Spanish Translation Blog

The Futures of Spanish and English

A few years ago, the findings of a study were released that set off a bit of an uproar in the United States. The study contended that as of July 1st, 2050, the United States will have more Spanish speakers than any other country in the world. More than Mexico, more than Colombia, more than Spain. The results have since been refuted, with some claiming that Spanish-speaking immigrants will have become “Anglicized” and others pointing out the fact that the study was conducted by the Cervantes Institute, a chain of Spanish language schools.

However a different study released by a somewhat more credible source, the EFE news agency, may come to many as even more surprising. By the year 2030, Spanish will have surpassed Hindi and English to become the second most spoken language in the world, trailing only Mandarin Chinese. This report predicts that the number of people in the world whose native language is Spanish will surge from 5.7% to 7.5%.

Will either of these forecasts hold true? Vamos a ver.