The Foreign Service Journal, November 2005

and experience. I would suggest the biographical part be changed with consideration of the biographical backgrounds of candidates, perhaps supplemented with recommenda- tion letters or questionnaires. These could be verified and confirmed by the FBI follow-up. I am fluent in English, Russian and Ukrainian, and I have published poetry in each language. I would recommend that foreign-born U.S. citizens with native knowledge of one or more foreign languages be given some additional minor credit for such linguistic and cultural knowledge, and that such credit be considered at the time of the Foreign Service exam evaluation. George Bogachevsky Houston, Texas n N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 5 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 15 L E T T E R S u Send your letters to: journal@afsa.org. Note that all letters are subject to editing for style, format and length.