Berlitz Orlando offers professional language instruction in over 50 languages, as well as cross-cultural training, interpretation and translation services, right in the heart of Central Florida.
 

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Release Date: June 28, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE     
LANGUAGE, CULTURAL AWARENESS – A WAKE UP CALL FOR AMERICA

“America may be falling behind the rest of the world in the globalization process.” This was the general consensus behind “The National Language Conference: A Call for Action,” sponsored by the US Department of Defense and the Center for the Advanced Study of Language, which took place at the University of Maryland, Adelphi, Maryland on June 22-24, 2004.
 
Representatives of B.I.B. Consultants, Inc., d.b.a. as Berlitz Language Center in Orlando, attended the conference to better understand the position of our country’s Federal Government agencies, Armed Forces, Academia and the Private Sector experts. All were invited with the purpose of discussing America’s current language and cultural awareness needs, along with the necessary actions required to improve the current scarcity of linguists in a nation that currently lacks a positive image of global relations in the most common denominator of human interaction: Language.
 
During the conference, Mrs. Gail McGinn, Deputy Undersecretary of Defense and Honorable David C. Chu, Undersecretary of Defense stressed on our nation’s need to improve American human relations with the rest of the world through the knowledge of foreign languages and cultural literacy in a fully-global economy, particularly under the current terrorist threats.
 
Many speakers emphasized that America’s image in the world has been tarnished over the years as a result of international conflict, which does not help the world’s perception that the U.S. wants to impose an English language standard on our allies and enemies, not realizing that a language is a country’s most vivid element of self image and national pride. Language knowledge is truly an important element of the application of the Golden Rule in international relations.
 
Expert speakers addressed issues such as global competitiveness, present and future needs for Language Skills in the federal and private sectors (industries such as construction, healthcare, and hospitality/tourism) and they agree on the need to increase internationally-oriented education as the foundation for a stronger American position in the world, which should consequently motivate the re-thinking of industry practices, partnerships and international educational models with the purpose of maintaining peace and prosperity among the world’s nations.
The need to educate global citizens today for national security and international competitiveness was stressed as a wake up call for the private and federal sectors. Their employees’ ability to communicate in two or more languages (as well as the need to develop cultural awareness) was considered an imperative to resolve human relations in today's complex global economy.
 
The present situation was compared with the launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik, which caused the adoption of several measures in education reform, which included motivating students to study Math, Sciences and Technology-related subjects, to counteract the USSR and its goals of space superiority. Speakers concurred that the present situation in the world requires an explicit response from the Government and the private sector. A failure to do so can entail serious dangers for the American national security and economic competitiveness.
 
Among the most relevant conclusions can be mentioned the need for the adoption of a national policy for language acquisition and the appointment of a national committee to assure the coordination of efforts among different agencies, the need to integrate the heritage community in this process in order to benefit from important available resources, the need to adopt languages as core subjects in education as well as the need to adopt a more communicative and practical approach.
 
B.I.B. Consultants, whose commercial branch operates as the Berlitz Language Center of Orlando, actively participated in group discussions and presented ideas based in their experience of teaching languages to both individuals and affinity groups, such as industry-specific organizations. They emphasized the need to make language instruction in K-12 levels much more appealing and interesting, through the adoption of modern methods of language instruction and by educating students on the benefits of developing their language skills in preparation to a rewarding career in internationally-oriented organizations.
 
If your organization is serious and committed to follow our national initiatives on language education, you can contact the Berlitz Language Center of Orlando and request to speak to a corporate account executive for more information on Corporate and Industry-Specific language instruction. You may also visit them on the web at www.berlitzorlando.com.
 
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT: Daniel Guillan (B.I.B. Consultants) at (407) 248-8222.
 
B.I.B. Consultants, Inc. owns and operates the Berlitz Language Center of Orlando, offering professional language instruction to individuals and businesses throughout Central Florida.