美国外语教育史始于十八世纪初的殖民时期,当时学习的外语为古典的拉丁语。独立后,外语的学习从古典逐渐转向了现代。从美国的外语教育历史发展来看,外语一直是中学的基础课程。然而,由于极为复杂的原因,美国朝野上下对其重视的程度不一,致使美国公民的外语水平一直差强人意。随着全球经济一体化、国际化,国际间的直接交往和平等对话日益频繁,外语的作用也越来越被美国社会各界所认识。美国著名未来学家奈斯比在其《大趋势》一书中展望美国未来之人才时所指出:“要想真正地获得成功,你必须要懂三种语言:流利的英语、 The history of foreign language education in the United States dates from the colonial period of the early eighteenth century when the foreign languages ​​studied were classical Latin. After independence, foreign language learning gradually shifted from the classical to the modern. From the perspective of the historical development of foreign language education in the United States, foreign languages ​​have always been the basic courses for secondary schools. However, due to the extremely complicated reasons, the levels of attention paid by the United States to the ruling and opposition parties have varied so much that the foreign language proficiency of U.S. citizens has always been unsatisfactory. With the global economic integration and internationalization, more and more frequent international contacts and dialogue on an equal footing have made the role of foreign languages ​​increasingly recognized by all walks of life in the United States. As Nashby, a famous American futurist, pointed out in his book The Megatrends in Looking Ahead at the Future of America’s Talents: "To be truly successful, you have to understand three languages: fluent English,