Jay Mathews, a columnist for the Washington Post, suggests in a recent blog that learning a foreign language in school is a waste of time, money, and resources.  He sees the current programs as ineffective and essentially useless.  During a time of budget cuts and economic strain, is learning a foreign language really necessary? Obviously, as a former French teacher I have strong opinions on this subject.  And it may surprise you to know that I do agree, to some extent, that the current programs are, generally speaking, ineffective in teaching foreign language fluency.  However, I would argue the same would be true of a lot of general education courses being taught in high schools across the country.   Let's be honest, how much "fluency" do any high school students have by graduation in any one discipline or subject?  Not much.  Certainly it is true that some students may find an area in which they excel and choose to pursue that area with seriousness and drive, but mainly students recieve an exposure to something new that allows them the opportunity to make informed decisions about their futures.  In a conversation today, I was reminded of the "Great American Handicap" which is our limited ability to speak, learn, and understand another language.  Virtually every other country in the world is multi-lingual.  So as the workforce becomes more and more competitive and the economy more and more global, is it necessary to learn another language?  Absolutely.