Foreign-Language Learning Promoted

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, introducing Bush yesterday, said the United States should give as much attention to the study of Arabic and other critical languages as it did to Russian and Eastern European culture during the Cold War.

"We have not, as a country, made the kind of intellectual investment that we need to make in the exchange of people, in the exchange of ideas, in languages and in cultures and our knowledge of them that we made in the Cold War," said Rice, who holds a doctorate in international studies and was a specialist in Soviet affairs.

Bush portrayed the enhancement of foreign-language skills as a way of enlarging U.S. capacity to spread democracy. "You can't convince people unless you can talk to them," he said.

He described learning somebody else's language as a "kind gesture" showing care for another culture. It would be a way to combat the notion that the United States is bullying in imposing its concept of freedom, he said.

"When Americans learn to speak a language, learn to speak Arabic, those in the Arabic region will say, 'Gosh, America's interested in us. They care enough to learn how we speak,' " Bush said.

Some of the programs outlined yesterday appeared to carry specific targets, according to a State Department fact sheet. The National Flagship Language Initiative, for instance, hopes for 2,000 advanced speakers by 2009. The Pentagon-sponsored Civilian Linguist Reserve Corps is aiming for 1,000 volunteers in several years.

But in a State Department briefing, officials sought to emphasize general growth rather than individual targets.

"We're not setting the goals in terms of X number of individuals by Y number of years," said Barry F. Lowenkron, the assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor. "Our goal is to start building capacity."

He also defended the size of the proposed initial investment but indicated it is meant only to get things started, noting that some foundations and private businesses have expressed interest in contributing additional funds.

"We view this as serious seed money to get this thing launched," he said.