Spanish

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The language curriculum at Aitken Creek Primary School has been developed to support students to acquire communication skills in Spanish. Students from Prep to Grade 6, learn words and phrases that will help them communicate in Spanish successfully by using 21st century learning tools that are engaging, enjoyable and cross-curricular. Students learn through action-related talk and play.

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Through Spanish, students at Aitken Creek Primary School will have their literacy repertoires expanded and their capacity to communicate in Spanish improved. Students will also have their minds challenged as they are presented with learning contexts that moves them to be creative and critical in their thinking, whilst developing their intercultural capabilities. 

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Interesting facts you may not have known

1. Spanish is the 2nd most widely spoken language in the world, with English being 3rd and Chinese coming first.

2. The US is on track to being the largest Spanish speaking country in the world by the year 2050.  Currently Mexico has the largest population of Spanish speaking people.  

3. Spanish is the 2nd most studied language.  More than 20 million people are studying it at one time. As the population explodes, and the economies of Latin American countries develop, the Spanish language is set to become more and more important in the world of business

4. It is the 3rd most used language on the Internet after English and Chinese.  It is the second most widely used language on Twitter, and 80 million of the billion Facebook accounts belong to people who speak Spanish.  This is remarkable since it is estimated that less than 40% of the population in Latin America has access to the internet.

5. It is spoken as a first language in 44 countries, ranking 4th most geographically widely spoken language.  English is 1st with 112 countries, French is 2nd with 60 countries, and Arabic is 3rd with 57 countries.

6. In different parts of the world Spanish is called either español or castellano.  In Central America, except in El Salvador, the word español is used.  In South America, all countries except Colombia use the word castellano.

7. Latin is the original root of Spanish, and Arabic had a huge influence on the language.

8. Though it originated on the Iberian Peninsula (Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar), the colonization of the New World led to more people in Latin America speaking Spanish than in the area where it came from.  There are some differences between the Spanish spoken in Spain and that of Latin America, but they are minor and don’t hinder communication between people from different areas.