The language conundrum

Why do we call Latin America “Latin America?” Way back when (1492 to be exact), Columbus made a really important trip. Like really important. While on a famous voyage looking for Asia, he actually discovered continents unknown to Europe! Spain and its neighbor Portugal explored and conquered lands all over North and South America for the next two hundred years!

Okay so the last slide didn’t exactly say why we call it Latin America… I may have tricked you into reading a little.. Muahahaha! As the Spanish and Portuguese conquered natives in these new lands, they also spread their language! Spanish and Portuguese are based on the ancient LATIN language. (Now we’re getting somewhere, right?)

The real reason we call it Latin America All of the shared history, culture, and the dominance of the Portuguese and Spanish languages (Latin Based Languages) have made the term Latin America one that unites Central and South America!

Test yourself! So basically, that means that all of Central and South America speak a Latin based language. English is based on ancient German so would America be included in Latin America? What about Mexico?

Translation Station Use these two links to discover practice popular phrases in Portuguese and Spanish! Click on each phrase to hear its pronunciation! Portuguese Translations Spanish Translations