<em>Nelson Mandela said, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” </em>With the rise of China, India and other Asian countries, what languages do we teach in school? Bengali?Punjabi? Nope. Think this is a bit of an issue for our economic and political future? Ayup!

So does Amelia Friedman.  That's why she founded and runs the <a href="http://www.studentlanguageexchange.org/" target="_blank">Student Language Exchange</a>. As she starts her senior year at <a href="http://brown.edu/" target="_blank">Brown</a>, her sense of urgency is increasing....as should ours! This has profound implications for our innovation and economic success and national security. Read <a href="http://mills-scofield.com/blog/2013/8/27/the-economic-and-social-impact-of-language.html" target="_blank">more</a>.