1.
Spanish language; Spanish
The Romance language originating in Spain, spoken as a native language in Spain, most of Latin America, and several other countries.
スペイン語を勉強している。
I'm studying Spanish.
スペイン語は世界で二番目に母語話者が多い言語だ。
Spanish is the language with the second-largest number of native speakers in the world.
大学で第二外国語としてスペイン語を選んだのは、将来南米で働きたいと思ったからだ。
I chose Spanish as my second foreign language at university because I wanted to work in South America in the future.
Formed from スペイン (Spain) + 語 (language). Spanish is one of the more popular foreign languages studied in Japan, especially at the university level as a 第二外国語 (second foreign language). Japanese has borrowed some words from Spanish, particularly through early contact with Portuguese and Spanish missionaries in the 16th century.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- スペイン語を話す: to speak Spanish
- スペイン語の授業: Spanish class
- スペイン語圏: Spanish-speaking world
- スペイン語検定: Spanish language proficiency test
SIMILAR WORDS:
- ポルトガル語: Portuguese — closely related Romance language
- フランス語: French — another popular second foreign language choice in Japanese universities
- 英語: English — the primary foreign language studied in Japan