The article Does it matter if we only speak English? by Martin Jacques focuses on the question why people from Britain should learn other languages, even though their mother tongue is the lingua franca. The article Why bother learning foreign languages by Richard Holtis is about the advantages that learning another language than your mother tongue has. Both articles were published in The Guardian in 2006. 
Jacques starts his article with a connection to the idea of globalisation. He states that when it comes to learning a second language Britain is not that global at all. According to Jacques (2006), 'it is not good enough to expect everyone else to speak English: at root it remains a deeply arrogant attitude'. He supports his statement with the growing number of British who live abroad and fail integrating into the new culture because they do not learn the language. His article consists of two main parts. First, he lists up three arguments why it is necessary to learn more languages than only English. Then he gives three advices on how to open your mind to other languages. 
Holt writes his article as a reaction to the fact that the number of British children who want to learn a foreign language has dropped dramatically. He analyses the developments of language education over the last years and criticizes the teachers' leaders who on the one hand support the students in not learning other languages but on the other hand wonder why students do not choose to study languages anymore. As a personal experience he explains: 'I have found that the experience of learning another tongue greatly deepens your understanding of your own language' (Holt, 2006). 
In the beginning of their articles, both Jacques and Holt refer to the global advantages which English native speakers have. Both of them acknowledge that there are actually twice as many Mandarin speakers as English speakers in the world. While Jacques is more describing the arguments why to learn and advices on how to learn a foreign language in general, Holt is focusing on the importance of learning languages as an educational aspect. Both writers come to the conclusion that speaking more than only one language has several advantages. 


References: 
- Martin Jacques: Does it matter if we only speak English? The Guardian. 15 December 2006. 
- Richard Holt: Why bother learning foreign languages? The Guardian. 13 October 2006.