I do agree that we all should try and learn Arabic better but Is there a requirement to learn Arabic first in order to understand the Quranic message ? The answer is an obvious no, Quran is Quran, the only reason for it being in Arabic is because the Prophet Pbuh happened to be an Arab. To say God chose Arabic because of this or that special characteristic of the language is laughable for one simple reason, God would have made the Quran equably beautiful and awe inspiring in Esperanto if He wanted to.
People we are talking about God, he was not and is not constrained by anything let alone a small matter of a language. Does that mean we shouldn't even bother to learn Arabic, again there is nothing preventing one from doing so, will it help in the better understanding of the Quran, probably not. Is there any other benefit in using Arabic as the language of praying for instance ? Here is the thing, you are praying to God, why would it make any difference to God which language you are praying in ? Does it promote unity among the Muslims ? Muslims of today could not be more divided, in spite of following the mistaken notion of praying in Arabic. If anything, the insistence on chanting in Arabic promotes a false sense of contentment that what was required is done. Muslims will be truly united when understanding of the Quranic message becomes the top priority.
Besides, the reason for Quran being in Arabic is very clearly mentioned in the quran.
And if We had sent this as a Quran in a foreign language other than Arabic, they would have said: "Why are not its Verses explained in detail (in our language)? What! (A Book) not in Arabic and (the Messenger) an Arab?" Say: "It is for those who believe, a guide and a healing. And as for those who disbelieve, there is heaviness (deafness) in their ears, and it (the Quran) is blindness for them. They are those who are called from a place far away (so they neither listen nor understand). Quran 41:44
And if you still have doubt
And We sent not a Messenger except with the language of his people, in order that he might make (the Message) clear for them. Then Allah misleads whom He wills and guides whom He wills. And He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise. Quran 14:04
Hence the only reason behind the Quran being in Arabic was for clarity of understanding and that is exactly what every Muslim should do, understand the Quran in their respective language for clarity of understanding.
For those who believe its not translatable I have this to say;
Bukhari Alone types say that a lot, it is their way of saying that only Arabs can truly understand the Quran. Read: since the Arabic of today is not the same as 1400 years back and that was not exactly similar to the Arabic of other regions at the time. What they are really getting to is that it has already been "understood" and the matter is "settled". We (traditionalist who I call Bukhari Alone for their stance that Bukhari was infallible) will tell you what it means. To their dismay the Arabic of the time is perfectly preserved in literature of the time for anybody to research and make sense of and translate for all to see.
The reality is closer to the fact that the only people who claim this myth are those who are incapable of understanding any other language well enough to express themselves properly after they have understood the Quran. It won't make any sense if you understood something perfectly in Arabic, at the same time if you are equally proficient in another language and then you fail to express yourself perfectly in the other language. logical thing to do would be to use more words or include hard to translate words along with translations, it will encourages people both Arabic speakers and others to properly research the original meaning of a word at the time of revelations of the Quran. More importantly it will enable readers to research the use of a particular word elsewhere in the Quran, the resulting cross checking is one of the best ways to understand the use of different words in the Quran.
Have you ever listened to a good interpreter (let alone a good translator) in a conference or UN session, the good ones are able to do a fantastic job in real time. Given enough time to formulate your thoughts, there should be no excuses, besides God would never have chosen Arabic if he knew that the language is not translatable 100%. If the Quran can only be understood 100% in Arabic alone then why is there so much variation in understanding among the Arabs, it's very obvious that the problem is related to ones ability to understand and not the language of understanding.
Then there is that small matter of the earlier revelations, they were not in Arabic and yet God declared its the same message/religion that was given to the earlier messengers.
Thus, the use of the poorly formulated term "interpretation of the meaning" which is also a euphemism for the same idea of non-translatable, has angles. If that is what you want to say then you should say approximate translation of the Arabic text or something to that effect and not "interpretation of the meaning" , which meaning? the Arabic meaning or the English meaning or French meaning, there can only be one meaning as such, expressed in different languages, including Arabic. If the message was perfectly understood by earlier messengers in their own respective languages then this is truly a non-issue.
The only aspect worth mentioning is that a translated text is unable to capture the eloquence of the language of the Quran. Neither does Arabic tafsers.
Edit: If you are interested in the issue of translation and understanding the Quran please go here, a safe Google managed link :)
http://lifecheat.blogspot.com/2010/05/is-it-possible-to-undersand-quran-with.html