Thanks to the latest survey of foreign language proficiency conducted by the United Nations, Americans no longer have to feel sheepish about their poor language skills. Although the US ranks 157th in the worldwide foreign language proficiency survey, the results also bring some positive news.
“America was voted far better at faking foreign language accents than any other country,” says I. M. Rone-Ree of the Foreign Language Association and a lobbyist for the No Child Left Behind act. “We are proud that so many Americans can imitate the accents of the Chinese, Japanese, Russians, Mexicans and French, among others.”
Some critics have indicated that the American obsession with faking accents can, maybe, seem a little ignorant to the rest of the world. “But zees ees crazee,” says I. M. Rone-Ree, cracking himself up.