http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_speakers
Spanish is the no. 3 most widely-spoken language on the planet. Mardarin Chinese the first, Hindi (Urdu) the second. English is fourth. His point was that the majority of Europeans are usually bi- or tri-lingual almost as a staple, and that Americans should be broadening their horizons to learn new languages as well. As an American who grew up overseas, I fully and completely agree. I saw plenty of people make no effort to learn even the basics of the language of their host country and lived there for 2, 3, or more years, expecting the native populace to all just speak English. Why not adapt a bit?
We expect people to speak English in our country why not make an attempt in foreign countries? A little effort goes a long way.
Europe is also a bit smaller, which means the average person has more incentive to learn a foreign language because they have a greater chance of interacting with someone speaking a different language or doing a business transaction that would require knowing a foreign language. The average America working even in a large multinational corporation is not likely to have the same language requirements as a European just due to geography.
http://goeurope.about.com/od/europeanmaps/l/bl-country-size-comparison-map.htm
I do agree that when you visit another country you should at least have a minor knowledge of the language of the country. I was fluent in French and German as a child and took both languages in high school. When I did volunteer work teaching English in Africa I spoke enough Swahili to teach my class basic English and be able to respond to their questions.
However, the point is, Obama comparing the US to Europe is a poor comparison. Because of the geography and diversity of Europe, that populace benefits more from being bi- or tri-lingual, Americans do not gain the same benefits. We have an English/French speaking country along our Northern border, and Spanish to the South. We are not like Germany, which is bordered by 9 different countries all speaking different languages.
If the arguement is being made that Americans should speak a foriegn language for economic reason, we still wouldn't focus on Spanish. Spain, Mexico, and Spanish speaking South America is not exactly an economic power house. We would focus on Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, or Arabic for the economic benefit it would bring our populace.
By the way the link you gave shows that English is the most widely spoken language, with ~1,500,000,000 speakers, over Mandarin's ~1,050,000,000 speakers. English comes in fourth for native speakers.
