I agree with this completely. It is unreasonable to expect people to accomodate individuals who cannot be bothered to learn the language of the country they are living in.
I should have phrased that a little differently. They should be required to learn to speak English fluently. Unfortunately, many that I went to school with STILL were not fluent in English. Some of them I had known since elementary school.
You can't expect everyone to have language skills. When I was taking Spanish, I heard some truly atrocious attempts at speaking Spanish from other students. Some people just aren't very good at learning other languages, try as they might.
From a non American point of view I feel it should be mandatory not just in america but everywhere. I was first taught my first language (french) along with others when I was in year 3 (7-8 years old). I then kept learning it up to year 9 when I swapped it for German. I could still of taken and continued French but I didn't. Now perhaps the reason I have this opinion is because I live in the uk so I will more than likely visit a non english country than an American would. Or I could say this because Germany's quite an economic powerhouse and in the future I might work for a company who bought or set up a company in the uk. Though finally I think it should be taught in America seeing as there seems to be a growing rise of immigrants overseas and the least you can do is be able to speak to them in their own language.
