The Language Magazine features the National Language Service Corps

Last week, the Language Magazine released an article written by David Edwards which spotlights the past year’s growth of the National Language Service Corps (NLSC) -- one of ten language and cultural initiatives of the Defense Language and National Security Education Office (DLNSEO). The NLSC is praised as a civilian volunteer program that addresses the government’s language policy by maintaining a talented pool of U.S. citizens with language and cultural knowledge. These citizens can fulfill national security needs of many Federal agencies.

Congratulations to the National Language Service Corps on becoming authorized as a permanent program

The President of the United States signed the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act, which establishes the National Language Service Corps (NLSC) as a permanent organization.  Prior to this change in status, the NLSC functioned as a pilot and later as an operational program. Although resident in the Department of Defense, the NLSC is positioned to support any federal agency facing gaps in foreign language support.  

NLSC Staff attends Workshop in Fort Polk, LA

The National Language Service Corps’ (NLSC) staff participated in a Regionally Aligned Forces (RAF) Training Enablers Workshop from Wednesday, October 14^th – Friday, October 16^th in Fort Polk, Louisiana. Participation in The RAF Workshop afforded the NLSC an opportunity to present a brief and learn more about fellow participants’ organization.

The NLSC Presented at “Results 2012”

The National Language Service Corps (NLSC) attended The Language Flagship’s “Result 2012” meeting held on October 26, 2012 in New York City. The event commemorated the 10^th anniversary of The Language Flagship program and was well-attended with participants from government agencies, universities, K-12 educational institutions, and private sector companies from across the United States.

The NLSC Reaches New Milestones

The NLSC continues to manage its incoming volunteer membership as well as facilitate the appointment of Members as federal employees to support language and cultural demands of future clients.

The NLSC builds membership in Honolulu, Hawai'i

The NLSC’s outreach efforts will take staff representatives to Honolulu, Hawai'i on Monday, September 10th to continue building and sustaining its membership. Planned recruiting visits will begin on Tuesday September 11th at Kapi’olani Community College where recruiters will distribute information on the National Language Service Corps. On Wednesday, September 12th and Thursday, September 13th, staff will visit the University of Hawaii at Manoa to interact and distribute brochures among the university students.

NLSC Members Graduate from the English for Heritage Language Speakers (EHLS) Program

The National Language Service Corps (NLSC) is pleased to announce the graduation of 16 NLSC Members, applicants and prospects from the English for Heritage Language Speakers (EHLS) Program at Georgetown University on Monday, August 20th 2012. 

German versus Austrian German

“……….languages are the pedigree of nations.”  Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

German is a highly stylized language which, over the centuries, has incorporated the vocabulary of friends and enemies alike.  Its grammar has many distinct rules, most of which have at least one exception.  Nouns are always capitalized; they have not only a male and female gender, but also a neutral one (“der, die, das”). Nouns can be linked to each other indefinitely; their gender always to be determined by the very last noun.  Sentences can be short, but they also can be seemingly endless when “Schachtelsatze” (sentences in boxes) are made to fit into each other like one small box into the next size box, and so on. And the verb is usually the last word in the sentence, which presents quite a challenge for simultaneous interpreters.