Remember, Oso, that in the US two years of a foreign language is required for entrance into most colleges. That doesn't mean that all the students who took a language can speak it fluently!

Not suprising, although among the young and educated the % seems much higher. BTW, I think the pendulum is swinging the other way in the U.S., too, with plenty of jobs in places like Miami requiring Spanish and people in general more aware of the need for languages in a globablized world.

Being a high-powered international businessman (or at least at the beck and call of said high-powered international businessmen), of course, being bilingual has allowed me to travel to Spain and plenty of Latin America on the company's dime, which is no bad thing. Currently working on Portuguese to expand travel horizons.