CRITICAL NEED LANGUAGES

Arabic                      Urdu                       Farsi                Bangla/Bengali        Hindi

                 Chinese              Russian                Japanese                 Korean

© Copyright 2008  Kim E. Shienbaum.  All Rights Reserved

In 2006, President George W. Bush launched a National Security Language Initiative. It was

"designed to dramatically increase the number of Americans learning critical need foreign languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Hindi, Farsi, and others through new and expanded programs from kindergarten through university and into the workforce. An essential component of U.S. national security in the post-9/11 world is the ability to engage foreign governments and peoples, especially in critical regions, to encourage reform, promote understanding, convey respect for other cultures and provide an opportunity to learn more about America and its citizens. To do this, Americans must be able to communicate in other languages, a challenge for which most citizens are totally unprepared." Read More

This FREE web site is intended to supplement, not supplant, the efforts of schools, colleges and universities to expand the foreign language skills of students, as well as military personnel, businesspeople and tourists.  It provides downloadable podcasts of common phrases in these languages to encourage learning outside the classroom.