I read in another Medium article about Americans living in Mexico. Many are not learning Spanish. And yet many Americans will wonder why immigrants to the USA don't know English.

When I was in my early 30s, I went to teach English in Slovakia. I thought I could learn to speak Slovak in six months. But I hung around with too many English teahers and Slovaks who wanted to practice their English. But I did to get to a point where I could ask directions and buy things.

Slovakia has a deal with a few African countries. In exchange for some raw resources, the Slovak government would educate African youth. So some youth were sent to Slovakia. They spent nine months in a Slovak language school before they could engage in a regular classroom.

At times, it was disconcerting to hear black people speaking pretty good Slovak when this Slovak-diaspora person could not.