Cultural-Language

Project
by Elton Swazo
Language Introduction
The language that I will be studying is Spanish. I will be
studying spanish because it is very important to me and
my culture and it would mean alot to carry out a full
conversation with someone. I plan to learn spanish by
certain sections piece by piece.
Background
Spanish is the 4th most spoken language in the world.The
spanish language originated from the Iberian peninsula of
Eastern Europe.Toward the end of the sixth century before
the common era (BCE), a nomadic tribe from central
Europe known as the Celts moved into the area, and mixed
with the peninsula's inhabitants, the Iberians. The result
was a new people called the Celtiberians, and they spoke a
form of the Celtic language also known as spanish.

Evolution
Spanish spread throughout Europe like a wildfire. As we have seen before, when the Romans took over
the peninsula they brought with them their language and imposed it on the people. From that time on,
Latin was the dominant language on the region, and it is from Latin that Spanish evolved.The main
way that spanish was spread to North America and South Americas was Christopher Columbus. In the
century that followed many Spanish conquistadors would arrive to explore, exploit and conquer the
lands and native peoples. Much wealth was collected and returned back to Spain from what they
found. Much more importantly however from the standpoint of this topic is that they brought the
Spanish language with them wherever they went. Many missionaries also travelled to the new world
speaking Latin which was then the official language of the Catholic Church. Spanish has been passed to
many different cultures which is why there are many different variations.The language evolved a lot
from a small peninsula.
Cultural Relativity
The official Spanish speaking countries are: Spain, Colombia, Per, Venezuela,
Ecuador, Guatemala, Cuba, Bolivia, Honduras, Mxico, Paraguay, El Salvador,
Costa Rica, Panam, Equatorial Guinea and Puerto Rico. There are many
others but this refers to to countries that have spanish as their main language.
All the different cultures that speak spanish are connected because they all
speak spanish, they may have different variations but it is all the same. That is
also a setback because other countries seem to be confused when they hear
spanish in Spain compared to Mexico which can cause a lot of confusion.
Global Impact
As I have stated previously spanish is the 4th most spoken
language in the world which is monstrous. The role of
spanish across today is to basically link cultures together
and to unite as one, Spanish can help other spanish
speaking countries spread their rituals or customs which
can only mean good things for the Hispanic culture as a
whole.
Personal Reflection
Other things that I want to learn about spanish is the slang, I know that
sounds weird but every language has their slang and I think it would help alot
in the process to understand the variations of different phrases.I can use my
language development in many ways, one for example is I can translate for
someone whenever there is miscommunication and I can also teach other non
native spanish speakers how I learned spanish and give them tips.
APA Citation
1. The History of the Spanish Language_. (n.d.). Retrieved October 15, 2014.
2. History of the Spanish Language. (n.d.). Retrieved October 14, 2014.
3. 21 Spanish speaking countries & their capitals. (n.d.). Retrieved October 14, 2014.
4. Spanish in Europe. (n.d.). Retrieved October 14, 2014.