participant in the national security language initiative for youth program. mr. jeffrey wood was also a 2010 participate in the national security language initiative for youth program. and major gregory mitchell, a 1995 fellow over the david l. baron fellowship program. as you know, it is a custom of this committee to swear in all witnesses. so i ask you to please stand and raise your right hand. do you swear that the testimony you're about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you god? thank you.

let it be noted that the record -- in the record that the witnesses answered in the affirmative. before we start, i want you to know that your full statement will be made part of the record. and i'd like to remind you to please limit your remarks to three minutes. so shawna, will you please proceed with your statement? [ speaking foreign language ] i just said in chinese, hello, everyone.

my name is shawna. i'm 11 years old. i'm in fifth grade at providence elementary school. i like chinese class very much because chinese class is fun. i have been taking chinese since the first grade which was the first year it was taught at my school. my teacher has been my teacher all five years. there's a second chinese teacher at my school who is teaching my little sister. i really like learning chinese. class is a lot of fun because we learn using a lot of games and activities that include everyone in the class that teach us new things. my regular teacher mrs. pratt told me sometimes they're teaching the same things at the same time. this year when we learned about ancient civilizations, she taught us about ancient china and ancient dynasties while we were learning chinese. i like that they go together. sometimes we even do math in chinese class. i want to keep learning chinese. i want to be fluent in chinese. i would like to visit china and i want to be able to talk to people there.

i also like showing people in virginia how i have learned chinese like when i count in chinese the number of things we ate at my favorite restaurant. the people working there were very surprised i could count in chinese. thank you for helping fairfax have chinese classes. i also want to thank ms. yuan for being a great teacher and all the people who help her and my mom and dad who encourage me to learn chinese and work hard in school. i'm very excited to be here representing them. all the providence elementary school in fairfax city. [ speaking in chinese ] that means, thank you, everyone. i am happy to speak some chinese today. learning chinese is not hard. you can also learn chinese.

[ applause ] >> ms. patrick, will you please proceed with your statement. >> yes, mr. chairman. fairfax county public schools is the 11th largest district in the country with approximately 175,000 students. the school division prepares students with the necessary skills that are desperately needed in the federal workforce national security and on the economic front by providing a variety of language offerings to students in kindergarten through 12th grade. funding provided by the federal government allowed fairfax to implement chinese and arabic programs that would not have been implemented otherwise. some policymakers simply felt these languages were too challenging for elementary students. federal start-up funding made it possible to implement chinese and arabic where district funds were not available. once policymakers could see the success of the language programs, they gladly provided funding to ensure students could

continue the languages through high school and have since expanded chinese and arabic to additional sites. the foreign language assistance program grant addressed the need of studying the critical needs languages. the funding provided a firm foundation for language studies that ultimately increased the number of students learning chinese and arabic and provides them the opportunity to become proficient in these critical needs languages prior to the grant in 2005, we had 125 high school students learning chinese. and we had 162 students learning arabic. today we have a little over 5,000 students in elementary, middle, and high school learning chinese, and we have over 1,000 students learning arabic. our fifth grade students are now connecting sentences to convey meaning orally as well as in writing using characters and arabic script. the grant awarded in 2006 funded

projects at every level. with the fubding we developed a virtual online chinese course for the virginia department of education which allows more students the opportunity to learn chinese, not just in fairfax county but throughout the commonwealth of virginia. we developed an electronic classroom that broadcasts arabic courses to fairfax county high school students attending schools that do not have sufficient enrollment to offer arabic. we also develop chinese programs in the fairfax high school pyramid which gives students in grades 1 through 12 an articulated program of studies. and we support chinese and arabic programs at eight additional elementary schools and four high schools by providing professional development and materials. we also partner with georgetown university and george mason university for student mentoring, seminars, guest speakers, and summer language camps. we now have ample research that proves what all other countries have known for a long time.

we must start language learning at an early age when the brain is most receptive to language acquisition. mastering a foreign language takes time, sequential study and practice. when language supervisors propose starting a language program, they are often denied due to already stretched district and state budgets. policymakers view them as a want and not a need for students. federal funding is the only way we can initiate programs that will prove to the taxpayers and policymakers that the money is well spent once people can see what these children can do with a second language. we don't know what the world would be like in 20 years, but we do know we cannot say that we are educating our students for the 21st century if we're not giving them the tools they need to protect the country and to keep america the superpower it is today. and in closing, i'd like to say fairfax county public schools is thankful for the federal funding we receive and 6,000 fairfax county students studying chinese

and arabic are thankful, too. >> thank you very much, ms. patrick. ms. dresdner, please proceed with your statement. >> i have always been an adventurer. i enjoyed puzzles, exploring, and learning new things. these qualities led me to apply for the national security language initiative for youth. or nsliy as we call it. i studied russian in high school for two years. i decided the ideal way to get to the next level in russian language was through immersion. so in my senior year of high school, i applied for nsliy, a scholarship funded by the u.s. department of state through the bureau of educational and cultural affairs and administered by american councils for international education. when i won the scholarship to study in russia, i was ecstatic. however, i had no idea how significantly this experience

would change my perception of culture and language as well as shape my educational and career aspirations. during my time in russia, i lived in a host family. on my first day, they were unsure of how to behave around me, how to speak to me, and even how to feed me. bread, pancakes, soda, what do americans eat for breakfast? unfortunately, my ability to communicate was limited to prepared phrases i learned in high school and at my program orientation. i knew how to say hello, good-bye, please, thank you and very tasty. well, very tasty was helpful with the food issue. however, i felt unable to communicate my emotions and learned more about the family kind enough to keep me as their guest. i wanted so badly to speak to them and tell them how grateful i was for their generosity and hospitality.

my host family made my reason for language learning personal and emotional. my goal to communicate in russian was achieved through practice speaking with my family, practice around the city, and my study at a linguistics university. there our professor natasha and svetlana put an extraordinary amount of effort into teaching us russian. through their teaching, i quickly became able to express myself. my host mom was delighted when i asked her about her day and told her about the poem i was reading all in russian. my new russian friends, professors, and host family inspired me. after returning from russia, i was confident not only that i wanted to study russian in college, but also that i wanted to pursue a career involving russia and international relations. in 2014, i will graduate from smith college with a double

major, economics and russian civilization. i hope to work in public service for either the u.s. department of state, a sector of the federal government, or a nonprofit organization. by pursuing a career involving public service and russia, i know that i will be working in a field that i am passionate about. and it is through nsliy that i discovered my passion for russian studies. thank you, mr. chairman for this opportunity and i'd be happy to answer any questions. >> thank you very much. mr. wood, please proceed with your statement. >> nsliy is a federally funded program by the u.s. department of state that has allowed me to do unimaginable things. without the support, i would not have been granted the opportunities that i have experienced such as going to beijing, china, twice in my lifetime along with speaking in front of you today. additionally, i would not have pursued learning the chinese

language. this program highlighted the importance of language, especially the chinese language and how learning the language can benefit me and others. prior to graduating from high school, i had no interest in learning another language. as a student who attended roosevelt high school in washington, d.c., my opportunities were very limited. however during my 10th grade year, i was granted an opportunity that changed my life forever. after much convincing from my a.p. government teacher, i applied for the americans studying abroad program also known as abpsa. i figured this would be a way to view the world outside my local periphery, but i took a chance and it paid off. i was offered the opportunity to study abroad in beijing, china, for six weeks to study chinese language and culture. i am forever grateful that the funding granted me the opportunity to go to china. as a student who had never been on a plane prior to going to beijing, this was a

life-changing experience. i appreciate that america's promoting study abroad target students that live in underrepresented communities across the nation because that's where dire attention needs focus now. it's not just the students who can afford these opportunities that are deemed globally aware because of their travel experiences, but also through the lenses of students like me and ones in underrepresented communities because every student deserves a global experience. since my experience, i have decided to pursue a future career in the foreign service working either in an international development organization or an igo or ngo. i recently finished my freshman year at george mason university where i am pursuing a double major in global affairs with concentration of international development and a major in chinese. i am also currently in the chinese language buddy program at my college where you chat and build relationships with native chinese citizens that come to study at mason.

i probably would've pursued a career very different from the one i'm pursuing now if i didn't go to the program. these types of programs are very necessary for the development of our future young generation. because without them, we have very limited views on the world. as the united states becomes more diverse, more interactive, more developed technologywise, we have to understand that the only barrier that we have to break is through communication. especially through languages such as chinese. improving the foreign language capacity of the nation is crucial to the united states' success over this lifetime. in order to become powerful, we have to learn to adapt and learn new knowledge. through language and immersion, you achieve both requirements. thank you for your time. i'm happy to answer any questions that you have. >> thank you very much.

major mitchell, please proceed with your statement. >> chairman akaka, thank you for the opportunity to discuss my experiences as a bourne fellow and the impact it's had on my career as an army officer. my boren fellowship afforded me the opportunity to spend a semester at the american university in cairo's arabic language institute. it was an experience which significantly shaped my decision to enter the military and has significantly impacted my career as an army officer specialized in the affairs of the arab world. i have served a total of 48 months in the middle east as both a combat arms officer and a foreign area officer. throughout my career, i have leveraged my arabic language training to build partnerships at the tactical, operational, and strategic levels with our partners in the region. i have studied arabic in a variety of venues to include the

foreign service field in tunisia, princeton university and my alma mater washington university in st. louis. however, it was a semester i spent in cairo as a boren fellow where i laid the groundwork for a high degree of spoken arabic proficiency. i first put my arabic language skills to work in 2003 when i served in al anbar province with the 3rd armored cavalry regiment. i understood the valuable role with local iraqi officials and placed me in charge of the government support team. the rapport i built in cities such as fallujah saved american and iraqi lives and helped my unit develop the successful counterinsurgency strategy. in 2004, i took command of a tank company in the 3rd armored cavalry regiment and trained my men for a second tour beginning in april 2005. because i could speak arabic,

i was partnered with an iraqi army battalion in the province. our tour was successful and recognized as one of the strongest american-iraqi tactical partnerships at that time. i was able to plan and execute tactical operations with my iraqi counterparts without an interpreter. i have the national security education program to thank for that. because of my boren fellowship, i came to the army with a unique skill set that i have leveraged to build and strengthen strategic relationships with our partners in the middle east. alumni like me are currently serving across the department of defense and other governmental agencies. we arrive at the federal workforce, language enabled and regionally astute, ready to address complex problems and build lasting partnerships across the globe. and sir, i want to thank you for your continued interest in this

very important capability. >> thank you very much. shawna, when i was a youngster, my dad spoke chinese and hawaiian in hawaii. but at that time, people thought it was bad for children to learn multiple languages. so my parents did not teach me. as a matter of fact, they said speak english. you're very lucky. because now we understand that it is good for students and very important for a country to teach foreign languages.

my question to you is, what do you like most about learning a different language? and what made you want to learn it? >> what i like most about learning chinese is how it is taught to us. through fun activities but still learning. i guess my parents inspired me to learn another language because i was already learning one because of my religion. and i just like learning more about the other cultures, and i guess that inspired me to learn chinese. >> i see. and did -- did you have an opportunity to go to a chinese community or to china? >> not yet, but i'm hoping to when i get -- when i'm older to go to china and learn more about

the culture and the way of life. >> yes, and as you know, there are different dialects in china. when i said my father spoke chinese, he spoke cantonese. a from the major language now in china. thank you very much for your responses, shawna. miss patrick. i'm impressed with your achievements. >> thank you. >> in educating young students in foreign languages. and i like your mahalo as well. >> thank you. do you know how long students continue their language after your program and how study has

affected their language goals? >> the key when is you study language at an early age students don't look at it as being a difficult language or really even an academic subject, they look at it as a communicative tool. we now have all our language lessons that are related to content. so they're using language to problem-solve in the area of math, science, social studies. and so to continue on, as you heard today, it seems like the natural next step. you're learning the language through sixth grade, you continue on through seventh, until you hit higher levels of proficiency, which we are seeing in our students. the students, it's interesting, we don't encourage them to only think of two languages. we want this to be the foundation of multiple languages. sometimes we see our students take on even another language in middle school or high school and continue on with two or three

languages in college. so i think because we're developing that fearlessness of language, they're also more encouraged to continue with the language at the higher level of education. >> thank you. this question is for ms. dressner, mr. wood, major mitchell. how has learning a different language and about a different culture shaped your perspective about the world we live in? >> well, i feel that learning a language and learning about the culture is critical to language learning in general, because it gives you a basis for understanding. and you can really connect more

to the language and have a reason for continuing to learn the language. and i believe that that's growingly important in this day and age when the world needs language speakers and needs people to be able to communicate cross-culturally. thank you. >> thank you. mr. wood? >> i think that it allows me to think outside of like my own stereotypes that i had prior to going. i think learning a new language and about their culture allows me to learn about the language and the people that are wind the culture as the people and what they do and how they interact with each other. and it allows me to see them as -- i guess to explain this -- it allows me to interact with them in a way where i couldn't have before if i didn't learn

their language and with their language it helps me develop a relationship with them. >> thank you very much. major mitchell? >> yes, sir. i think that language is sort of the hard science of understanding people who come from different places than oneself. i find that emphasizing the common things between -- the things that are common to myself, to my peers in the army, and the people that we work w h with, that learning a language helps you to emphasize those common factors, you know, as human beings. so i'm a big advocate, maybe a language determinist, in the sense that i think it really -- a lot of the way that we think

is done in language. so if i want to know another way of thinking about a topic, to learn to do that in a different language gives me a different perspective. so i'm a big advocate of language training. >> i should tell you that i'm a world war ii veteran. and during that time, i served out in the pacific. and at that time, our country used our japanese citizens who were male at that time, because they just drafted males, and used them to deal with the

japanese. so they became a pod what was we call mis, military intelligence service. but it is claimed that their work out there in the pacific during that period of time, and because of language, they were able to shorten world war ii by years. and so even at that time, the language made a difference. and i knew some interpreters of general macarthur at that time who served in the philippines as well as in japan after the war, japan surrendered, and learned a

lot from them. that the language speaking ability really made a difference with the japanese. and were able to help stabilize the government at that time. and even to the point where it helped to bring japan about so that they could become as it has, one of the top industrial nations. so the language from our citizens makes a difference. and i'm so glad that we're moving in that direction. but from my position i want to be sure we have adequate resources and programs to help

bring this about. and at this point in time, your experiences can help us bring it about. this is why we have you here in our panels and everything you've said will be part of the record. and will make a difference to us and to our country. so i would like to say thank you to our witnesses for being here today. it is clear that we have made good progress to improve our nation's language capabilities. however, as you know, more work remains to be done. i look forward to working with the administration and my colleagues in the senate to make sure we have robust language capabilities. and you're helping us to do

that. the hearing record will be open for two weeks for questions other members may have. and again, i want to say mahalo. thank you so much for your responses and your statements. it is helpful. this hearing is adjourned. congressmen, there are people who look at what happened with jpmorgan, they say here's a company made a stupid decision, did something done, lost money, didn't collapse, fired the people who were responsible, this is the market at work, this is how it's supposed to happen, why does government need to play a role? >> to some extent that's true but i take some credit for it. it's because government has played a role. if this happened five years ago, if jpmorgan lost what appears to be more than $2 billion, i think you would have seen much more panic in the economy, i think you would have seen much more concern. what we did in the legislation we passed a