The computer translations aren't always accurate and I would never rely on those. The U.S. seems to be one of the very few developed countries which focuses almost solely on its own language. When Americans travel, they know that in most places they'll be able to find people who speak English - even in more remote towns. Yet we don't extend the same courtesy to those who visit our country or we don't want to give those who move here any kind of time to learn our complex language. A lot of Americans are very snobby in that regard - we expect the world to cater to us and we seem to have little interest in reciprocating.
Learning an additional language (or more) can only help. And in this economic climate, it can be the key to getting a job as any additional language may make an individual more marketable. In other words, it can't hurt!