Nate and Joanna Michael

I caught wind of a comment that President Obama has taken flack for recently. Apparently he said something to the CEO of Boeing that America has been ‘lazy’ concerning promoting itself around the world. Afterwards, many conservative news outlets had latched onto the ‘lazy’ comment and, in my opinion, blew it out of proportion and misconstrued it. Now, I am not writing this post to argue politics, but rather America’s place in the world.

While I was in Europe doing language study, there was a student from Colombia studying French to become a French cook, an Italian girl who worked with importing French wines to Italy and a Chinese student who’s father works in Francophone Africa and, from what I understand, is wanting to go the path of international business himself. I mention all of this to highlight the motivation of others from a vast number of countries to prepare themselves for work in the international community.

So how does this all tie together with President Obama’s comments. Well, America has many advantages over other countries. I have seen enough of the world to knowledgeably declare that America has a surprisingly un-corrupt police force, a government who, if nothing else, holds elections on time and roads that don’t require 4-wheel drive in most places. That being said, I believe America has one large disadvantage: We are not forced to be multi-lingual. (At least the vast majority of Americans, I realize there are exceptions.) We have found a way to bring in people from many cultures and languages to our nation and yet still remain primarily mono-lingual.

Here is where I come full circle. This is playing out on the international stage. As globalization marches forward, there is going to be an increasing need for Americans to know other languages and cultures, something we have not done very well at. Let me simply point out some areas where this will play out and what languages may be most valuable:

International business: French (not just for France, but also Africa where large quantities of raw materials exist), Chinese, and Spanish

Government Intelligence: Spanish, Arabic, Chinese

Religious Studies: Hebrew, Arabic, German (where you can find many theological writings), many ancient languages (Greek, Aramaic, Latin, etc) and any number of eastern languages depending on what you are studying

Medicine: Spanish (if working in the States you will have a big chance of Spanish-speaking patients), and practically any other language if you want to serve internationally

Besides these areas, you can get a leg up in pretty much any arena by speaking another language. I know a guy who works with French, Spanish and English by helping translate documents for United Nations delegates (he is attending grad school in Geneva, Switzerland). The great news is that Americans are already ahead of many others simply by speaking English. This is not to be ethnocentric, but rather to state the obvious: Much of the world is learning and speaking English. Now we just need to add other languages to our repertoire.

I realize that times are tough and jobs might be difficult to come by, but for high-schoolers thinking about the future, learning a language may well be one of the most valuable skills you can acquire in the next few years to prepare yourself for the future reality of interconnectedness.

Disclaimer: I am not an expert in any of the areas mentioned above. The language recommendations I made are not to be taken as gospel, but rather as a case in point that being multi-lingual is versatile, valuable and a worthwhile pursuit. Also, it is good to learn an instrument. It will help with your listening and Chinese (and many minority languages) is tonal.