LANGUAGE HIGHLIGHTS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86-00244R000200300015-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 15
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 7, 2001
• Sequence Number: 15
• Publication Date: August 1, 1971
• Content Type: REPORT

ed For Rele e20
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 C C) N F I DC N T I A L
Approved For Release 2001/08/09 : CIA-RDP86-00244R000200300015-6
LANGUAGE
HIGHLIGHTS
FIRST ISSUE AUGUST 1971
PUBLISHED PERIODICALLY BY
THE LANGUAGE SCHOOL
OFFICE OF TRAINING
25X1A
25X1A
INQUIRIES, COMMENTS, AND CONTRIBUTIONS
SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO THE EDITOR,
EXTENSION 3271, ROOM 406,
BUILDING.
 Approved For Release 200410810%: #iArRDP86-00244R000200300015-6
CONTENTS
LANGUAGE INCENTIVE PROGRAM 1
ALL LANGUAGES ARE EQUALLY DIFFICULT 3
TAPES .TAPES . TAPES 4
SELF STUDY MATERIALS 7
FOR SPOTTERS ONLY 8
ARE WE LOSING OUR LANGUAGE
CAPABILITY?
BAHLT? BAHLT? WHAT MEANS BAHLT ?
KNOW YOUR IDIOMS
10
FOREIGN LANGUAGES AT STATE
11
 C 0 N F I Li E N T I A L
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On 12 March 1971 a new Agency-wide program was initi-
ated to spur the development of proficiencies in languages
which the Agency has in short supply -- or for which a
future shortage is anticipated. This is not the first time,
of course, that. the Agency has offered. monetary awards for
language proficiency. In 1957-63 over $765,000 was paid
out to personnel who could demonstrate through a proficiency
test that they had achieved or maintained reading or speak-
ing skills in a modern language. Perhaps the most benefi-
cial effect of that program was that we found out for the
first time how many people there were in the Agency who
had at least some foreign language proficiency.
We also learned that even though we have a good supply
of speakers of most languages, the employee with a language
skill is not always in the job that requires it. The pur-
pose of the new program, then, is not only to encourage
more people to study languages, but to get peon7.e to learn
specific languages to meet specific requirements in specific
components. The new program differs principally from the
old in that:
1. The new regulation does not provide cash
awards for the maintenance of s ills that an employee
already has, but only for the achievement of new
skills.
2. The new program is not on a voluntary basisi to
be eligible for an award an individual must be
designated by his component to anhieve specific skills
at the level of proficiency determined by the compo-
nent (which also provides the funds for the award).
Also different from the old program is the fact that
cash awards will not be paid for new skills in all lan-
guages. Each Directorate establishes its own list of
incentive languages, approved by the Deputy Director con-
cerned, according to needs reported by operating officials..
The lists are subject to constant review and revision, so
the best source of information about the current list of
awardable languages in your Directorate is your Senior
Training Officer.
Because languages differ, incentive languages have
been grouped into three categories, according to the
degree of difficulty each poses for the English-speaking
student. The languages in Group III are considered the
most difficult for English-speakers to learn, and awards
for achievement of skills in them are the highest. Awards
are made in either the Specialized Program (e.g., Reading
onLa, or Speaking only) or the Comprehensive Program,
requiring competence in reading, speaking, and understand-
ing. Awards in the Specialized Program are half those in
the Comprehensive. Following is the rash awards schedule
in the Comprehensive Program:
 AWARDS SCHEDULE
COMPREHENSIVE (Reading, Speaking and Understanding)
Of particular interest is the fact that awards are cumulative.
That is, if an employee is designated to achieve, as a career goal,
skill level 4 in a Group II language like Persian or Lao, his
awards will total $2400 whenever he finally achieves the 4-level
in a proficiency test administered at the Language School. There
is no time limit for designees in the program and the designee
receives an award each time an awardable level is reached and
verified by testing. The designee may study any way he can.,-- in
self-study here or abroad, with a tutor, in a non-government`school,
or in formal training at the Language School. Note, however:;:-that
if you study your designated language abroad, yop mu~~;:Wpr
your award until you return for an official prohijG_;;C::t
Headquarters.
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LANGUAGES ARE EQUALLY DIFFKULT
There is practical, as well as
theoretical proof of the above state-
ment. The theoretical argument goes:
the more complex a language is, the
more useful it is to those who speak
it. The more distinctions a language
makes, the more you can say in that
language. But there is a limit --
the capacity of the human mind. Each
person develops his language to the
limit of his mental capacity; the
language of a genius is more complex,
grammatically as well as in its
vocabulary, than the language of a
moron. But this difference is merely
quantitative, whereas there is a
qualitative difference between lan-
guage and animal communication on the
level, for example, of dogs or crows.
The practical proof runs as
follows: if language A were actually
less difficult than language B, child-
rer, would learn to speak it sooner
than children learning language B.
This does not happen. Children learn-
ing to speak any language acquire
grammatical mastery of it at about
the same age. Depending on the
definition of "grammatical mastery,"
this varies from five to seven years,
but it is the same for any language.
When we talk about "difficult
languages," we are talking about the
difficulty English speakers have in
learning them. This is, of course,
based on how different the language
is from English. The more similar a
language is to English, the easier it
is for English speakers to learn, and
vice versa.
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 "That's not necessarily
true. You can lay a very
useful foundation in part-
time study. Then when you
get to where the language is
spoken you can really start
learning to speak it. After
all, how much German could
you really speak after two
years in college?"
"There the picture is not
nearly so bleak. A person
who has had some language
experience might pick up
quite a bit of one of the
easier languages by self-
study."
The above conversation illustrates a good many common, but falla-
cious ideas about language training, particularly the use of tapes.
Since World War II, great strides have been made in teaching languages
by the intensive method, and the use of tapes has been an important
part of the improvement. The wholly wrong impression has spread that
language tapes are the sole reason for the improvement -- that they
are some sort of miracle medium.
Actually, the most important element in a language course is the
teacher. A good, professional language teacher can take almost any
set of materials and do a good job. By far the most important element
in the success of the language instruction at GS/OTR is the profes-
sional competence and devotion to duty of the instructors. The number
and quality of the tapes available is definitely secondary.
Success in :self-study demands high motivation and adequate apti-
tude, but it also requires a good set of materials designed for self-
study. Unfortunately, such materials are currently available in a
discouragingly small number of languages. Self-study is also more
likely to be successful if the student already knows one or more
foreign languages. Another area where self-study is likely to succeed
is in reinforcing or improving proficiency in a language the student
already knows something about. For all these reasons, the Language
School makes self-study materials available on a loan basis for all
Agency personnel
 Approved
~TTrquayc ?: L..ol maintains a'
loam proutam of texts and tapes for
sell-stud-, avai;abtc to all Agency
personnel M:ator :.:zl r s available in
11 ian:;ua ,es, fion, Ar-i is to Viet-
rtw-cse. 'these materials .are mostly
at. the bc.pa.nning level. The pro-
ced?re nc,raoliv tot the student to
bet. w lIa- tas- end the first three
tapes. The te:+t is loaned for the
duration at the self-study, and the
tapes tot a weak, with a week's
exs_cn;i.on , n rc,.luest. AThr-n the stu-
dent reLuru4 tho ricst i:hrco tapes,
hc, raceives the noxt three, and so
on. This proc_eA continues until he
has =:omplOLvA hie course of self-
study, when he -e?uans the text and
the last three tapes. The student
or his cor.:p:unca:t trust provide a tape
recorder to t,sr vi 6o thr tapes.
The li crar ian will h he happy to
furnish infornat.io,: c..-, the self-
study ar(;yreyr,, C"s1l .Tune on exten-
sion 177 at, the -,no ia, e School
Library, Rea)n 214,
the LS ?;L is truqueutly asked
to make aupi:'cate copies of tapes.
Requestore sh%al,i understand that it
costs pr icti c.-,il:; the 5,iriw amount to
duplicate tapes at the LS lab as it
does to purchase theta ?'a the open
market. The h,=,avy demands on duplicat-
ing equipment. 11.a;v lee. a to considerable
delays on most order;. As a result, it
is usae Ly cheaper and quicker to sat-
isfy dee?ands 1 o,r .o;,muet cl.n i Lv. avail-
able tapes on the op-j, market. There
are, moreover, certain legal restraints
on the copying at copyrighted tapes.
in the co o.. of tapes produced at
LS/OTR, or other tapes not commercially
available, arrtngemant _-an he made. to
satitsty ru_~aconanla re.,i;;:sts based on
linguistically :sound requirements and
operational ,stns i. ..
 Approved For Release 2
4liiliii-!!!iliiilili!!iili!!!?
FOR
SPOTTERS
!!!liii!!!!a1liiliiiiii!!!!i ONLY
The Language School is always interested in spotting
good teachers of foreign languages. There is not always
an immediate vacancy, but it is a good bet there will be
one soon. hue to resignations, retirements, maternity
leave, and other causes, we are constantly experiencing a
turnover in teaching personnel. in addition, demands on
the School for language instruction are steadily growing,
causing us to be constantly on the watch for new teaching
talent.
What are we looking for? We want well-informed or
educated native speakers, preferably young and with teach-
ing experience. Once in a while, a non-native who has
lived in the country of the language concerned for a long
period will also qualify. This, of course, is the optimum,
but often, for languages in which the supply of qualified
personnel is scarce, we have to settle for less. For all
teaching personnel, however, a reasonably good command of
English is required.
Absolutely essential to the hiring of any teacher is
the granting by security of at least a Type H clearance
(with access to an Agency building). Chances are best for
American citizens, and next best for Resident Aliens. In-
dividuals with some other types of visas, other than for
permanent residency, are also eligible. Those with diplo-
matic, tourist, or student visas, however, are definitely
ineligible.
while there has been a long history of emigration from
European and Latin American countries to the United States,
the pattern of emigration from the Middle East and South-
east Asia has been quite different. The supply of potential
teachers crom these areas is relatively small. Often, our
best lead is the spouse of an Agency employee, American
official, or serviceman.
To get leads to potential teachers; of "rare" languages,
we resort. to such sources as the Immigration and Naturali-
zation Service, friends of current teachers, and other grape-
vine methods. The results of even these methods are some-
times frustratingly meager. We need help in our spotting
task, and ask all Agency personnel aware of potential teachers
to contact the Language School on extension 3065 and give
us such leads as they may have, keeping in mind that the po-
tential instructor must be professionally competent or on
a level such that with a little training he could be brought
to professional competence.
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ARE WE LOSING OUR
r-
During Calendar Year 1x70 thrr,uyh retirements and resigna-
tions the Agency lost 1011 speaking and reading proficiencies at
the 4 (High) and 5 (Native) levolr;. Durinq the same period 49
new employees brought a 4- or -fecal language competence to
the Agency. However, during this same period, a total of 55
employees already on board br-ight their tested proficiency to
a 4 or 5 level through further n+-nctice abroad and/or further
Inside the Agency rlr,, leer-:ems studied a foreign language
in FY 71. This breakdown. was ~s follows;
244 full-time,atudents at the Language School
267 part-time students at the language School
105 students in the BAHI,T rprngrsm
A total of 64 Agency pers,jnnel et,ictied at other govern-
ment schools or at commercial srhnoLe in CY 70 for reasons
of cover, advanced training, nr hecause the Language School
does not offer the lnngi.age concernnfl,
In CY 70 a total. of 570 employees were studying a wide
range of languages at overseas posts.
The BAHLT (Before and After Hours Language Training) Pro-
gram is completing another successful season. Proposals for
implementing the '1971/72 BAHLT Program have been approved by
the Language Development Committee. First and second-year
basic instruction will continue to he offered in French, German,
Russian, and Spanish. The Language School expects to experi-
ment during the coming academic year with programmatic instruc-
tion in Spanish; this, if successful, will make it possible to
accommodate more students than can regular classes. Another
proposed change in the B?JJLT Program o a'the plan to hold some
classes at the Language School, i.nst.ead of only at Headquarters.
Under the new ground rules, classes will he conducted strictly
during off-duty hours, three or four days per week for 40 weeks.
Bulletins will be issued, announcing the program and solicit-
ing applications from str,tt employ-,_s who desire to become
instructors.
*No
 C 'Q 9 ; . Mh!J' P:" t', , I A L
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