the 1800s and farming was what we had going to earn a living. That is my impression of how many or most Mexicans still live except for the obvious advances in machinery, electronics and the like.
You obviously didn't live in Mexico to make such a stament and probably have never been there. And by the way you cannot have owned a house and properties in Mexico because foreigns cannot own land or properties in Mexico because it's forbbiden by law.
No wonder why the Anglosphere is ashamed of how ignorants and stupid Americans are.
You are just an Anglo spammer.
<< Yes, in Australia, the French sub-section in the language section of bookshops in Australia is almost always relatively large. However, from the book counts that I sometimes conduct in these bookshops, I usually find the Spanish sub-section to be the largest (On two occassions, I found the Italain sub-section to be the largest) of all languages (foreign).
In almost all cases, the French sub-section is not too far behind the Spanish sub-section and I would not be surprized if there were some bookshops were the French sub-section is larger. Note that my information has been gained from the Eastern parts of Australia. >>
No, the French,Japanese, and Italian language sections are much larger than Spanish because these 3 foreign languages are the most important in Australia. So don't you ever lie!
<< Many people from almost all sections of Australian society either know Spanish reasonably well, are functional (or fluent) in Spanish or are studying Spanish. Many Australians of Italian descent, know Spanish. >>
Many Australians of Italian descent, speak French not Spanish like the singer Tina Arena.
Sure they do because italian and Spanish are almost identical but they don't speak Spanish although they understand it and they use Italian to communicate with hispanophones.
Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!