ADF French linguists aid 6RAR

By Pte Simone Heyer
DURING November last year, three ADF School of Languages French students were sent on their first assignment as linguists – two weeks on the ground in New Caledonia.

Of the four-person strong French long course, three were sent as support for A Coy, 6RAR who were in country for Exercise Croix Du Sud.

Maj Nick Floyd, Captains Scott Winter and Simon Moore-Wilton were three of five linguists on the trip, the fourth and fifth were DJFHQ’s Capt Arran Hassell and 2CER’s Spr Hector Giroire.

Maj Floyd worked at unit HQ-level with the aim of assisting interface between the French HQ.

“As the aim from the French point of view was to operate in English, I was able to assist in written translation,” he said.

“Being a linguist is all about communication, to this end I was able to employ myself in assisting PR teams from both sides.”

A Coy were given French lessons for two hours a day over five weeks. Maj Floyd lent a hand in the instruction.

“I was astonished with the level of interest of the soldiers to embrace the language.”

He said that the 2002 French course at ADF Langs – under the tutelage of Fabrice Pilon, taught the linguists about common French cultures and values, which were different to the Anglo-Saxon way of thinking.

“It gave us a taste and awareness that things are different out there and you need to ensure research is done to appropriately respect their customs and maximise working relations.”

Maj Floyd said he and the other French students had done a field study trip to France as part of their course.

“We were all attached to different French units according to our corps.

“We were forced to engage in professional communication instead of just pleasantries, which is vital for interoperability.”

Spr Giroire had a bit more of a heads up on the trip than the other French speakers.

French is his native tongue so he was more than willing to help out his Aussie compatriates.

Spr Giroire became a welcome face to the French and Australian soldiers and was able to bridge the language gap.

He was constantly able to step in to explain and clarify points each party was trying to get across.

Spr Giroire was also kind enough to act as a demi-journalist, where interviews were done through him, for Army.