An NYPD officer was reprimanded for speaking Spanish while on duty. Jessenia Guzman gave a one sentence reply in Spanish to her colleague, while in the office. She was later called into her supervisors office and given a ‘memo of reprimand’ for her actions. NYPD officers are prohibited from speaking a foreign language while they are on duty, unless it is very necessary.
Spanish is a Romance language. It is spoken by about 417 million people. Out of this, 328-258 million people speak it as a first language and the rest as a second language or foreign language. Spanish is the 4th most spoken language worldwide after Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and English. Spanish is mainly spoken in Spain. It is also spoken in 22 other countries, including the USA, Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, Cuba, Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Andorra, Bolivia, Equatorial Guinea, Peru, Chile, Uruguay Panama, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Belize and Cayman Islands. Some Spanish speakers can also be found in the Philippines. In Spain, Spanish is referred to as espanol, when it is being used in reference to other foreign languages spoken in the country, while it is referred to as castellano when used in reference to other languages that are spoken within Spain. The term castellano is also widely used in Latin America. The main difference between the Spanish spoken in Spain and the Spanish spoken in Latin America lies in the intonation and pronunciation of words. Otherwise, Spanish speakers from different parts of the world can easily understand each other. The English language has loan words from Spanish. This includes words such as tornado, patio and bonanza.
It has been predicted that by 2050, at least 10 percent of the population all over the world will be speaking Spanish, with the United States having the most Spanish speakers. Spanish is an easy language to learn. This is mainly because words are pronounced as they are written. The demand for Spanish courses has doubled in the last 10 years. It is one of the most popular language courses in America and Europe. Spanish is the official language of various international languages such as the UN and the European Union.
