Gold Coast Spanish School Opens

Those who own or rent real estate in Surfers Paradise need not go further than the Southport Community Centre to expand their skill sets, improve their memory and help stave off dementia.

Local couple Matt Wood and Laura Coma set up SOL Spanish School in Southport to teach both adults and children the foreign language.

Those who learn another language report better memory, improved ability to multitask and better decision making than those who only know one language.

Other benefits include a reduced risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. The average age that signs of dementia are visible in adults that speak only one language is 71.4 and those who speak another language can expect to wait a few more years, on average until they're 75.5, according to the Telegraph.

The school currently offers only adult classes, but teacher Laura Coma, originally from Argentina, said the new school will be specifically targeted toward children.

"At present about 400 million people speak Spanish as a first language and the number is forecast to grow to 530 million by 2050," Ms Coma told goldcoast.com.au.

Latin American countries are experiencing huge economic growth and the Pacific Alliance Group – made up of Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Peru – forms the eighth biggest economy in the world.

The Honourable Kelvin Thompson, Parliamentary Secretary for Trade, spoke in a seminar on the Pacific Alliance in June and said that Australia is engaging more with Latin America and could be a great "connecting rod" between Latin America and Asia.

He said that there are over 250 Australian companies working in Latin America and 32,000 Latin American students are enrolled at Australian universities.

Those looking into a Southport or Surfers Paradise property may enjoy the opportunity to enrich their children's learning, and may even want to sign up for a course themselves.