Should Presidents be Multilingual?
Find a Conversation
Should Presidents be Multilingual?
| Thu, 11-03-2011 - 9:38am |
I thought this was an interesting article: http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/11/01/should_the_president_be_able_to_speak_foreign_languages
Did you know that the only American president whose first language was not English was Martin Van Buren?
Do you think that the people we elect as presidents should be multilingual?
Latest from the board
Memeber Support
Visit our Member Support area or browse the iVillage Help forum
| Q: | Where can I change my password? |
| A: | Log in, go to Edit My Preferences, and click the Account tab. Make and save your changes. |
If you had more than one official language, yes.
I don't think it is a must unless the country in question has more than one official language. To mee it matters more that the president of any given country has a strong knowledge of the various cultures presents in his country to get a good grasp of the population who elected him/her in the first place and not make anybody feel they are less important culturally than the majority, so educations on minority groups in your own country is very important in my opinion, even if you don't speak a minority group language, you need to have a basic idea of where they are comming from and what challenges they are facing in your country.
Powered by CGISpy.com
My Adventures
- JM
Oh yeah a foreign minister or minister of external affairs definitely should speak more than his national language, after all this is a position that means interacting with other countries, so I would say at least English and Spanish should be a must considering they are the most widely spoken languages across the world, knowing the language of an immediate neighbouring country should also be required.
Powered by CGISpy.com
My Adventures