Monolingualism:

Scott Martens (Fistful of Euros) criticizes Dan Pipes, arguing that he misrepresents certain French-language writings by Tariq Ramadan. In passing, he also mentions:

Monolingualism has costs. Eugene Volokh, for example, has posted a link to Pipes’ piece but says that he does not know the facts of the case well enough to judge. Ted over at Crooked Timber makes the same claim to uncertainty. But, a cursory look at the French articles cited makes Pipes’ case worse than contestable . . . . Never underestimate the value of knowing a foreign language. . . .

I’m all for knowing foreign languages, and I wish I knew more. But I should point out that failure to know French doesn’t necessarily constitute “monolingualism” . . . .

UPDATE: Reader Luke White writes, “Of course a failure to know French constitutes monolingualism, in exactly the same way a failure to ally with the French does unilateralism.”