Americans' need foreign language skills in global community

A person who speaks three languages is trilingual; a person who speaks two languages is bilingual; a person who speaks one language is — American.

The cliche is an old one but was used at a translation summit in Salt Lake City on Monday to stress the need for greater language skills among the U.S. population if Americans hope to thrive in the international business community and improve their country's cultural and political standing across the globe.

"Sometimes breakdowns of communications have serious consequences," said Stephen Sekel, who oversees the editing and translation of official documents for the United Nations.

Sekel announced a new U.N. outreach at the summit, saying the international organization would be working with translator training institutions and professional associations in the United States to find potential recruits.

The United Nations is facing a shortage of language professionals, who must have advanced language proficiency in three languages — one of which must be Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish or English.

The Committee for Economic Development, a Washington, D.C., think tank, wants the federal government to retool its educational agenda and pump $125 million per year into public education to beef up language and foreign-culture training, said Alfred Mockett, an international business executive who co-authored a report on international studies and foreign language education for the committee.

Mockett said only one in three junior high and high school students in the United States studies a foreign language, and the number drops to one in 10 for college students.

"In Denmark, even truck drivers speak three languages," he said.

Mockett said core curriculum initiates like the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 are inadvertently hurting language study programs because of reporting requirements for basics like reading, science and math. Subjects like foreign language study that don't have the same reporting requirements are being neglected as a result, Mockett said.

Despite the political focus on the war in Iraq and other international situations, elected officials are neglecting the importance of understanding foreign languages and cultures.

"We can't be lulled into thinking the world will do it our way," Mockett said.

"You'd be surprised how many congressmen don't even have a passport," Mockett said outside the conference.

Mockett said the already crowded field of presidential hopefuls is tuning in to the committee's message as candidates formulate the education plank in their political platforms.

The foreign language deficiency is more pronounced in government than in the business community, where most of the growth potential for U.S. companies lies in overseas markets, Mockett said. Still, "the business community is in desperate need of cross-cultural competence."

The Brigham Young University Center for Language Studies hosted Monday's summit, which is billed as the only event of its kind to include U.S. government representatives, educators, translators and corporate executives.

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