Americans would be wise to parlez-vous another language

Perhaps you remember the dust-up several weeks ago when Barack Obama, speaking at a town hall meeting in suburban Atlanta, suggested that parents should urge their children to learn foreign languages. Xenophobic commentators and GOP activists immediately took to the stump to denounce Obama for elitism, insufficient nationalism and a tendency to coddle foreigners. Certainly not the anxious affluent, who push their children into the most selective kindergarten programs, the most exclusive elementary schools and the most demanding high schools -- with college-prep academic camps stuffed in between, so they'll be chosen for the most competitive colleges. Those students will spend at least one college semester, perhaps more, studying abroad, where they will practice their French, Italian, Spanish, Russian or, increasingly, Mandarin. They'll be in demand for the prestigious law firms, the Wall Street jobs, the tenure-track teaching posts. Those stuck with 'English-only' skills will find themselves less valuable in a global marketplace.