DARPA Funds Game To Teach Arabic To Army

finnhart writes "According to a [free reg. req.] New York Times article, DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) has funded a project at the University of Southern California's School of Engineering to create a 'virtual camp' in which US soldiers can learn to speak Arabic, as well as learn local customs: 'All discussions with the villagers will have to be conducted in Arabic, and Sergeant Smith must comport himself with the utmost awareness of local customs so as not to arouse hostility. If successful, he will be paving the way for the rest of his unit to begin reconstruction work in the village'."

Comments

Learning a language is not that easy

[Dr. Weird]

Is it really possible to teach the soldiers enough Arabic -- basically in their free time -- to communicate with the "villagers." Seriously, people spend years studying foreign languages, and usually only come out with mild fluency.

Admittedly, a few words can be learned, enabling simple communication. If this is all that they have in mind, this is perhaps a feasible objective. But the quote makes it sound as if the soldiers will be truly communicating in the language. The article hedges it a bit more, focusing on problem specific communication, but I don't think it is fairly labeled 'discussion.' That is, I doubt that there will be very many fruitful 'discussions' *cough* interrogations *cough* if they must occur in Arabic.

Anyway, what the hell is a virtual 'cave'? 'Camp' is the term used in the article, and I still don't understand what either word has to do with things. Help!

~Dr. Weird~

Re:Learning a language is not that easy

[aixou]

Is it really possible to teach the soldiers enough Arabic -- basically in their free time -- to communicate with the "villagers." Seriously, people spend years studying foreign languages, and usually only come out with mild fluency.

Never doubt the power of knowing just a little bit of another language. It's the thought that counts. Yeah sure, our soldiers aren't gonna become fluent, but it would show the Iraqis that the soldiers actually do have some respect for the culture and customs, and aren't mindless killing machines.

If you're ever abroad and happen to strike up a conversation with a stranger, bring up some obscure local custom of theirs (e.g. perhaps their is a local festival taking place, or a type of food made only in the area), and you'll be amazed at how excited they might become just at the fact that you know of it. We don't even think of such things here because America is so gigantic and omnipresent, and almost everyone has a cusory knowledge of American culture.

(btw, I'm assuming you're American... if you're not, then :P)

Re:Learning a language is not that easy

[Andy Mitchell]

Obviously if you only have a short while in which to learn a foreign language its vital to learn just a few key phrases.

However, my experience of trying to learn foreign languages is that teachers always teach you the most inappropriate phrases first. For example, the first things I learnt to say in French was, "I speak French". Not much use being able to wonder round saying "I speak French" and nothing else.

Latter our French teacher seemed to have some obsession with the opening and closing of windows. While this was, at that point, a complete waste of time it did prove to be rather useful some 15 or so years latter when faced with a copy of French MS Windows. I'm sure the curriculum has been adjusted to ensure that no mention of windows is now made.

So I suspect the US soldiers will be trained with the Arabic version of the following useful phrases:

• I speak Arabic
• My name is sergeant bob.
• What time is it?
• Where is the nearest supermarket?

When more useful phrases might be:

• I'm sorry, I don't speak Arabic.
• Sorry, I thought you were Bin Laden. The doctor is on the way.
• I'm sorry we had to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to remove militants from the local mosque.
• Have you seen any weapons off mass destruction?
• No, not our weapons of mass destruction.

Some arabic you may be interested in

[0x54524F4C4C]

While reconstructing Iraq, use the following words so that people can recognize you're an american:

talhasteez = lick my ass
aho charmouta = brother of a bitch
acrout = the male for bitch

Sorry, but my arabic knowledge doesn't go beyond these things. Have luck.

It'd probably do them well...

[ColaMan]

This statement is soley based upon media coverage, and may be entirely inaccurate - post corrections, not flames, below ;-)

Ok.

Notice the Poms in Iraq.
They go around in a (fairly) non-threatening manner. They smile at the kids, they try to get along. Having the experience of wandering around Belfast trying to keep the peace, they've learned to be nice and stay cool with the population, because a lot less bad shit happens that way.

The yanks, god bless 'em, seem to have a military with the Sole Purpose Of Wiping The Other Guy Out. That's great, except in Iraq, they're past that phase. Things need to cool down, everyone needs to try and refocus. I know, media is biased, but all I see of americans in Iraq are people all gung-ho.
This is the mindset that needs to change if they're going to get anywhere, because nobody wants some asshole all "yeah! respect mah authoritah,biatch!" in their face, especially one that you think is beginning to overstay their welcome in your country.

This program then, is a good idea, to promote some sort of cultural sensitivity. Not just arabic as some rather exitable people seem to comment on above, with their rants about why we should have to- any cultural sensitivity would be a good idea at this stage.