I took Russian in high school during the 1960s. The teacher's salary was paid for by the government because not too many kids took Russian.
If the government wants schools to teach Arabic, the government needs to pay for the teachers because not enough kids will sign up for Arabic to make it cost-effective for the school.
This is just one of the many areas which our government doesn't properly utilise the internet. If you want more people to learn arabic, put free arabic courses online. IIRC, the state department already publishes its own arabic book and audio tapes for its diplomats, but it costs about $200-300.
Reminds me of a riddle from, of all places, Ft. Huachuca (96B Intel Analyst Course 11-78). What do you call someone who speaks two languages? More than two? Only one?
The US gov. won't hire Jews or Palestinians as translators.
That takes a huge chunk of educated people out of their databases.
If you think the white boy down the street is going to study Arabic, forget about it. It's waaaaaay too difficult.
Morse code is MUCH easier than Arabic, and can land an enlistee automatic NCO status.
Yet how many can do it?
Like a previous poster said, if you haven't learned 2 languages by puberty, you're sunk.
Only first and second generation Americans are bilingual. I admit to that category African Americans who speak both standard English and Ebonics.
The rest of America is lost. Clueless.
"The center trains using images. A person can more easily relate some parts of a language to an image, Shaver said"
"It's a fact. We think in images," he added.
Gee, I thought we used words to communicate. Does this mean future translators/interpreters from the center will be able to see the images in terrorists' minds while not understanding overheard conversations? Will images of 72 virgins trigger a code orange?
Pete Shaver is an old bud of mine and knows what he's talking about. The real problem is that the Army has never managed its linguist resources well. I was a Korean linguist for twenty years. I avoided stateside assignments like the plague since most had no use for linguists.
Same with most tactical assignments overseas. Your usefullness was measured by how well you could maintain a twice-and-a-half or type a memo. My training cost the Army more than the Air Force pays for a fighter pilot, yet I spent 60% of my time twiddling my thumbs in totally unrelated duties.
My formula for success? Get a long-haired dictionary. You learn more language horizontal than you ever will while vertical. Get several long-haired dictionaries. I had one who was fluent in German and another who was fluent in Russian; languages I had learned long before the Army decided it needed me to learn Korean.
My final tour in Korea was in 1996, but I can still read, write, and speak the language well enough for any situation.
I have taught myself about 15 to 20 languages. I'm fluent in Spanish (among the best Anglo Spanishi speakers in the Nation), Italian, French & Portuguese. Mid-level Chinese, Russian, Japanese, & German. My Arabic is getting real good. Not quite at the 40 to 50% level yet, but gaining fast.
What opportunities are there for poly-linguals such as myself?