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When asked by our teachers which issue in our society needs to be addressed, many immediately think of poverty, diseases, hunger, and climate change. However, one issue that will affect all of us and our ability to communicate in an ever globalized world is the lack of foreign language education, especially in the elementary schools.


Currently less than 26% of American adults speak another language, in comparison to over 54% of Europeans who are able to hold a conversation in another language. What does this increasing gap of ability to communicate exactly mean?

- According David Gray, former Secretary of Labor, it significantly reduces American competitiveness in global markets, as they cannot fully communicate without an aid. He explains, "To make a sale, you have a great disadvantage if your competitor speaks the language of the customer and you don’t.”

- According to ACTFL (American Council of Teachers for foreign Languages), our national security is further weakened, as there is an ever diminishing number of translators working within the FBI as well as diminishes diplomatic efforts with a lack of cultural awareness.

Despite these real implications, only 25% of elementary schools in the entire US offer foreign language programs. In addition, the only bill that specifically supported foreign languages was eliminated in 2012.

So why is there a continuous lack of attention to foreign languages?

1. Americans don't see the need for foreign languages.

To put it in perspective, a Gallup poll survey was conducted in 2001, asking the question, "How important is it that Americans learn to speak a second language other than English?" 

	Essential	Important	Not too important	Not at all important	No opinion
2001 Mar 26-28	19%	50	18	12	1

 A mere 19% of those surveyed thought that learning another language was significant. In comparison, a similar study was conducted by the European Commission in 2001, and the results revealed nearly 74% of Europeans believed that learning another language was essential. However, what was important to notice was that only 34% attributed their belief to the fact that the other languages are widely spoken, whereas 73% attributed it to increasing job prospects.

2. This leads me to the second reason as to why Americans don't find the need to learn foreign languages, our geography and our history.

Head of the American Council on Teaching of Foreign Languages, Marty Abbott puts it best, "We have never had a compelling reason to interact with the rest of the world. We have been isolated geographically, and haven’t had that urgency [to learn other languages] that Europeans have had.” 

Because English has become a global language, and we ourselves have never had to compete with our surroundings (as our surroundings are bodies of water), we use English as a badge of national expression and identity. As a result, according to Shuhan Wang of the National Foreign Language Center, "it becomes a two-edged sword. People understand us, but we don’t comprehend them. We are losing so much and are not aware of it.”


The world has changed and we can no longer be satisfied with bypassing cultural lessons and foreign language classes simply because we know English. The world is quickly adapting, when will we?

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