Germany is very multilingual, because we live in the middle of Europe.
You would be amazed at how many Americans don't realize this...
In America you are forced to learn... ... English... that's it... Some people might argue that Spanish is also required, but 1 semester of Spanish where the kids don't give a shit won't teach them anything
I don't think Arabic should be mandatory, but certainly encouraged given the current situation in Germany (and Europe as a whole)
Do the math... 80 million German speaking citizens + 1 million Arabic speaking immigrants = language barrier
You're perfectly right. Americans are one of the worst educated people in the worlds, they basically speak only English. So they can't understand why we're putting so much effort in learning multiple language!
In France French + English are mandatory but you also have to learn wether Spanish or German and you're encouraged to learn another more exotic language like Chinese or Arabic. I find it excellent on all aspects, I don't see how it could be wrong!