US News
U.S. looking to improve Americans' language skills
By DPA
Jan 6, 2006, 19:00 GMT

Washington - U.S. President George W. Bush announced a new initiative Thursday aimed at improving the ability of Americans to speak foreign languages to strengthen the effort in the war on terrorism.

The programme, called the National Security Language Initiative, focuses on 'critical need' tongues like Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Hindi and Farsi. Bush is seeking 114 million dollars from Congress for fiscal 2007 to fund the effort.

'This initiative is a broad-gauged initiative that deals with the defence of the country, the diplomacy of our country, the intelligence to defend our country and the education of our people,' Bush said.

The initiative targets younger students in public schools and universities by offering financial incentives to seriously take up a language.

In some cases, recipients will have to agree to fill a job in the government once they are finished with their studies to repay the financial aid, said Barry Lowenkron, a U.S. assistant secretary of state.

Americans often lag behind their European counterparts when it comes to learning languages other than English. The war on terrorism has further increased the need for Arabic-speaking Americans.

Lowenkron said the programme is also aimed at improving U.S. economic competitiveness, not just at meeting national security needs.

Only 44 per cent of American students in high school are studying a foreign language, and 70 per cent of them are learning Spanish, Lowenkron said.

The U.S. State Department, citing statistics from the Modern Language Association, said that there are only 15 public schools in the United States that offer Arabic from a young age through high school. Counting private schools, that number remains below 100.

Less than 2 per cent of high school students are studying the five languages cited as a 'critical need', Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Hindi and Farsi, Lowenkron said.

The State Department will also expand exchange programmes, including the Fulbright, to bring foreigners to the United States to teach languages and help alleviate the shortage of professors in the United States capable of doing so, he said.

Bush's announcement came at a summit of about 120 presidents of U.S. universities.