The U.S. is at an Ever-increasing Disadvantage. Vamos Chicos!

"In an increasingly globalized world, the U.S. is at an ever-increasing disadvantage due to the lack of foreign language skills among Americans.."

Kathleen Stein-Smith tells it like it is — why it matters and what we can do about it...

Why It Matters
In an increasingly globalized world, the U.S. is at an ever-increasing disadvantage due to the lack of foreign language skills among Americans.

Other than heritage-language speakers, it is estimated that only between one in eight and one in four Americans have the foreign language skills necessary to hold a conversation in a language other than English. According to the Modern Language Association, enrollment in a course in a language other than English at the postsecondary level stands at 8%, as opposed to 16% in 1960 — the same time frame in which globalization has increased.

Among executives in international business, the typical American executive may speak one foreign language at most, while European and other international executives routinely speak multiple languages at the business-proficient level. On an individual level, a monolingual English-speaking American runs the risk of being passed over for a promotion, or for a new job, in favor of an international applicant with the same professional skills but with the added advantage of knowledge of one or more relevant foreign languages. While exports are widely acknowledged to be an essential element of a sustainable economic recovery, companies struggle to find employees with the needed language skills.

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