If we look at the actual proportion of Americans who choose not to learn another language, we can see how the situation is not as dire as it is assumed to be. 

First, we remove the naturalized American citizens who choose not to learn English.

Then, we remove the Americans who have had some mandatory language lessons in grammar school through high school.

Then, we remove the Americans who have had mandatory language courses for their college degrees.

Then, we remove all soldiers and civilians who have been stationed in or who moved to foreign countries. Add in those who did not confine themselves to their base, their workplace and their home. It is guaranteed that some foreign language skills were needed and were learned.

Then, we remove all who have chosen to learn at least something about a foreign language, including those who have taken courses, bought such programs as “Rosetta Stone”, and who have downloaded language applications to their computers and smart phones.

What is left? People who are perfectly entitled to not learn a foreign language, just as many people living throughout the world have been perfectly entitled to not learn English. Yet, in some regions, efforts are made to learn Spanish or French because of the large Spanish and French speaking populations. In the same regions, natives and long term residents know a lot more of Spanish and French than in other regions.

With sign language included, over 22 languages can easily be identified as having a minimum of 200,000 speakers. Louisiana, Maine and New Mexico are considered informally to be bi-lingual in either French or Spanish.   Hawaii, American Samoa, the Northern Marianas, Puerto Rico and Guam are officially bi-lingual. Native American or Indian reservations are officially Indian speaking or are officially co bi-lingual.

With such a mix of languages that are spoken in one of the largest and most spread out countries in the world, there are several reasons why Americans do not conduct business in foreign languages. First of all, there are too many of them. Second, some foreign languages are as difficult to learn as English can be. With the “Chinese” language, there are actually many dialects. The required formations of the palate and tongue that are learned from childhood cause conditions where a person can cause great offense or make mistakes with the slightest error.

With Italian, there is a change in dialect every few miles in Italy! Even Italy had to come up with a standard form of Italian, once the country became a unified sovereign entity. 

Some foreign languages and people are very unforgiving of the slightest language error, while American English speakers are relatively much more forgiving when non English speakers give it a try. As a result, many Americans fear saying the wrong thing or making fools of themselves.

It takes a long time and it takes full immersion to learn to function fluently in foreign language, once one is chosen from the many different languages. Many American business people do not have the regular and frequent conversational contact that is required to develop skills and fluency, nor do they have the time. 

Otherwise, Americans are just fine with foreign languages. Many Americans are interested in, have personal ties, were required to, are learning, or have learned other languages. In business, however, the rigors of getting a lot of things done as accurately and effectively as possible get in the way of becoming completely fluent enough to prevent embarrassment, giving offense, or making serious errors in a foreign language.