Better job prospects and richer lives are among the many reasons to learn a foreign language, an expert on foreign language instruction writes.

Half of the world population is bilingual, but only 25% of Americans can hold a conversation in another language.

Changing that is one of the goals of language advocacy efforts, such as the Lead with Languages campaign. As the author of a book on what I refer to as America’s language deficit, here are what I see as seven of the best reasons for America’s young to speak a language besides English.

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Better job prospects and richer lives are among the many reasons to learn a foreign language, an expert on foreign language instruction writes.

Half of the world population is bilingual, but only 25% of Americans can hold a conversation in another language.

Changing that is one of the goals of language advocacy efforts, such as the Lead with Languages campaign. As the author of a book on what I refer to as America’s language deficit, here are what I see as seven of the best reasons for America’s young to speak a language besides English.

...