When traveling around Asia it becomes clear that English is the language of choice among tourists from all over the world, and in business dealings. But does that mean that Americans are off the hook? In his 2010 Edutopia article, How Global Language Learning Gives Students the Edge, Dan Fost explains how learning foreign languages boosts brain development, bridges cultural connections, and gives us an economic edge, pointing to the multiple benefits of language learning. It also has an interesting fact. The U.S. State Department's National Security Language Initiative encourages the study of seven languages that are rarely taught in the U.S.: Chinese, Hindi, Arabic, Russian, Korean, Farsi, and Turkish. This article is worth a read and includes some great language learning resources to boot.