While English may be becoming the lingua franca of international business the importance of foreign language training for expatriates and their families cannot be overemphasized. The fact that English dominates business transactions is largely a by-product of Anglo American economic dominance in the twentieth century, and the unwillingness of British and American people to learn languages other than their own. This ethnocentrism is reflected in surveys of overseas executives. When asked if speaking a foreign language was important to their success, executives from Australia, Canada, the United States said it was unimportant, while executives from Europe, Asia, and South America said it was critical. Broad-based research indicates that foreign language skills are a prerequisite for intercultural adjustment and are related to the ability of the expatriate to form accurate expectations of the new cultural environment. In addition, the lack of foreign language skills can have a negative effect on the strategic and operational ability of the manager in that it can limit access to important business information.