Rosetta Stone

--The Fat Years,
Rainer Hachfeld, Neues Deutschland
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Many U.S. troops are being deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq without prior language training, leaving them incapable of any meaningful communication with local populations without the presence of an interpreter.

Our friend Minstrel Boy at Harp and Sword mentioned how he had purchased the Rosetta Stone language program for his friend, Sergeant Major Larry, who deployed last year to Afghanistan. (Our other friend Minstrel Boy made mention of the staff officer who tried to broker the Rosetta Stone deal here.)

The New York Times' Ethicist column last week answered a question regarding a bookstore employee who informed a potential Rosetta Stone customer that he, being an active duty serviceman, could actually download the program for free.

This was stunning on several levels. First, that the Naval officer in question was looking to purchase his own language instruction. Why is the Department of Defense not accommodating this need? We are fighting a Counterinsurgency operation, are we not? Isn't that about winning hearts and minds? Wouldn't elementary language skills be a minimal expectation?

Second, while it is very good of this company to be offering this language program gratis to current service people, why are they not informed about it? Is the DoD offsetting some of this company's costs?

If you can get the word out about the availability of this program, please do. I will try to do the same, and will be thanking Randy Cohen, The Ethicist, for running the question and Rosetta Stone for offering the program.