What we have been aware of is that people from Italy speak Italian and people from Russia speak Russian. But have you ever wondered the reason why people speak Spanish in so many South American countries? Do you know why the brilliant footballers of Brazil speak Portuguese?
And why is French the first language of some people in Canada? The answer is that all these countries belonged to European empires at one time. The next question is: How did these empires begin? To answer that question we have to probably go back to the 15'h and 16 centuries, the golden age of European explorers.
Although this period is known as the golden age of European explorers, it was not the beginning of European exploration. As you probably know, Marco Polo travelled a long way to China at the end of the 13" century and some people say that the Vikings discovered America
long before Columbus set sail in 1492. However, it is during this “golden" period that some famous voyages took place. Columbus' voyage to America is the best known voyage of exploration, but Ferdinand Magellan sailed round the world in this period, and Spanish explorers such as Central and Pizarro reached South America. Cortez defeated the Aztecs in what we now know as Mesico and Pizarro defeated the Incas in what we now know as Peru. The roots of the Spanish empire were established and that is why he Spanish language is so widely spoken in Central and South America today.
