Tim May writes:
Given the explosion of languages--Yoruba, Talegu, Tagalog, Russian, Korean, and on and on--the role of French, German, and to some extent Spanish is less clear than ever. (Spanish is admittedly a growing language, but not in technical fields...just a fact.)
Entirely brushing aside the idea that there might be more to the world than technical fields, my observation has been that knowing at least one foreign language would be an enormous professional advantage. At one computer company I worked for, the only person who could speak Italian was in constant demand as an informal translator. Doing research, I have had a number of occasions to regret my lack of proficiency with a foreign language. I regularly come into contact with German and Spanish speaking scientists. (Probably number one on the hit parade is Chinese, but I'm kind of daunted by the idea of taking it on ;-). Granted, English is the technical lingua franca, but the statement that there's no point in learning a foreign language is shortsighted, and I think that will become more true, not less, in the future.
My last word on this language topic will be this: far from being a closed, ignorant, immigrant-hating, shit-eating nation, as some of the usual America bashers have intimated, the decline of language skills reflects a decline in the "ethnocentrism" of the past.
And besides, you only need Spanish for maids, gardeners, and day-laborers, right? -- Will