>>>>>>>5 languages, that's impressive. And I think pretty unusual for an American.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Indeed...for an American. <s>
>>>>>
>>>>>That was my point. It certainly wasn't stated with pride. My guess is most Americans speak only English with some pidgin Spanish now (waving hand). My understanding is many Belgians speak multiple languages due to the demographic makeup.
>>>>
>>>>Let me put it this way: if i were a US citizen i would make d*mn sure i spoke fluent Spanish...
>>>
>>>And Mandarin.
>>
>>I would be quite surprised if most Chinese Am. even understood Mandarin...
>
>
>True.
>
>But since the Chinese own so much of our debt, it's only a matter of time before they start asking for payments.

Actually they own only a small portion of our debt, about 8%.

This reminds me of the way Japan was regarded circa 1980. There was rampant fear that they were going to eat our lunch and become the world's leading financial superpower. It hasn't quite worked out that way, has it?