As someone who has learned multiple foreign languages, I agree. I think everyone should spend a year or two learning a foreign language, like is done in many s

As someone who has learned multiple foreign languages, I agree. I think everyone should spend a year or two learning a foreign language, like is done in many schools in the US. But beyond that the cost/reward ratio isn't worth it for everyone. If it's not something that you enjoy learning, and you don't expect to be exposed to a specific language, your time might be better spent focusing on other areas. I don't think you get that much exposure to another culture just by learning their language, if you aren't also interacting with that other culture. I'm not saying that you don't learn anything, just that it's a very inefficient way of broadening your perspectives. For most people it takes a lot of effort to get to the point where you can have meaningful conversations in a foreign language. And if you speak English fluently, it can be a battle sometimes getting people to speak their language with you when they want to practice English or don't want to deal with non-native speakers of their language. So even I sometimes I feel like learning the language provided little practical use. If someone has the opportunity to learn a language and then live in that country for a little while, I believe that is a very worthwhile experience. But it's not something that everyone has the opportunity to do.