I speak Dutch and English fluently, I can have a conversation in French and German and I can read Italian, Spanish and the Nordic languages.
Being able to make myself understood in a large part of the world is a comforting thought, but does not much for my self-esteem. I would think that it should be the default to be taught foreign languages at school. If you are in a non-English (and possibly Spanish) speaking country and you refuse to learn other langugages, then I would consider you to be a bigoted idiot. I am not talking learning disabilities here, I am talking explicit unwillingness.
I speak Dutch and English fluently, I can have a conversation in French and German and I can read Italian, Spanish and the Nordic languages.
Being able to make myself understood in a large part of the world is a comforting thought, but does not much for my self-esteem. I would think that it should be the default to be taught foreign languages at school. If you are in a non-English (and possibly Spanish) speaking country and you refuse to learn other langugages, then I would consider you to be a bigoted idiot. I am not talking learning disabilities here, I am talking explicit unwillingness.