WHAT VARIETY OF SPANISH SHOULD WE LEARN?

So, you want to learn Spanish? Excellent idea. It will expand your intellectual horizon and keep your mind on its toes for years to come. But you may have a question: Of all the varieties of Spanish in the world, which one should you learn? Peninsular Spanish? Mexican Spanish? Puerto Rican Spanish? And more. And within them, there are many dialects and variants... A dilemma, indeed. I would advise you to learn "educated Spanish" which is the one that sheds local and dialectal types and is easily understood because it is spoken slowly and emphasizes the sounds of the language, even with different rhythms. Shy away from jargon, and helter-skelter pronunciations. Be precise and slow, and savor the sounds of the language, and how each sound connects with another to form the musicality of Spanish. And congratulations on choosing Spanish, a language spoken and written by over 500 million people.