# Introduction

Spanish (castellano or español), in its various forms, is the official language in 23 countries, and is spoken in many more. It is the world’s second most spoken first language with millions of learners speaking it as a second or foreign language too.

This week you will learn how to greet people in the Spanish-speaking world, as well as be introduced to some basic Spanish pronunciation.

This OpenLearn course is an adapted extract from the Open University course LXS001 Beginners Spanish 1: ¡Empezamos!.

OpenLearn - Getting started with Spanish 1
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