The whole language debate - Can Americans really speak other languages than English?

IMPORTANT - PLEASE DO NOT TAKE THIS POST TOO SERIOUSLY! 

There is   one very persistent stereotypical image of Americans here in fair Europe. It is that the general American can only speaks English, has no interest in learning other languages and expects everyone else to speak English as well. And if an American does try to speak another language it always sounds dreadful. 

This is a very common stereotype of Americans here in Europe and frankly, we expect Americans to be 100% monolingual and freak out when confronted with another language. So when they travel abroad and realize that not everything is in English around them and that they actually have to get use to hearing another language, they promptly get terrified.

So when we come across Americans that seem completely comfortable with communicating in other languages than English, find it fun to explore a foreign language and even more, speak a foreign language confidently, without too much accent and have competent knowledge of it. We freak out. Our jaws drop, we stare at them and wonder if it´s true. It completely challenges all our notions and stereotypes of the general American.

And I am guilty of this too. In fact, I believe many, if not most, Europeans are.

To prove my case - I was recently listening to a video clip with various actors speaking foreign languages to brush up on my language knowledge (and entertain myself while I was cleaning) and I suddenly heard perfect French spoken. I checked to see who it was and my jaw promptly dropped when I saw it was Bradley Cooper communicating comfortably in 100% correct French. It was great to listen to and the woman interviewing him was also surprised. This was something I didn´t expect

Another person that has completely surprised was hearing Natalie Portman speaking fluent Hebrew. Hebrew is wonderful language but is uses a lot of sounds that are unusual. As a language, it sound completely unlike other languages. So to hear an English speaker comfortable using it (she is in fact bilingual) was pretty neat.

I enjoy having thia stereotype challenged and am always happy to discover the fact that yes, Americans an really speak another languages :) Not just a word here and there either fluently or on a very high level. I am a very big believer in the importance of maintaining linguistical variety and that peope should be not only invested in earning other languages but also having a strong connection their own native one. Knowing, even if only a little, of another language is a gift in itself. And it´s a gift that matters.

So yes, I will keep on secretly giggling when I hear American actors trying to pronounce European languages but I´ll also continue being surprised when it turns out to be more than that.

And for the record, it´s not like my own pronunciation of English is 100%. The other day I had to practise the word "comfortably" over and over again :)