The Center provides intensive training for the U.S. military and other U.S. government personnel through a Congressionally-funded Defense Critical Language and Culture Program created through the Department of Defense and administered through the National Security Education Program. This training includes intensive on-site and on-line courses in Modern Standard Arabic and Mandarin Chinese, as well as in the strategic cultures of the Arab World, Afghanistan, Iran, and China. Our aim is to prepare military officers and civilian officials to assess the challenges of both conflict and crisis management in the Middle East. We also offer courses designed to enable students to understand modern China and to communicate with their Chinese counterparts at a time when bilateral relations are becoming increasingly complex. We offer a core group of classes (see the various program pages) that range from basic to advanced levels through a Montana-based Defense Critical Language/Culture Program. We are, however, committed to adapting the content, length, location and timing of our programs to fit the needs of military units and other US government entities that adopt our services.
In the 21st century, military strength will be measured not only by the weapons our troops carry, but by the languages they speak and the cultures they understand.
--President Barack Obama
Our Afghan Women books have just arrived. We've provided a download of the first few chapters in the book in our Educational Materials section. If you have any questions, or would like to order your free copies, please contact Julie Brown at Julie.brown@mso.umt.edu.
Practical Pashto: A Collection of Role-play Exercises & Scenarios in Pashto:
We just completed our first textbook titled "Practical Pashto: General Conversations in Pashto" which comes with a supplementary audio CD. If you would like to order copies of the book, please contact Julie Brown (julie.brown@mso.umt.edu) for availability.
On January 17th, the DCLCP started its first online Pashto language and Afghan culture course using a new video teleconferencing system. The language course will be taught in the Missoula training center to a classroom of 4 students in Tacoma, WA. This experimental course began after three 1-hour test culture sessions. During the final 10 days of the course, they will finalize with an iso-immersion exercise in MT.
January 16th was the start of our first full-length Pashto class of the New Year. Six students from North Carolina arrived to start a 24-week beginner/intermediate Pashto language and Afghan culture course.
Today marked the last day of our 3rd US Army Reserve Pashto/Dari language and Afghan culture short-courses. A total of 104 Army Reservists graduated our training session during the first quarter of fiscal year 2012.
The first group of Montana National Guard soldiers trained by the Defense Critical Language/Culture Program staff flew out of Missoula's airport on Sunday, bound first for specialized training in Hawai'i, then on to Afghanistan. Program Director Janice Trickel joined Montana’s junior Senator Jon Tester and Gov. Brian Schweitzer as well as hundreds of family members and friends who gathered to see the troops off. The event received front-page coverage in the city's paper, The Missoulian. You can read that article by clicking on this link.