In the Department of Spanish and Latin American Studies, students learn about the regions of both Spain and Latin America. Spanish is spoken in Spain and in most Latin American countries. Other places where Spanish is widely spoken include the Caribbean islands and North America, bringing the total number of people who consider their native language to be Spanish to about 260 million around the world. In relation, Portuguese is not only spoken in Portugal, but is the national language of Brazil as well, a country that accounts for roughly half of the area of South America, bringing that number to about 180 million.

In recent years there has been an influx in economic investments and manufacturers from Japan to Latin America. For example, Japan has exceeded the United States and is now the top provider of economic assistance to Peru. I predict that in the future, more and more business transactions will require Spanish and Portuguese. The pronunciation of Spanish is based on the alphabet, and is thus very easy for Japanese to acquire. Furthermore, there are government programs that favor language study students. An intensive study abroad would be a great opportunity.