European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 28, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Sign languages increasing in . That the thai translation it was using said Pepsi brings your ancestors Back irom the As educators seek 1o Bailer prepare american Slu Denta Lor such challenges secondary schools and even elementary schools Are also feeling the effects partly because of pressure irom colleges and partly because of the trend toward tougher academic requirements in Public education. The number of Public schools requiring foreign language studies and such subjects As geography and foreign history has grown dramatically but the effects Are difficult to measure. There Are no comprehensive up to Date National statistics on the numbers of students taking Hicso courses. And some advocates of language instruction like Richard Krasno president of the Insl Lule of International education in new York City say that increased Quantity does not solve a problem of poor Quality. His organization is involved in educational and cultural Exchange. We re not very Good at leaching languages said Krasno who was the first and last Deputy assistant Secretary of education for International education in 1981-1932 students take the courses but they Don l come out talking the languages " nevertheless available evidence indicates new concern and in some cases rapid growth in enrolment. I Don t think interest has Over been higher said j David Edwards executive director of the joint National committee of languages and of the Council on languages and other International studies. Still he said. We have a Long Way to go until we see the end of the Tongue tied a Survey completed in november by his com Nullee an umbrella group for 32 education organizations found that Many slates had instil used a language requirement in Public schools in the last couple of years. The merest in languages and foreign affairs also comes at a time of renewed attention to the Liberal arts generally and ferment generated by United states foreign policy on such subjects As latin America and interpreters several Hundred freelancers in 1986 we logged almost 900.000 Inlet prefer Days said Marco Benedetti an official at the commission s interpretation division. At times we could have 500 inner prefers Al 50 meetings All around the Globe he said a third of the 9,000 employees Al the commission Headquarters do linguistic work. Across the Street the dec Council o ministers staff of 2,000 relies on the commission Tor interpreters Bui the Council also employs 720 translators of its own. The common Market began in 1957 with France West Germany Italy. Belgium Luxembourg and the Netherlands and tour languages French German italian and dutch. Arms control the mood was typified by 8ryn mawr s announcement this fall that it had embarked on a major new Effort to strengthen the International components of its Liberal arts curriculum. But perhaps the most important some educators say is a student View that such studies Are As practical and As necessary As accounting students see thai their clothes Are made in Taiwan and their cars Are made in Japan said Jim Gardner president of Lewis and Clark College in Portland. Ore they be figured out where the world is last year his school had a 37 percent increase in applications that he said was due to its reputation As an International College an unusually High proportion of is students take Par of their studies aboard. Municipalities have also discovered Concrete benefits. Phillips the Stafl member of the Senate education Subco Millee noted that Mitsubishi recently said one reason it chose Bloomington minn., for a new factory was that the High school had a course in japanese Philadelphia last year graduated the first class trom the William w. Bodine High school for International affairs set up in 1980 As part of an Effort to desegregate the City schools and to promote global awareness and International Texas reported a 50 percent Rise in Loreign language enrolment irom 1981 to 1985. According to the state education Dopa Lenl. The number taking Spanish doubled As did the number studying French or latin some educators say the increases in enrolment in such courses have been great enough so that the problem is no longer creating demand but finding qualified teachers and raising the standards there s no question thai changes Are in the wind that demand has grown said sen Paul Simon. Dell a member of the education Aub Ommittee the question now is Are we going to provide the Quality we need we re still the Only country in the world that Afler two years of High school French allows students to say i have studied French the superficiality continues to the number of interpreters needed for meetings Rose quickly As Britain. Denmark Ireland. Greece and finally Spain and Portugal joined the Community. When the common Market had six languages simultaneous interrelation Al a meeting required 13 inner prefers. Today. 30 Are needed for that same said Benedelti. Last year the commission warned the growing number of tongues posed serious administrative difficulties bul did not to suggest any reduction in languages language is not merely a mechanical question it said ii enshrines intellectual and cultural values which Are part a 19b6 concern this is in contrast to the emphasis other countries give language instruction the soviet Union has More teachers of English than the United states has students of russian according to Marshall d. Shulman director of Columbia University s a Averell Harriman Insl Lule for advanced study of the soviet Union. And a typical fourth grader in Botswana has received More language instruction than the average american High school graduate according to a study by a panel of the Southern governors association. The panel like others said failings in learning to take a world View were Al least partly to blame for the country s Trade deficit and sometimes it contributed to diplomatic problems a recent stale department state study found if Ere was a serious shortage of diplomats Able to speak difficult languages and said the problem would become critical unless major changes were made in foreign service promotions and assignments the study found that 21 percent of the officials promoted into the senior ranks in the last three years spoke English Only. In the past Foi example when the soviet Union launched its sputnik interest in Loreign languages and International studies has peaked often spreading out from Washington. This Lime however much of it is bubbling up from students themselves catching Many school administrators by Surprise. Trying to discourage students who were swamping ils Liberal arts programs. The University of Minnesota last year added language requirement but that Only increased the number of applicants. At Carnegie Mellon University in pills Burgh. Which agreed to of Ler japanese if at least 10 student s signed up for the course. 100 Ludo its signed up the school had room Lor 48. Of the schools caught unaware by the demand Gardner at Lewis and Clark College of flied an Indian proverb sometimes the last to discover the Waler will be the of the very fabric of european civilization ii is no part of the task of the Community to destroy that Benedelti said the entry of Spain and Portugal has created enormous he said it has forced the dec to increasingly resort to relay inter relation. Whereby the spoken word is interpreted from one language to another in sequence rather than simultaneously into All languages. Relay interpretation is now Standard if All nine languages Are required at a meeting of commission slayers and increasingly frequent Al meetings where fewer language combinations Are needed. Bui one official said this practice of an interpreter Miler peeling another interpreter multiplies the possibilities for confusion Al the commission and other dec institutions most documents Are still written and printed in All languages the dec has begun experimenting with computer tra Stalions and is investing $30 million in a new computerized translation system. Translation at european Community meetings can be a numbing Job in addition to serving Al closely watched debates on major International issues interpreters spend Many hours handling meetings on intricate economic and agricultural issues thai Only an expert could find exc log interpreters Pride themselves on their knowledge of a huge Range of technical terms and their stamina in meetings that olten run into the Early morning hours. Yet on some occasions one interpreter says his colleagues have been known to deliberately liven up 9 Dull speech. The interpreter who declined to be identified by name said translators have been known to slip a nonsensical or even a dirty word Mlo a Windy few members Ever notice the he added. Other translation slips Are presumed to be accidental. A document last month listed a european parliament appropriation of 50.000 european currency units equivalent to s51.000 to create an dec firing the intended term turned out to be a flying squad of dec fraud inspectors. The stars and stripes Page is
