English-Language Learning
In Latin America

<<Creo que el Occidente, y quizá el planeta, será bilingüe; el español y el inglés, que se complementan, serán el habla común de la humanidad>>

<< I believe that the West, and perhaps the planet, will be bilingual: Spanish and English, which complement each other, will be the common tongue of humanity>>

Jorge Luis Borges

The mother tongue of most Latin Americans is either Spanish or Portuguese.  The most important second language is English, for a number of reasons.  Mostly, they are related to the influence of Latin Ameica's English-speaking neighbor to the north, the United States of America.

• In politics, many Latin American countries have had long, often stormy, relationships with the USA.  Many politicians were educated in the US universities, and many military officers were trained there too.
• In trade, the USA is often the largest trading partner of Latin American countries.   It is advantageous for companies to be able to conduct transactions in English.
• In finance, the US banks and funds are prominent investors and financing partners, although Europe and Asia are important too.
• In technology, the USA represents the leading edge.  Descriptions of the latest developments are usually available first in English.  On the Internet, the majority of the content is currently in English (including this web site), although the growth of local Latin American content has been phenomenal in the past couple of years.
• In sports, the USA has popularized sports such as basketball and baseball in Latin America.  The commentary is usually in Spanish/Portuguese, but anglicisms are prevalent.
• In television, the USA is the world's leading exporter of programs.  Many US programs are dubbed before they are shown in Latin America.  Quite often, US programs are sub-titled with the English-language soundtrack kept intact.
• In the music industry, the USA is the world's leading exporter of musical recordings, with the lyrics sung in English.
• In movies, the USA is the world's leading exporter of movies.  These movies are usually sub-titled, but sometimes dubbed, in non-English speaking countries.

The short list shows that Latin American have many reasons and opportunities to learn English.  In the Los Medios y Mercados de Latinoamérica study, we found that 15.6% of Latin Americans between the ages of 12 and 64 describe themselves as being able to understand spoken English 'somewhat' or 'very well', and 14.4% of them describe themselves as being able to understand written English 'somewhat' or 'very well'.  In numerical terms, the number of Latin Americans who say that they either understand or speak English 'somewhat' or 'very well' is 34 million.

For global media companies, these figures have major implications. Typically, the original editorial contents (whether television or print) were in English, and these figures represent a likely cap on the potential audience for untranslated content. To reach a broader audience, the material must be translated, which has its own set of problems (e.g. costs, timeliness, loss of authenicity, etc).

How do these Latin Americans acquire their English-language skills?  The most common way is from schools, which is how 64% (or 21.8 million) of these 34 million people said they learned English.  About two-thirds of these 21.8 million people took English for more than one year in school.

The next most common way is by having lived abroad, which was how 24% (or 8 million) of these 34 million people said they learned English.  About one-third of these 8 million people have lived abroad for more than one year.

After that, in order of decreasing frequency, the methods are

• Learn English at work/school (17% of the 34 million people)
• Learn English by speaking with friends (6% of 34 million people)
• Learn English by reading books (5% of 34 million people)
• Learn English by watching television (5% of 34 million people)
• Learn English by listening to audio tapes (3% of 34 million people)

WWW References

• Las Audiencias de Televisión en Español en América Latina, paper by José Rubén Jara given at El Primer Congreso Internacional de la Lengua Español.
• ¿Está OK decir film por película, o picture es the best?, paper by Delia E. Suardiaz / Brinia Guaycochea given at El Primer Congreso Internacional de la Lengua Español.

(posted by Roland Soong, 10/15/98)

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