Pentagon declares war on multiple language gaps with new system
WASHINGTON — The military has acquired a system that would enable soldiers and
foreign area officers to learn any of 70 languages.
The CL-150 system,
manufactured by Transparent Language, has been used by the U.S. Navy, Marine
Corps, Special Operations Command and Defense Language Institute.
"In the government sector it's about real-world proficiency,"
Transparent Language chief executive officer Mike Quinlan said.
The U.S. Army has licensed Transparent's CL-150 Technology Matrix for
Critical Languages for use by all its foreign area officers. Often, such an
officer is the only U.S. military representative in a Third World country.
The U.S. military and government have been urged to improve their
language skills for diplomats and officers. The Defense Department has
identified several critical languages, including Arabic, Farsi and Pashtun, Middle East Newsline reported.
Executives said CL-150 marked an extensive suite of software
applications and content for language learning. They said the multi-platform
software could support the learning of languages for government and military
purposes.
"Transparent Language focuses on using technology to get the greatest
result from the time someone spends learning a language," Quinlan said.
