Bush Says Foreign-Language Study Key to Spreading Democracy
Jan. 5 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush said the U.S. must promote the study of foreign cultures and languages and encourage students from overseas to attend colleges and universities here as part of the strategy against terrorism.
The U.S. government needs diplomats, soldiers and intelligence officers who are fluent in the languages of the Muslim world in order to promote the spread of freedom and fight the battle against terrorists, he said.
Language skills are ``part of the strategic goals to protect this country,'' Bush said today at an international education event at the State Department in Washington that brought together university presidents from around the country.
Bush also told the education leaders that he wants to adjust visa policies to allow more students from overseas to study in the U.S. He said he understood the ``frustration'' of higher education leaders with the visa restrictions imposed by the federal government after the Sept. 11 attacks.
``We want young kids coming from around the world coming to our universities,'' he said.
There were 565,039 students from overseas at U.S. colleges in the 2004-2005 academic year, a drop of 1.3 percent from the year before, according to the Institute of International Education in New York. In 2003-2004 the number declined 2.4 percent from the previous year.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in introducing Bush at the gathering, said the U.S. needs to give as much attention to the study of Arabic culture and language now as it did to Eastern European and Russian culture during the Cold War.
Investment
``This country made a huge intellectual investment in winning the Cold War,'' said Rice, who holds a doctorate in international studies and is a specialist on Russia. The nation hasn't made a similar investment in the current struggle, she said.
Bush is planning to ask Congress for $114 million in fiscal year 2007 to help U.S. grade schools increase the number of students learning ``critical'' foreign languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Hindi and Farsi.
The plan would build upon existing efforts, including a Pentagon-funded program, and create a new National Language Service Corps through which volunteers would promise to work for the federal government in exchange for language training.
Language skills will help U.S. representatives ``convince people of the benefits of a free society,'' Bush said. ``You can't convince people unless you can talk to them.''
To contact the reporter on this story: Holly Rosenkrantz in Washington
at hrosenkrantz@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: January 5, 2006 17:01 EST
The government needs to be careful to not just throw around money. I'm certainly a proponent of foreign language education; my job depends on it; however, I think that the government needs to have some sort of standards for the programs that it funds. I got funded for Arabic, but the courses available to me had very little to do with the practical skills necessary for everyday conversation, let alone intelligence work! It prepared me for beginning a course of study in Arabic literature, but not for just interacting with folks!
2 comments:
El gobierno apesta.
Sí, es verdad. ¿Y cómo quieres cambiarlo?
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