Spanish (Español), also known as Castilian (Castellano), is a Romance language that belongs to the Ibero-Romance language group. The name Castilian comes from the Spanish region of Casstile; modern Spanish is based on the dialect of that region. Over 400 million people in Spain and Latin America speak Spanish as their native language, and another 200 million speak it as a second language. In terms of native speakers, Spanish is the second language of the world. In terms of the total number of speakers, Spanish is exceeded by English, which is spoken as a second language by a vast number of people. However, due to the population growth of the Spanish-speaking South American countries, Spanish is rapidly gaining ground.

Vulgar Latin

Spanish is derived from so-called ‘vulgar Latin’, but not vulgar in a perverted or dirty sense, but in an everyday/common way. The Romans ruled the Iberian Peninsula for 700 years, which laid a solid foundation for Spanish. Furthermore, the language was formed by Celtiberian (Celtic) and Arabic, among others.

1492

With the year 1492, we immediately think of the discovery of the American continent by Christopher Columbus. But, it was also the year when the first Spanish dictionary was created, which means that common Spanish was born. These two events in 1492 contributed significantly to the status of Spanish as a world language.

Not Spanish, but Castilian

Within the Spanish borders, you can also find Galician, Catalan, Astur-Leonese, Aragonese, Aranese, and Basque. That is why many consider the term ‘Spanish’ for the common language to be politically incorrect, and prefer to call it Castilian.

In-country translators

Spanish is a world language, but that does not mean it is the same everywhere. There are differences in grammar and word usage between the different Spanish-speaking countries. And to make things even more confusing, the same words and concepts can have different meanings in different countries. A ‘bocadillo’ is a sandwich in Spain, but in Colombia, it is more like a sweet snack. That is why we work with in-country translators, translators who live in their country of origin and are native speakers of the relevant language. This means we always work a translator who lives in the country of the target group, so can always count on an optimal translation.

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