Posted by
Georik1 on Tuesday, July 29, 2008 8:08:50 AM
Despite my abject empathy for Obama’s embarrassment at the United States’ lack of foreign language prowess, I’m afraid I do not share his emotion. Similarly, I do not feel compelled to learn Spanish because some rookie politician says I must.
I do not aspire to be French, German, Spanish or any other European designation and I will not live my life with the sole pursuit of pleasing foreign nations. Nor will I ever be embarrassed of my country because some elitist seeking cocktail credibility blushes at the thought of being disliked by Cannes Film Festival regulars. I am an American. I speak English.
Although I can speak a great deal of Spanish, I learned it because I wanted to not because I needed to. Soon we will have to learn just to be able to shop at a retail outlet or understand local landscaping and house cleaning services. At the present rate, we will have no choice and Spanish will become the dominant language in the USA.
Instead of being embarrassed, I am proud that the entire world has learned English in order to engage in commerce with the leader of the free world.