Necessity

Davidwhitewolf follows a link from Rachel Lucas that shows a map of Europe over a map of the USA.  It's worth a look, if only to get a sense of the scale of America.  A while back I pointed out that most Americans only speak on language, because that's all they'll need in their lives.  Drive a thousand kilometers in Europe, and you're in a different country.  Drive for a thousand kilometers in America, and you might not even leave the state.  It took me two days to drive through Montana.  And that doesn't even include Canada, which is a majority English speaking country.

Is it good to learn another language?  Yes.  But when some Europhile comes up and starts bagging on Americans because we only speak English, just remember that map.  I've driven from one coast of this country to another.  The variety of landscapes, people, cultures and lifestyles are just as great as you'll find in Europe.  If you don't think so, put a bowl of gumbo from New Orleans next to a steak from Texas, next to a cup of Chioppino from Seattle, next to a plate of brats and hard rolls from Sheboygan, WI, so on and so forth.  The cultures that produced those dishes are as different from each other as anything you'll find overseas.  It's just that you're used to them, so you don't think of them as being exotic, or different.  To us, it's just home.

And we speak English at home.