- Only 5.6% of the world's population speaks English as a primary language. That number doubles when people who speak English as a second or third language are counted. This means well over four-fifths of the world's population does not speak English.
- One out of every six production jobs in the United States depends on foreign trade.
- One-half of the top profit-making companies on Fortune Magazine's "500" list are foreign-owned.
- Four out of five new jobs in the United States are created as a result of foreign trade.
- Twenty million foreigners travel annually to the U.S. and spend $8 billion.
- The College Entrance Examination Board reported that students who averaged 4 or more years of foreign language study scored higher on the verbal section of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) than those who had studied 4 or more years in any other subject area.
- Several studies show that people who are competent in more than one language outscore those who are speakers of only one language on tests of verbal and nonverbal intelligence.
- There is research showing that brain density is affected by being bilingual.
- People who are bilingual show a much slower decline in mental powers with age.
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