, Columnist
Better Get Used to Living in a Bilingual America
Uruguayan President Jose Mujica, during his first visit to the Oval Office, told President Barack Obama that American should learn Spanish.
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Americans should learn Spanish. That's the advice Uruguayan President Jose Mujica gave U.S. President Barack Obama this week during his first visit to the Oval Office. As Mujica put it: "You will have to become a bilingual country yes, or yes."
It's probably more than a little self-serving for Mujica -- a native Spanish speaker who can't speak English -- to say this. But it also has the virtue of being true. It is no secret that most Americans can speak only English. In an age of increasing globalization, such monolingualism can be a patent disadvantage.