Linguists
an asset in the Middle East
By
SSgt Ward Gros
PORT of Shuaiba – Kuwait. American soldiers have started
studying Arabic twice a week thanks to fellow soldier who grew
up speaking Arabic in Alexandria, Egypt.
Spc Suzan Oliver spends Tuesday and Thursday afternoons teaching
Arabic to soldiers assigned to the Port of Shuaiba.
She speaks seven Arabic dialects but deployed to Kuwait as a
crane operator. Spc Oliver said she wanted to be a linguist
when she joined the Army, but that required a security clearance
that she couldn’t get at the time because she was not an
American citizen.
She took the Defence Language Proficiency Test as soon as she
could and received the skill identifier for Arabic linguist,
for which she receives extra pay.
Her father had a distinguished career working with the UN; some
of her brothers and sisters work for humanitarian relief agencies
in Africa; and now she finds herself working in a similar field.
“I spend most of my time with port passes, verifying nationalities
and filling out forms in Arabic,” she said.
Her other duties with civil affairs range from answering the
phone in Arabic to translating for generals and sheiks.
Although Spc Oliver speaks seven different dialects of Arabic,
she says the Egyptian dialect always overtakes the dialect she’s
speaking.
In addition to the slight differences in dialect and word choice,
there is a greater difference between Egyptian and Kuwaiti culture.
“While growing up in Egypt, I learned about the different
Arabic cultures.
“The Kuwaitis treat women differently. In Egypt women work
in different career fields, while in Kuwait they are subordinate
to the men. When speaking with them, I make an effort to get
my point across without them looking at me as a woman.”
When Kuwaitis meet her for the first time, the 24-year-old said,
“it’s a shock for them at first, because they see
me as an American, which I am. After they ask all their questions
and find out I’m from Egypt, some say it’s too much
freedom for a girl to be in the Army in a different country
on her own.
“My dad always encouraged me to do what is best,”
she said. She spent her school years at boarding schools in
Egypt and her summers around the world with her father. –
From US DoD
