European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 20, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 16. The stars and strikes soldiers speech into English Story and photos by Tony n a Roth Nurnberg Bureau Garyl Wingerath revels in her Little successes a sound Here a Point Olgr Ammar Thore. She leaches English As a second language Lor big Bond Community College at the Vilseck combined arms training Center in  Olds soldiers speech into English shapes. She lets the Oxford sounds of her trained voice fall gently upon he ears of Young soldiers from Small lawns in Korea puerto Rico the Virgin islands and the Philippines. This Lour week session did not leave sol. Nib Trinidad quoting Shakespeare in those same Oxford tones Bui it did make him More understandable in lha world in which he must work. Trinid Iid builds Bridges with he 12th engr in in Derheim Germany. It takes an attentive listener to Boilow the instructions needed to assemble a portable army Bridge. And the Inspru Cartons come across Yards and Yards of slapping Waves or through the muffled Roar of heavy equipment. They come in English. He concedes he s a slower builder than his pals because he has trouble understanding the commands. In an emergency that s not an asset. It also takes muscle and sweat to build a Bridge. Trinidad ties no problem n that department. Neither do his classmates. They did Well in their upper body strength less during Basic Ira ring. Spec 4 Eddie roman explained that it s Standard army practice for Drill sergeants to bark orders in Basic training end in Basic English soldiers Are expected 10 respond. If not get Down and give me 20." my Drill sergeants. He talking too last. They did t want to repeat. I do lots of push  Filoman Salt. Nine of tha 11 troops in win Gerald s class in March had similar stories to Tell of brains working Doublet me to process their sergeants orders. Good brains Loo but brains not programmed in the English language. So. The language comes slowly and so does the response. And Down they go pushing up at fort Jackson s.o., fort Din. N.j., or fort Shi okla. These Guys must be the fittest men in the . Army Wingerath said. The program Al Vitteck began in january. Wingerath said big Bend will teach a class with a minimum of six students. Big Bend charges the army $ 1, boo per class and it s not Cost effective to instruct fewer students. That s Why there Are fewer and ewer esl courses being Laught at Community education centers. There Aren t enough students being referred to the education Oil ices to lorm a class so Many of the students Are sent to Vilseck. That consolidation also makes it More difficult for some soldiers to get the esl training they need. Superiors Are reluctant to Send them away for tour weeks. The consolidated class at Vilseck the army s College Campus in Europe sewed some of the troops who otherwise might fall through the cracks. The course itself known to Many As esl is a response to the realization that soldiers unable to communicate in English Are going to be in critical positions in combat. From it spec. 4 Hector Martinet pee. Rigoberto Alvaret and spec. Juan Hernandez gather around Esi Ira Triffler Carol Wingeleth As the Platet out their final exam. Usa eur is concerned that soldiers dodging bullets will revert to their primary language turning a unit into babble of contusion. Even during peacetime these soldiers face confusion. Spec. 4 Ricardo Caslo a Driver with 2nd in 68th Armor with the 8th inf div in Baum older tells this anecdote. One night while driving my commander he Tell me go Back to same place where we were yesterday/1 started to driving Down Road in reverse. A ask what you doing i. Say i driving backward to where we were yesterday. .1 did t think it make any sense neither Pic Alfredo Callo also assigned to Baum older tells Hess Loxy. I go on firing Range. I can t understand sergeant then he Tell me put earplugs in my ears then he has trouble hearing instructions As Well As understanding. Spec. 4 Juan Hernandez an infantryman assigned to Mannheim said when we Are excited in squad drills and i am tar away from squad Leader i can t understand a thing not a thing. He speaking too  staff sgt. Fritz Brathwait a platoon Leader assigned to the 10blh military intelligence in in wll Flecken was a Little sullen at the beginning of the course. He was t thrilled to be there but in Virgin islands native said he s a Good Soldier. Since he was the highest ranking class member he became class president my commender directed me to come Here he said so i m Here they thought i had a problem in the  his speech has a Caribbean cadence that makes him difficult 1o understand. Teacher Ann Callman said that. Although they have not yet seen a woman in class a phenomenon they can t explain they have had a few officers. She talked about a lieutenant from puerto Rico. He was very intelligent. He scored 89 percent on his initial written test but his pronunciation was  Wingerath emphasizes pronunciation and intonation which is the rhythm pacing and accent of the spoken word. They carry Hose intonations Over from their primary languages and it s almost impossible to understand their English Wingerath said. Wingerath is a Lille milled a the Progress tests administered at the beginning and end of the course. She says they measure a Soldier s understanding of the language end his grasp of grammar usage and vocabulary. But that does mean his mates Back in his unit will understand  Wingerath s Job is to Cut through the confusion a the non threatening environment other classroom. Too often she says soldiers poke Lun Al others who can t speak English Well. I m sick of seeing them dogged by americans who treat them As if they were  she said a Soldier s Success is not determined by How Well he does in the class Bui rather by How his changed speaking habits Are accepted Back in the unit. Graduation Day. The room is a Din of mostly Spanish. Soldiers Are nol allowed to speak their native tongues during the course but this is graduation. Trinidad Brathall and pfc. Jose Cintron an infantryman from Bamberg were setting up chairs for a class picture. Cintron put on a Brave face but Wingerath said he was having a really Rotten  he had ust come out of conference with Manuel Iglesnas a Vilseck education Center Counselor. Can Iron did not make the 70 percent cutoff score that would have Given him his  instead he received a certificate of Progress which makes him eligible to attend esl  know i need it i want it. I la be Back he said Brail Al had shed some of the sul tenness of his first Days in the course. He looked around the room and said you can Teli they be improved just by listening to hem. And he quietly admitted i be improved too at the beginning of the course. Trinidad was almost impossible to understand. A classroom visitor had to ask to in live limes to repeat a four word answer to a at the ceremony. Trinidad beamed. He held his Nas fortunate to be pick. To learn second a  import in t was a struggle by he Only had to repeat one 0 "0rd by " was �n6 do i