So I am at a conference with members of several other countries. I was thinking about the thread concerning immigration and one of the things that stood out was "if they come here they should learn English, period". I don't want to debate that but I was thinking that we as Americans seem to expect everyone else to speak English and we can't seem to be bothered to learn other languages. For anyone who has lived in Europe it is not uncommon for individual to be able to speak 3-4 languages and learning languages begins early in school.
Why is it that we place so little importance in learning other languages?
Why is it that we place so little importance in learning other languages?