The Daily Illini – Staff Writer
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, only an abysmal 20% of Americans testify that they can speak more than one language. Similar data from Europe places multilingual rates in Europe at 56%, which is much closer to the estimated rate among all human beings (50%). Clearly, the American population is disproportionately monolingual. On National Foreign Language Week, it’s worth calling attention to the issue: America’s educational institutions critically undervalue language curriculum.