The Army Language Corps: We speak Farsi so you don ’t have to

[Wilson Gray]

I prefer the Classical motto from the old Army Security Agency:

_Loquamini. Audiamus._ "You can talk. We'll listen."

-Wilson

On 6/19/07, Dennis Baron <debaron at uiuc.edu> wrote:
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> Poster:       Dennis Baron <debaron at UIUC.EDU>
> Subject:      =?WINDOWS-1252?Q?The_Army_Language_Corps:_We_speak_Farsi_so_you_?
>               = =?WINDOWS-1252?Q?don=92t_have_to?=
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> There's a new post on the Web of Language
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> The Army Language Corps: We speak Farsi so you don=92t have to
>
> While the U.S. contemplates making English either its official or its =20=
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> national language, continues to discourage immigrants from speaking =20
> their own native languages, and actively encourages Americans to =20
> remain resolutely monolingual, the army has been quietly teaching =20
> strategic foreign languages to key personnel on a strictly need-to-=20
> know basis.
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> Since 1776 the American military has defended the nation against all =20
> enemies foreign and domestic, and since 1941, when it began secretly =20
> teaching Japanese to U.S. soldiers, most of them of Japanese =20
> ancestry, it has been defending us against all languages foreign and =20
> domestic as well.
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> The army=92s elite Defense Language Institute, in Monterey, California, =20=
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> the self-proclaimed =93language capital of the world,=94 now teaches 24 =20=
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> key languages to military and other government personnel, condensing =20
> four years of study into freeze-dried packets of =93languages-ready-to-=20=
>
> speak=94 that take just six to 18 months. So willing is the army to do =20=
>
> the talking for us that the motto of its Farsi program is, =93We speak =20=
>
> Farsi so you don=92t have to.=94
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>
>
>
>
>
> Read the rest on  the Web of Language
>
>
>
> www.uiuc.edu/goto/weboflanguage
>
>
>
> (and sorry for the hat trick of posts this week -- )
>
> Dennis
>
>
>
> Dennis Baron
> Professor of English and Linguistics
> Department of English
> University of Illinois
> 608 S. Wright St.
> Urbana, IL 61801
>
> office: 217-244-0568
> fax: 217-333-4321
>
> www.uiuc.edu/goto/debaron
>
> read the Web of Language:
> www.uiuc.edu/goto/weboflanguage
>
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--
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
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                                              -Sam'l Clemens

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