The Foreign Service Journal, September 2013

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2013 9 should weigh heavily on the plus side of the scale. I’ve been a sporadic reader of The Journal over the years, often wishing it were up to the challenge of covering the big issues and elevating the caliber of the Foreign Service. Now it is. Harry Montgomery FSO, retired Williamstown, Mass. We Need Smarter Language Learning I disagree with Daniel Hirsch’s May 2013 AFSA State Vice President’s col- umn, “All Overseas Positions Should Be Language Designated.” Instead, let us take a good look at the current language system before contemplating its expan- sion. First, let’s concentrate our limited resources on the critically needed languages for posts in countries where English proficiency is not nearly uni- versal. Recently, a colleague of mine worked hard for 10 months to learn a difficult Scandinavian language, finally achieving the vaunted 3/3. At his very first meeting in-country, he greeted his new contacts in their native tongue, only to be told: “Thank you for learning our language. Now I think it will be bet- ter if we continue in English.” What an embarrassing waste of time and money! For many new entrants, the Foreign Service is a second career. With only a few short years before retirement, time spent studying languages could elimi- nate a tour or two for them. And as for those of us with school-aged children, transfers involving language study can mean sending our kids to three schools in three years, which is hugely disrup- tive to family life. Equally important is how we are learning languages. The only true way to fluency in a foreign language is immer- sion. Other U.S. government agencies, like the Peace Corps and the U.S. Navy, employ that approach for their foreign area officers. So why does the premier foreign affairs agency continue to send students to learn these languages in Northern Virginia? Our in-country language programs are haphazard or actively discouraged. If security or other concerns preclude in-country language instruction, then let’s at least reform the exam, which is currently centered on abstract topics like nuclear nonproliferation and global warming. Instead, focus on testing practical skills. For a consular job, how about a series of mock visa interviews? For a public affairs job, how about a mock press briefing? Then supervisors would know their officers are ready linguisti- cally for the job. Foreign language skills are abso- lutely vital to the State Department and other foreign affairs agencies. So let us be good stewards of taxpayer money, and our own time, by examining which languages we should be learning—and the best methods for teaching and test- ing them. Scott Driskel FSO Consulate General Dhahran A Sad Commentary I watched retired Ambassador Thomas Pickering appear on “Face the Nation” this summer to defend the report issued by the Benghazi Account- ability Review Board, which he had co-chaired. As a retired member of the Foreign Service, I felt betrayed. How could “one of our own” deflect all responsibility for Benghazi away from all higher-echelon Department of State executives? Who else in Foggy Bottom is responsible? I am saddened that even with the Operations Center relaying the informa- tion that Ambassador Chris Stevens and his fellow Americans were under attack, the department could not muster even a small response from somewhere. Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s dismissive comment at a Senate hearing—“What difference does it make now?”—seems to reflect the thinking of all higher-ups at the department, revealing how State actu- ally functions. Where else could you find such a perfect storm of long tenure, handsome compensation and zero responsibility? What a sad commentary. Alice C. Hogan FSO, retired San Francisco, Calif. Keep It Simple! At times, large organizations suffer lapses in internal coordination among their various parts. That’s fairly clear and simple. Regrettably, the following sentence from former AFSA President Susan Johnson’s June President’s Views column is neither clear nor simple: “Institutional dysfunction often besets several inextricably linked dimensions of an organic system, organization or institution.” I mean no disrespect to Ms. Johnson, but the average citizen or member of Congress, no matter how well edu- cated, might well view this arcane and somewhat redundant formulation as obfuscation intended to cover up the problems within the State Department that led to the disastrous Benghazi incident. The clearer and simpler the language