LANGUAGES: Olá, señoras y señoritas. It's hip, happening and well worth your while to speak Spanish. That's the message from a new video aimed at encouraging more post-primary school students to take up the language.

The video reminds us of some of the many Spanish speakers who work in the worlds of literature, music, cinema, sport and art and ends with a salsa class to emphasise the exotic culture of Latin America.

The video also reminds students that Spanish is spoken in more than 20 countries, and that it can provide career opportunities both at home and abroad in areas such as sales, tourism, marketing, journalism and education.

Released by the Post-Primary Languages Initiative, which is a five-year scheme set up by the Department of Education and Science, the video features contributions from Paddy Woodworth of The Irish Times and RTÉ sports broadcaster Con Murphy. Nicola Horgan, IBEC's European programme co-ordinator; and Lorna Wilson, language-teacher trainer at University College Dublin are also featured.

The video is being sent out to all of the second-level schools in Ireland, that currently offer Spanish, and it is available on request to any other schools that may be interested.

For more information contact the Post-Primary Languages Initiative at the Marino Institute of Education, Griffith Avenue, Dublin 9. Telephone: (01) 805 7794; Fax (01) 853 5114; E-mail: Brídín Gilroy, the PPLI national co-ordinator, at bgilory@mie.ie