The Technician Online – Daniel Root
“One who speaks three languages is called “trilingual.” One who speaks two languages is called “bilingual.” One who speaks only one language is American. According to a Forbes Magazine article, less than 20 percent of natural-born U.S. citizens can speak a foreign language. To put this statistic in perspective, more than 50 percent of Europeans know a second language. It seems fairly clear why Americans are less likely to learn a second language. The United States — being a largely isolated nation due to its domination of its continent and the geographic separation of other major powers — simply has far less exposure to other languages than Europeans have. It is common for Americans to encounter Spanish speakers, or even the odd French speaker in certain regions of the country, but the overwhelming majority of Americans are fluent in English. Additionally, nearly all official discourse is done in English. Europeans, on the other hand, have far less isolation.”(more)