Do You Know Elvis?

One of my theories as to why the French and other Europeans speak very good English (other than the fact that they're taught it in school) is that they 're constantly surrounded by it. It's hard to spend much time in Paris without encountering American popular culture, especially music and films. Not long after I arrived, I heard some French girls break into an American song in English on the street. I hear the same songs here in the supermarket that I hear on the radio at home.

Most Americans are shielded from other languages by comparison. When was the last time you heard a French song on US radio? How many European films come to the movie theater in Memphis or most American cities? But other languages are everywhere in Paris. Here, everyone knows Elvis, or at least his modern-day counterparts.