It would be far better to encourage every European schoolchild to learn a second foreign language after English. It could be a big one, like German, for work reasons. (This would help European labour mobility, a big shortcoming in the single market.) It could also be a neighbouring language for cultural reasons, which would help Europeans cross borders and build the kind of intimate relationships that build fellow-feeling and gradually push Europe's old enmities further into the past. It isn't easy or cheap, but already in some multilingual countries (like Luxembourg) three languages are expected for national cohesion. Europe is wealthy enough to devote some of its resources to that charming idea of unity in diversity.