With the Internet now omnipresent, making it as easy to speak to someone on another continent as if they were your neighbor, coupled with the accessibility of international travel , it is now more beneficial than ever to know more than one language. However, American citizens are primarily monolingual English speakers. In today's globalized society, multilingualism is essential to maintaining pace on the world stage, and the United States should seriously consider taking steps to encourage it. Multilingual individuals enjoy many advantages. According to Michael B. Paradowski of the Institute of Applied Linguistics at the University of Warsaw, “multilinguals can broaden their personal horizons and – being both insiders and outsiders – see their own culture from a new perspective that is not accessible to monoglots, thus allowing comparison. , contrast and understanding of cultural concepts. »(Paradowski). Multilingualism also provides many academic and cognitive benefits, and helps promote intercultural understanding and communication as well as reduce racism, xenophobia, and intolerance (Brown). Polyglots are also likely to learn their native language more quickly and develop better vocabulary in that language over time. These individuals also have many more employment and social opportunities, being able to speak with others that they would not have been able to if they were monolingual (Paradowski). A 2006 Canadian study even reported that multilingualism could delay the onset of dementia. Most people who receive these benefits in the United States are immigrants. America has always been known as a “melting pot” of different cultures, races, and languages; but today, many Americans have decried the medium of paper...an asset to schools and society. "Should the United States Be Multilingual? Ed. Amy Francis. Detroit: Greenhaven Press 2011. In Issue. Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. February 16, 2011. “Introduction to Should the United States Be Multilingual? : Should the United States be multilingual? Ed. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context Web, February 17, 2011. “Growing up trilingual in Montreal: linguistic socialization in bilingual societies”. Buffalo: Multilingual Matters, 2003. Net Library, February 18, 2011. Paradowski, Michael B. “The Benefits of Multilingualism ». 2010.