My next language was Spanish. Just like
French, it was quite easy to learn. It's quite similar to latin,
which was, in a way, the English of ancient times. In Europe, it's
mostly spoken in Spain. Some people say that it's also spoken in
Andorra (but I think that's because many Spaniards live there).
Spanish is also spoken in North Africa and in the Philippines, and
naturally in South America (also known as Latin America - in Mexico,
Central America, some islands in the Caribbean).
According to some estimates, Spanish - or as people
speaking the language outside Spain like to call it - Castilian
- Castellano, is spoken by about 250 million people. That's in no
way an exact figure, but what you can be sure of is that spanish
is a language that is good to know. It's probably right behind English
as 'the most useful language in the world'. Though some people say
that about French.
Here are some books that you might want to read:
Gabriel Garcia Marquez has written several good books. So
far I haven't managed to read any of them in the original language,
but I will, as soon as I can. Especially One Hundred Years of
Solitude. I have read Love in the Time of Cholera, and
with a few exceptions, it was really interesting. Unfortunately,
that wasn't in Spanish.
In Latin American literature the so called magical
realism is typical. If I've understood it correctly, it means that
the stories are a bit like fantasy or fairy tales. Many people recommend
Isabel Allende's book, The House of Spirits. I haven't read it myself,
not even in other languages, but it's supposed to be good.
Since I've studied Spanish and Italian, I'd like
to learn some Portuguese as well. Portugal is a fairly small
country, but Portuguese is also spoken in Brazil. Also in a couple
countries in Africa, and in Asia - Macao. Portugal was, like Spain,
the Netherlands, England and France good at colonizing and winning
wars. Portuguese is spoken by about 10 million people in Portugal,
and nearly 180 million people in Brazil. That adds up to about 200
million people worldwide.
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