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By Alex Foote, ,
and Scott McCrea, Tanana Valley Campus
May 2005

Some dressed in military fatigues and others in civilian clothes, the soldiers sat in the third floor classroom in downtown Fairbanks. At exactly 7 p.m. their instructor walked into the room. The joking ended and the potentially life-saving education began.

"As-salaamu alykum," said Hassab-Elrasoul Yousif Ali to the class, which in Arabic means "Peace be unto you."

"Wa alaykum as-sallam," the class responded in unison, which means "And unto you be peace." Ali said other things in Arabic, and had the class repeat the phrase or vocabulary word over and over again until he was satisfied with the collective responses.

If the 25 soldiers of the >172 Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) from Fort Wainwright taking the Arabic Customs and Culture class offered by UAF TVC seemed a little more attentive to the lecture than many college students, it was because they were there for more than the three college credits. All of the soldiers in the class were preparing for possible assignment to Iraq this summer, and many viewed the material presented in the course as an integral component of their mission.

"I believe it will be really helpful," said Staff Sgt. John Bright, who has already served one tour of duty in Iraq. "When I first arrived, there were not that many interpreters," which he said made his job more difficult.

"This class is going to help out a lot, even if we learn just a little basic vocabulary," he said.

Fellow classmate Capt. Jesse Branson agreed. "Although there is no way to be fully functional in Iraq with what we learned here, I feel comfortable enough to communicate at the basic level. This class will enable me and the others to show people that we are going the extra mile to learn their language and culture and be sensitive to their beliefs and way of life. That alone might save a life or two."

"We try to train and prepare our soldiers the best way we can, and this course just makes sense," said Maj. Richard Somers, who helped coordinate the course with TVC. "If and when we deploy, this training will be vital in preparing our soldiers for the situations they may encounter."

The soldiers role-played situations such as how to build relationships with civilians, exchange greeting and courteous expressions, deal with angry crowds, give orders and warnings in case of danger, and how to converse with the enemy if captured.

In one class Ali ran the soldiers through what to say and how to act at a checkpoint, practicing phrases such as "Can you please spread your hands?" and "Please my brother, have a seat here for checking."

"It is very simple," he said. "Get their name, their passport and make them psychologically ready and at ease to be checked."

Ali, a foreign language adjunct instructor at TVC, developed and taught the class at TVC as well as co-teaching a second class at Fort Wainwright. Originally from Sudan, Ali said that teaching this subject to American soldiers has tremendous meaning to him.

"I believe the American taxpayers have been contributing with tremendous generosity and a big smile to other cultures, including my own," said Ali. "I thought this was a good chance to start paying back to them and I wish they will accept my first payment."

Ali attended college at the University of Poona, India, where he received his master's degree in petroleum technology. He moved to the U.S. in 2001 to obtain a master's degree in international peace studies at the University of Notre Dame, and came to Fairbanks in January 2004 to pursue his master's degree in petroleum engineering at UAF. He began teaching an Arabic language class for TVC during the fall 2004 semester.

In addition to basic language skills, the class focused on aspects of Arabic culture which are different from the west, such as:

• Arabs tend to resolve conflicts one on one and are disinclined to rely on legal formalities to resolve conflicts.
• Arabic speakers use the pronoun "we" instead of "I" and avoid direct eye contact.
• Arab culture doesn't support public displays of affection, even between spouses.
• It is considered disrespectful to show the soles of your shoes when you sit down.
• If an Arab woman is entirely covered, it is not appropriate to offer to shake her hand.
• If someone does shake hands, do not squeeze tighter than the other person.
• Place your hand over your heart as you greet someone from a distance.
• Criticizing someone in public is not recommended in an Arabic culture.
• In Arabic cultures the concept of honor versus shame is deeply rooted in every act.

For most of the soldiers, the TVC class was their first exposure to Arabic language and culture. Others, such as Capt. Robert Rossi, came to the class with some knowledge based on previous encounters.

"I spent six months in Egypt as part of the Multinational Force and Observer mission in the Sinai in 2001, so I had a pretty good understanding of Arab culture and history and of Islam in general prior to entering the class," he said. Rossi said the most interesting aspect of the class for him was the language component, which, he said, was easier than it might seem.

"Despite the way it looks, there is a lot of simplicity to the alphabet," he said. "Unlike English, Arabic is a truly phonetic language so pronunciation of unfamiliar words, or the ability to spell out words phonetically in Arabic, even if you don't know their meaning, isn't rocket science."

Maj. Mark Stone is another soldier in the class who already spent time in Iraq. Should he return this summer, it will be his third trip there. Stone said that many of the local peoples he came in contact with during his previous deployments spoke English. And, on "nine out of 10 missions, especially the more important ones," Stone's unit was accompanied by an Iraqi interpreter to help them communicate with the public. These missions have taught him the value of communicating with local people and understanding their customs.

"Putting politics aside, you're just dealing with individuals, and they're human beings. You want to keep winning the hearts and minds of the populace," he said. Stone says he remains convinced that cooperation and understanding--skills learned in classes such as the one offered at TVC--will eventually prevail in Iraq.

"But for us to be able to do that will take time," he said. "We're still trying to bridge that gap, partly by learning their culture and language."

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For more information, please contact:

• Alex Foote,, fystar@uaf.edu or (907) 474-6039
• Scott McCrea, Marketing Coordinator, Tanana Valley Campus, fnsjm@uaf.edu or (907) 455-2857

Useful links:

• Compliation of useful Arabic phrases, expressions and words (Arab World)
• English-Arabic Translator

UAF photos by Todd Paris.