Support surged in the aftermath of 9/11, but fell sharply after 2011. Spurred by Cold War tensions and the Soviet Union’s Sputnik launch, Congress passed the National Defense Education Act in 1958 and Fulbright-Hays in 1961, in part to help meet the country’s need for foreign language and global studies expertise. government once recognized the importance of expertise in foreign languages and cultures. The war in Ukraine serves as a wake-up call to Americans to make competence in foreign languages an urgent economic, national security, and educational priority. ![]() But others’ knowledge of English is no substitute for Americans’ knowledge of foreign languages. While over 300 million Chinese students are studying English, only 200,000 or so American students are studying Chinese.Īmericans’ foreign language complacency may stem from the knowledge that English remains the language of international business and diplomacy and is by far the most commonly studied second language around the world. ![]() In Europe, almost two thirds of working age adults report knowing at least one foreign language. Even though roughly 70 million Americans speak a language other than English at home, almost 80 percent speak English only. In a multilingual world, the United States remains a mostly monolingual country.
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