For one effort, learning the Spanish language, a veritable cornucopia of rewards awaits, as Spanish is the official language of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. Spanish is not official, but nearly half the population speaks it in Belize, and Spanish is the main language of Puerto Rico.
Oh, and we shouldn't forget Spain! Although Castillian Spanish is spoken there, officially, Castillian Spanish forms the backbone of what is spoken in all those preceding nations. No doubt about it, just Spain alone is worth a sizeable investment in learning Spanish, even if you never get to those other fine vacation spots and second-homes!
Because Spanish is today (2008) the Internet's third most widely-used language (after English and Chinese) and the United States' second-most widely used language, you shouldn't have any difficulties finding a tutor and some language-practice amigos for learning Spanish language. Remember, in the United States, California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas were once thought to be part of Mexico, until they became part of the United States. In fact, that fracas at the Alamo was about stopping a strong Mexican army on its way to take New Orleans, and thereby the 15 states whose tributary rivers empty into the Mississippi and issue out past New Orleans.
Being a Romance language, Spanish has roots in old Roman (Latin) as do Portuguese, Romanian, Italian and French, among the major languages of Europe. Learning Spanish is a strong springboard to being able to quickly pick up any of these other Romance languages. Mighty Brazil, remember, speaks Portuguese, not Spanish, so weigh your options carefully when you think how you're going to go about Spanish language learning.
The same general rules still apply, of course, to learning Spanish language as to any other second language, namely keep it fun, study in regular and frequent sessions, spaced by days of homework and practice but no formal in-class study; carry 20 flash cards (15 with vocabulary, 5 blank for new words) and review them in your 'small time'; play games in Spanish, WITH Spanish; and as soon as possible begin to engage real humans with their real views, opinions, hopes and fears, in your Spanish!
It's when you begin to let Spanish have some real, human faces on it that you benefit the most from your Spanish language learning! Don't wait any longer, take your first steps today to begin learning Spanish!
Buenos dias, Muchachos!