tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13177437.post116596119119165747..comments2024-03-23T01:31:13.502+01:00Comments on Jabal al-Lughat: No Arabic please, we're AmericanLameen Souag الأمين سواقhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00773164776222840428noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13177437.post-1166160736029046682006-12-15T06:32:00.000+01:002006-12-15T06:32:00.000+01:00I suspect the true number of Americans fluent in A...I suspect the true number of Americans fluent in Arabic is much lower than these (dismal) figures: in my experience, many Americans will claim to be "fluent" in a language which in fact they speak very poorly (much too poorly to be able to communicate effectively): this has been my experience with Americans claiming to be "fluent" in French, and I strongly suspect the same is true of Americans claiming fluency in Arabic.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13177437.post-1166059452635596892006-12-14T02:24:00.000+01:002006-12-14T02:24:00.000+01:00Lameen, you should check out this site, another En...Lameen, you should check out this site, another English language Algerian blog, which is quite good.<BR/><BR/>http://better-algeria.blogspot.com/<BR/><BR/>Best,<BR/><BR/>KNLAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13177437.post-1166052633027962402006-12-14T00:30:00.000+01:002006-12-14T00:30:00.000+01:00John: That is rather suspicious. If you follow up...John: That is rather suspicious. If you follow up the Washingto Post article, it gives a breakdown of the FBI report (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/10/AR2006101001388.html). And guess what - the number of "advanced professional" speakers comes out to be 6, just like the supposed number of fluent Arabic speakers in Baghdad! Something funny's going on, certainly - either one branch of the government is plagiarising and misusing a statistic from another, or it's a quite remarkable coincidence.Lameen Souag الأمين سواقhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00773164776222840428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13177437.post-1165962741000998802006-12-12T23:32:00.000+01:002006-12-12T23:32:00.000+01:00I have no doubt that the number of Arabic-speakers...I have no doubt that the number of Arabic-speakers in U.S. government positions is wretchedly low, but I disbelieve these particular statistics. The <A HREF="http://www.slate.com/id/2154990/pagenum/3/" REL="nofollow">Slate article</A> says that of 1000 employees of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, only 33 speak Arabic; the <A HREF="http://www.homelandstupidity.us/2006/10/11/fbi-short-on-arabic-speakers/" REL="nofollow">Homeland Stupidity article</A> says that of 12,000 FBI agents -- only 33 speak Arabic! The numerical coincidence is too much to swallow.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13177437.post-1165962145823662722006-12-12T23:22:00.000+01:002006-12-12T23:22:00.000+01:00Americans tend to view Arabic as being "hard". Thi...Americans tend to view Arabic as being "hard". This is enough for many to give up on it entirely. I have tried to get friends to take Arabic coures with me (they are offered for free with extra credit points at the university here) and their response is usually that its alphabet is "so different" or something of the like. <BR/><BR/>Most Americans, if they "learn" another langauge, learn Spanish, French, German or some other European language. These are not "strategic languages" but are sexy and/or useful (Spanish, because of the large number of people from Spanish speaking countries that are not as fluent in English). There aren't many Arabic teachers either. You'd think the demand would be higher in the lower grades (secondary especially), but it is mostly restricted to private schools or schools with large Middle Eastern populations (as in Michigan). I'm not trying to make excuses, but I don't think that this should be a surprise. It is a very American thing. It was the case in Viet Nam, and is the case in many places. It is a characteristic of American diplomacy according to a book called "The Ugly American," (from the 1970's no less).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com