Modernizing Spanish language

Spanish language is a member of the Romance group of the Italic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages. Official language of Spain and 19 Latin American nations, Spanish is spoken as a first language by about 330 million persons and as a second language by perhaps another 50 million. Spanish is the second most natively spoken language in the world, after Mandarin Chinese, and is one of the six official languages of the United Nations.

The Spanish language is regulated by the Association of Spanish Language Academies which comprises the academies of 22 countries: Spain, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, El Salvador, Venezuela, Chile, Peru, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Philippines, Panama, Cuba, Paraguay, Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Argentina, Uruguay, Honduras, Puerto Rico, and the United States. On November 28, 2010, a “New orthographic guide for Spanish language” is going to be ratified by the language’s 22 international academies when they meet in Guadalajara, Mexico. Spanish speakers will now have to get used to new spelling rules, including for example writing Irak instead of Iraq, under proposals to modernize the Spanish language. For Salvador Gutierrez, a Spanish academic who helped coordinate the work, “The aim is to have coherent spelling and avoid linguistic dispersion.”

Dear Spanish speaking Freelang users, what is your opinion on this reform?

Delphine, for Freelang

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