THE United States as a foreign trading nation has experienced a remarkable change during the past decade. Previous to the European War we were interested primarily in the development of domestic business. There is little reason why any business man should sell his products in unknown Brazil or in far distant China, when his next door neighbor will buy them at the price he asks, and stands ready to take them to the extent they are produced. We sell abroad only when, for some specific reason, there is not an adequate domestic market. This situation has been changing gradually for a considerable period of time. Increasingly we have needed foreign markets. The recent war merely hastened a development already in progress. By force of circumstances we became foreign traders within a few months instead of a few decades. This role of the United States as a foreign trading nation carries a significance for our foreign language teachers. Americans have not been internationally minded. Not coming into direct contact with the business problems of the outer world nor with its political entanglements, we have maintained an isolation of thought which has prevented our seeing the problem of the foreigner, to say nothing of understanding his solution of it. In addition to the necessity for understanding international problems, the man who is to succeed in foreign trade must also be able to speak the language in which his customers do business. In these two fields the teacher of foreign languages in the United States finds enlarged opportunities for his work. He must prepare the business man of the future who is to deal with foreign nations, first, to understand these nations and their problems, and second, to talk with foreigners in their native tongue. In discussing the importance of the modern language teacher in this utilitarian side of his profession, namely, his effort to acquaint students with international problems and foreign