If you speak only English, how do you expect to function in a world that is becoming increasingly small? Not in physical size, but in terms of communications and awareness of the quality of life experienced by all our brothers and sisters who share this planet with us.
Now that I have time to cruise around the internet and discover new web sites I have been discovering more and more wonderful sites created or maintained by people in other countries. This is not an issue when the other country uses English, although there are many different uses for words in England and Australia that we recognize.
For sites in countries where English is not the common language, I have discovered how helpful an online translation service can be.
Want to read up on current events from a French perspective? You will be surprised at how the French view situations very differently from an American perspective. You can read a French newspaper or other online media using service de traduction.
Want to learn more about what is going on in Germany? Use Übersetzungsdienst to read a daily German newspaper. Not the big ones in the major cities like Berlin. Find a small one in the little communities scattered around the region.
This is how you get a slice of life from people around the world. It is eye opening and humbling to learn that others live such a different life from what we know here in America and take for granted every day.