A team of professors at N.C. State is starting a program of language and culture classes for special operations soldiers. The Language Training Center will offer six-week intensive courses to prepare special ops members for deployment overseas. Program director Dwight Stephens says the classes are designed to bridge the gap between soldier and civilian.
Dwight Stephens: "What we're trying to do with these new courses is produce more of a focus on oral proficiency, on real communication in authentic situations, and real comprehension of cultural nuances that can mean the difference between producing very bad impressions or very good impressions."
The Language Training Center is funded by a $1.8 million grant from the National Security Education Program. It opens in January with classes at N.C. State and Fort Bragg.