I get the stereotype, and yes its accurate to a degree. But please hear me out. My comment is not going to be very grammatically setup correctly not because i dont know how to, but because frankly its not necessary atm. For a job email i am perfectly capable of precise grammar and formatting.

In my opinion it is far overblown, and the nuance of it is misunderstood. In many cities we speak multiple languages. Or english fluently (weird joke of yours btw) plus a splattering of tons of other languages, because its difficult to find one second language to focus on. (Spanish usually being the first choice tho).

So many ‘dumbfuck’ ‘english only’ American workers learn spanish through osmosis, or a bit of french or italian or chinese or german or etc or all at once depending where/what they work.

I get where the stereotype comes from,

There is factually little to no imperative to learn a second language outside of english if you are in the states. If theres no imperative, theres no drive. BUT WHEN THERE IS… AMERICANS STEP UP TO IT. even the most racist backwards white guys, i see em’ learn Spanish to talk with latino workers. Or hindu, or chinese, (even tho its wildly difficult!) even seen german.

Many Americans are fascinated with learning a second language outside English but its not as easy when you cant immerse yourself in it the same way as a location with nearby language diversity like europe or elsewhere. Cross a border and you drive through 3 different languages.

When Americans get the chance, they get excited to. When Americans practice overseas, everyone just swaps to english out of ether annoyance, ease, or excitement to practice their english. (Witnessed all of this, some exceptions).

Don’t count us out just yet. Im on a trip to europe right now and my friends are figuring out which second language they each want to learn first. Me, im nearly fluent in italian, then going to Spanish. One friend is going to Spanish because of how useful it is at home, plus traveling in europe too. And then that helps with learning Italian. Another already started german because they travel and work into berlin a lot and dont want to expect everyone to have to conform to english for them. The last one is looking at catalan because a) its beautiful. B) they love Barcelona and surrounding area c) taking catalan language classes can help you get residency in Barcelona.

Each of these friends are making an effort to learn the local language out of ease and respect. But because there is actually a reason to, and a way to practice when they travel.

Also the ‘theyre not even fluent in english’ bro, thats a classic xenophobic bull type comment. We each speak our local style, and those who learn a second language famously learn it more strictly an formally than native speakers regardless of the language chosen.