Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Program: Expanding and Strengthening the Circle of Learning To Make a Better World

At my farewell reception this week, the President very graciously came by to thank me for my service and mentioned that back in the days when he was campaigning for president, I was his communications director and he jokingly said one of my jobs was to teach him English. Since he is known for occasionally mangling his words, I asked him, “"How'd I do?" He gave me a look of mock indignation and said, “I’ll deliver the punch lines."

The President may have an occasional challenge with his English, especially with the press corps watching his every word, but he has worked very hard to improve his Spanish and understands the value of learning other languages. I speak a little Spanish myself and one of my goals for my life after I leave this position is to take lessons and improve my Spanish speaking ability. In today’s interconnected, multilateral world, learning foreign languages is not merely helpful, it is indispensable.

President Bush recognized that need 2 years ago when he announced the National Security Language Initiative. We needed to enhance the capacity of Americans to learn foreign languages of critical importance to the U.S. – and we have.

This academic year, 373 Fulbright FLTA fellows from 42 countries are teaching a total of 27 languages on American campuses in all 50 states – and that includes more than 200 Fellows from 30 countries with significant Muslim populations.

You Fulbrighters not only teach language skills -- you also are cultural ambassadors from your countries, providing a personal example of your culture for your American students, the local community and local media. Vivian Constanta, a current FLTA from Cyprus at Greenville Community College in South Carolina, not only is teaching Greek, but also giving presentations on various topics such as health care in Cyprus, the role of women in the Cypriot workforce, Cypriot celebrations and traditions. She is such a popular teacher that students have already requested her for next semester. In addition, Vivian has also agreed to participate in the college play “Troy,” this fall, which was the first time she has ever been on stage, so it will be a new learning experience for her as well.

This is the second year that American Community Colleges, like Greenville Community College where Vivian is teaching, have participated as hosts for teaching fellows and I was pleased to learn that this academic year, four community colleges are hosting FLTAs.

On other campuses around the country, our FLTA fellows are becoming invaluable resources – Aly Daowd, an Egyptian FLTA at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, has made his classes so enjoyable that students are choosing to attend more than the required classes – when was the last time you heard of students volunteering to attend more classes? Aly has brought new expertise and energy to his teaching job – he has even encouraged his students to make music videos with a mixture of Arabic and English music and post them on You Tube.

Another FLTA participant, Fisal Younis, found that his American students were curious about Islam and wanted to know more, so he created a website called “Arabic: Language, People, Culture, Life, History” for his students at Marlboro College in Vermont. He wanted to share the message that “Islam” actually means “peace” or “peaceful man.”

This kind of people-to-people diplomacy not only will improve language skills in our country, but also will lead to better relationships between cultures and countries.

That’s why it is good news that in a very short time, the FLTA program has grown rapidly. The number of FLTA participants has increased more than 170% over the last 2 years. And we have added 27 countries.

I believe these language programs – and the programs where we send Fulbright teachers from America abroad to teach English – are among our most effective public diplomacy tools. When you teach someone a language, you not only give them a new marketable skill, you open a wider window to the world for them.

One of my memorable experiences as Under Secretary was traveling to China earlier this year. I will never forget visiting a school and watching a Fulbright scholar teaching English in China. She was using the writings of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to teach the students. I wish you could have been there to see those young Chinese students saying “I Have A Dream” and learning not only English but also our values as they read in the letter from the Birmingham jail that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” It was truly one of those magic moments that you remember the rest of your life and the kind of moment that makes you realize why these programs are so very important.

Thank you for your participation in this important program. You not only will be able to improve your English skills while you are here, you will be able to teach your native language to our American students – and when you return home, you will be able to share the idiomatic English that you learn and the culture you experience here with your English students at home. That’s a wonderful circle of learning.

I am glad I could come by to commend you for your work today – this is such a significant program, it’s a fitting way to close my public diplomacy assignment here – and I hope you have a terrific experience in our country.