Cervantes Institute celebrates worldwide Spanish language day

Madrid, Jul 2 (EFE). —  The Cervantes Institute will celebrate, today Saturday, the Spanish Language Day, or “EDay”, in all its 22 centers across 17 countries worldwide. The event acknowledges the powerful presence of the world’s second most spoken language_ with 472 million speakers_ after Chinese Mandarin.

Now in its 8th edition, it will include activities for all ages in its centers located in Beirut, Belo Horizonte, Bremen, Brussels, Bucharest, Budapest, Bordeaux, Chicago, Krakow, Manchester, Marrakech, Milan, Moscow, Naples, Beijing, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, São Paulo, Seoul, Tel Aviv, Tokyo and Warsaw.

In 2016, the number of Spanish speakers increased by two million to a total of 472 million native speakers worldwide. This figure is as high as 567 million (up from 559 M in 2015) if we include those with a basic knowledge of the language and its current students (21 M.)

According to a press note released by the Cervantes Institute, Spanish is the second language in global communications, second only to English.

It is also the second most used language on Facebook and Twitter and ranks as the third most popular language on the Internet in general.

During Saturday’s opendoor events, special attention will be paid to both children and youth with storytelling sessions, tango and sevillanas (traditional dancing) workshops, raffles, concerts, exhibitions, games, activities and entertaining book readings.

The visitors will be able to measure their Spanish language knowledge level by taking free tests and brief language clinics.

Furthermore, the students that enroll in Spanish classes for the October and November courses for the DELE diploma or with the AVE Global program before July 5, 2016, could receive discounts ranging from 10 to 30 percent.

In brief, EDay hopes to offer a suitable dayout, with a Spanish air, for all the family.