Colombia, the best place to learn Spanish

Teaching Spanish: a Government strategy

Spanish in Colombia, a Government strategy that wants to make Colombia the first destination to learn Spanish, starts on July 31^st.

Spanish teaching in Colombia is headed by the Caro y Cuervo Institute, a 70 year old entity that has received awards such as the Prince of Asturias in 1999 for the Spanish Rules and Construction Dictionary; the Bartolomé de las Casas Award in 2001 and the Elio Antonio de Nebrija Award in 2002.

The project is supported by the Interinstitutional Articulation Board SFL (Spanish as a Foreign Language), formed by the Foreign Affairs, Education and Culture Ministries, Proexport, Fiducoldex, Brand Colombia, Icetex, APC and the Caro y Cuervo Institute.

The academy is also commited to teaching Spanish

To learn the most highly regarded Spanish in the world, Colombia has internationally known universities, five of which are among the 38 best universities according to QS Latin American University Rankings 2013.

According to SICELE (International Certification System for Spanish as a Foreign Language, for its acronym in Spanish), there are 77 institutions, well known for their traditional SFL regular and active courses, 34 of which are in Spain. The other 43 are in Latin America and 20 of them are in Colombia, almost 50%.

Our writters and litterature: a proof of quality

Colombian Spanish quality is seen in the fact that the country has 1.400 public libraries, over 800 museums, a Nobel Prize in Literature —Gabriel García Márquez—, grammar and literary experts and internationally known writers like Cervantes Award and International Neustadt Literature Award winner Álvaro Mutis; Fernando Vallejo and William Ospina, both of whom have received the Rómulo Gallegos Award in 2003 and 2009, respectively; and the Alfaguara Novel Award winners Laura Restrepo and Juan Gabriel Vásquez, among others.

An ideal environment to practice

Plus, one can practice what has been learned in Colombia’s many cultural, festive, joyful and partying scenes like art shows, concerts, book readings, conferences, congresses and symposiums, or by traveling around the country at the pace of more than 700 festivities carried out around the national territory and enjoying oneself in beautiful sunbathed beaches. This way, and with the help of communication strategies by Brand Colombia, foreigners can confirm and tell their friends what Colombians have known for a long time: that when it comes to learning the best Spanish in the world, the answer is Colombia!

Starting on August 1^st 2013, foreigners who want more information about learning Spanish in Colombia can go to www.spanishincolombia.gpv.co or look for it in social media: on Twitter @SpanishinCO and on Facebook SpanishinColombia.

Interesting numbers about Spanish

In 2013 Spanish became the second most important language because of the number of native speakers as well as its international communication reach.
About 18 million people have learned or are learning Spanish as a second language or culture language.
Spanish is the official language in 22 countries around the world, be it constitutionally or in practice.
Latin America concentrates 90% of native Spanish Speakers. The remaining 10% is concentrating in the United States, not in Spain.
If current trends continue, there will be more than 535 million Spanish speakers by 2030, 7.5% of the world’s population. By 2050 the United States will be the first Spanish speaking country.
In 2013 Spanish became the third most widely used language in virtual communications and online information, after English and Chinese.
Spanish speakers make up Facebook’s second largest linguistic group with over 90 million users.
In 2012 alone, 62.293 people, mostly European and North American asked for a DELE (Spanish as a Foreign Language Diploma, for its acronym in Spanish), a certification issued by the Cervantes Institute which proves Spanish proficiency.
About 1.000.000 people started learning Spanish as a second language in Spain and in the Americas. The trend has been increasing since 2009 and it is expected to continue.