Paul Simon Op Ed

[Jules Levin]

At 11:52 AM 10/23/01 -0500, you wrote:
>Dear SEELANGers:
>
>Paul Simon wrote an op ed piece for the Washington Post on foreign
>language education.  To see the essay, go to
>
I couldn't figure out how to answer the op ed piece, but this is what I
would have said:

The reason why there is a shortage of exotic language specialists is not
the lack of learning opportunities, but the absence of jobs after one has
invested several years in acquiring some uncommon language.  I was
supported with Title VI Fellowships for 2 years in the 60's to study
Lithuanian, but fortunately I was lucky enough to find academic employment
as a Slavicist, basically teaching Russian.  Had I, like so many others,
had to take jobs that did not have anything to do with our
government-supported language training, I am sure that my long-forgotten
skills would be useless in a current crisis.  (From the perspective of the
60's, no one knew whether Tadjik or Lithuanian would be more useful in
2001.) Assuming we do train cadres of Tadjik and Pushtu specialists, what
will they be doing to earn a living after this crisis, inevitably, passes?
Jules Levin

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