[gu-l] (01/07/02) Pashuto of Afghanistan and ESL
Tak Utsumi
utsumi@columbia.edu
Mon, 07 Jan 2002 12:19:02 -0500
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<<January 7, 2002>>
Archived distributions can be retrieved by clicking =B3Correspondence=B2 in our
home page at <http://www.friends-partners.org/GLOSAS/>.
For those after 2/27/01, see or bookmark:
<http://www.friends-partners.org/pipermail/gu-l/> and click on =B3Date,=B2 for
example. The most recent archives are the bottom line.
Steven Donahue <sdonah01@bellsouth.net>
Dr. David Levy <AXEL@conted.lan.mcgill.ca>
Dr. Larry T. Gell <lgell@iaed.org>
Sandra M. Benedetto <sbenedetto@pnmt.com>
Paul Bauersfeld <paul.bauersfeld@eZmeeting.com>
Bob Stein <bob@nightkitchen.com>
James Masao Toyama <James.Toyama@am.sony.com>
Paul Kawachi <paul@paulkawachi.com>
Dear Steve:
(1) Many thanks for your msg (ATTACHMENT I).
My sincere congratulations to the New York Times article of today about you=
r
project of teaching Pashuto of Afghanistan via Internet (ATTACHMENT II).
I am taking the liberty of posting your previous msg relevant to this matte=
r
(ATTACHMENT III). It is quite interesting write-up!!
(2) During the holidays, David Levy was in New York.
> (a) Thanks to the kind introduction of Larry Gell, we had very interestin=
g
> demo=B9s of DVD web by Sandra and eZmeeting by Paul Bauersfeld at Paul=B9s of=
fice.
> (Paul: Many thanks for your demo, time and conference room. Sandra: Many
> thanks for your time and very impressive demo.)
>=20
>> (i) Sandra=B9s demo was the combined use of DVD with web access via narrow=
-band
>> Internet. (When you click on a web, its multimedia content previously s=
tored
>> in the DVD can be shown on your screen immediately, thus saving long tim=
e and
>> money to download it through narrow-band Internet.)
>>=20
>> (ii) Paul=B9s demo was the multimedia collaborating system via narrow-band
>> Internet with audio conferencing via Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS)
>> network.
>>=20
>>> This is similar to ShareVision via POTS. However, eZmeeting can do up =
to 32
>>> simultaneous participants compared with only two participants of
>>> ShareVision.
>>>=20
> (b) David Levey and I had a pleasure of visiting Jim Toyama of SONY, and
> talked about their extensive capabilities of content development =8B
> particularly with the use of DVD.
>=20
(3) David is now planning to have two-day workshop at his McGill University
in Montreal, Canada in the coming month, to brainstorm on how to integrate
various cutting-edge technologies for our ESL.
ATTACHMENT IV is the synopsis of this ESL program. David expects to have
the attendance of those people related with the technologies mentioned in
this list at his workshop in Montreal.
> David: Pls check it and let me know of your refinements, since the deadl=
ine
> of the InfoDev of the World Bank is February 1, 2002.
Dear Paul Kawachi:
(4) David is very interested in the results of your survey on the
learnability of English by the Japanese Self-Defense Force/Kurume Campus
which David and I arranged last May at their headquarters in Tokyo, though
the kind introduction of Mr. Sohei Miyashita, former Secretary of the
defense force, and my family acquaintance.
Since David is now start contemplating the construction of similar
questionnaires for Japanese businessmen and Brazilians, pls send me and
David your report of this project at your earliest convenience. Thanks in
advance.
Best, Tak
ATTACHMENT I=20
Subject: Re: PASHTO, the language of the Taliban etc.
Date: Monday, January 7, 2002 3:47 AM
From: steven donahue <sdonah01@bellsouth.net>
To: <utsumi@columbia.edu>
Tak,
Here is an update on the Afghan Language project in today=92s New York Times.
You can experience the phone program by calling toll free to (866) 534-8531
or visiting www.1usa1.info
Best,
Steven
ATTACHMENT II=20
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/07/technology/07PASH.html?pagewanted=3Dprint
The New York Times
January 7, 2002
Electronic Primer for an Afghan Language
By CHRIS GAITHER
With speakers of Pashto, Afghanistan's most commonly used language, in
demand in diplomatic and military circles, a linguistics professor has
devised a Pashto primer that teaches the language by phone and computer.
Its inventor, Steven Donahue, a professor at Miami-Dade Community College i=
n
Florida, sent free software and workbooks to United States senators, State
Department staff members, officials at the Defense Department and military
intelligence specialists. He thought they could use the lessons to pave the
way in missions in Afghanistan, where about half the population speaks
Pashto.
"Even if you know a couple of words, it opens doors," Professor Donahue
said. "It gets you out of that category of being an ugly American."
For soldiers, who have their own training program on his Web site
(www.1usa1.info), words learned could include battlefield (dagar), flag
(bayragh), prisoner (bandi) or bullet (gwaley).
The program allows students to recite and listen to Pashto in lessons over
downloaded computer software or over a toll-free telephone number. Students
can even use voice-recognition software for basic translation from English
into Pashto, and back again.
Professor Donahue teaches English as a second language. He has used the
telephone and computer to teach languages for several years and he moved to
create a program for the languages of Afghanistan quickly after the Sept. 1=
1
terrorist attacks.
"I had all the tools," said Professor Donahue, who speaks no Pashto himself=
.
"The only thing I didn't have was a Pashto speaker."
In late September, Professor Donahue flew to the Washington offices of
Habibullah Tegey, who is the senior editor of Pashto services for Voice of
America. Over the next few days, Professor Donahue recorded Mr. Tegey as he
recited some 1,000 basic Pashto words to fill out the database.
The dictionary, which uses voice- recognition software by a company called
Voxeo, is temperamental. A query for words that a soldier might use produce=
d
mixed results. "Dog" and "surrender" translated properly, but the best the
system could do with "shoot" was the Pashto equivalent of "shoe."
Sgt. Maj. Rich Czizik, a spokesman for the United States Central Command, i=
n
Tampa, Fla., said he had received Professor Donahue's training materials
"with no strings attached," and passed them on to linguists in the
intelligence community. He said they had found the program useful, though h=
e
declined to say what they did with it.
Mr. Donahue, who financed the venture himself, said he distributed the
program "to the troops as a work of love," though he added that he hoped to
eventually win a government contract for his services.
Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company | Privacy Information
ATTACHMENT III=20
Subject: PASHTO, the language of the Taliban etc.
Date: Saturday, November 10, 2001 9:11 AM
From: steven donahue <sdonah01@bellsouth.net>
To: <utsumi@columbia.edu>
Tak,
Perhaps you can help me bring this course pack to Columbia or another major
school.
Or perhaps it may be of interest to someone in your networks.
Regards,
Steven
---------------------
After 9/11 I re-thought all of my work that was directed towards English as
a Second Language and re-committed it to the minority or miscellaneous
languages at the epicenter of the war on terrorism=8BPashtu (the lanaguage of
the Taliban), and the languages of Southern Russian, Pakistan, and Iran.
I've sent you pretty comprehensive materials on that effort which is now up
and running. A large publisher will probably be publishing the workbook. I
am in discussions with several universities to host it or make it available
to the public (Red Cross, Humanitarian Aid workers, Media traveling there,
Diplomats, Business people involved in reconstruction, Medical personnel
etc.) We have met with top officials in the Department of Defense.
We have been to D.C. many times since the disasters and filmed the foremost
authority on Pashto, Dr. Habib Tegey of the Voice of America Pashto
Services. He is the Senior Editor there and broadcasts daily to Afghanistan=
.
He wrote the only textbook for English speakers to learn Pashto. The books
were used at the Defense Language Institute for awhile to teach Pashto, but
have since been discontinued. In fact, not a single institution teaches the
crucial language at this time in the U.S. Due to the shortage of materials
and teachers, a super-technology system has been developed to deliver
900-1000 Pashto vocabulary items. The system, language, and contact
information are described below:
------------------------
To learn Pashto over the telephone, call toll free (866) 689-5307
----------------------
PROGRAM
(a) 50 page text with bilingual glossaries for 900-1000 terms. (Pearson)
(b) CD with assessment and feedback features for 900-1000 terms. (Dazzle
Technologies)
(c) Web program which delivers the same as go to http://www.1usa1.info
(d) Video which covers the material in the text.
(e) Access to wireless/Internet-enabled phones or PDAs to a Pashto lookup
program and text test-battery for the BPV.
> (i) Taliban-By-Phone (866) 689-5307
> (ii) PDA device point to http://www.1usa1.info
> (ii) http://www.glearner.com/p2/tests/index.asp
> (iii) http://www.glearner.com/p2/tests/lookup/lookup.asp
(f) Access to 8 hours of Phone Lab via a toll free number.
> call toll free (866) 689-5307
> web page at http://www.languagfone.com
(g) User access to database for the above to see their results.
(h) Access to support.
------------------------------------------------
Contacts: Steven Donahue 954 920 8192
---------------------------------------------------
LANGUAGE BACKGROUND
PEAKING OF AFGHANISTAN: THE LANGUAGE OF THE TALIBAN.
Steven Donahue
Give me two things.
Then let the British come.
A gun to fight with that won=92t jam.
A girl to fight next to who will love.
YOUR CAVE OR MINE?
NO. They don=92t speak just Afghani in Afghanistan. Things, linguistically
speaking, are not that simple. Pashto (also spelled Pushtu) is a national
language of Afghanistan and is spoken by over half of the people, including
the Taliban. The other main language (there are dozens) is Dari, or Afghan
Persian.
Probably, Osama bin Laden is the world=92s most notorious second-language
student. In fact bin Laden, =93Is [Adapted From p. 182 A Reference Grammar of
Pashto. Habibullah [Tegey, Barbara Robson. Center for Applied Linguistics.
Washington, D.C.
1996] definitely not fluent in Pashto, probably the main means by which he
communicates with his Taliban lieutenants and guards,=94 according to Dr.
Habibullah Tegey, Senior Editor of the Pashto Services for the Voice of
America. Dr. Tegey elaborated, =93Pashto is what is called in language
typology an ergative language=92 which is not related to Bin Laden=92s
native Arabic language. Typical Ergative languages, such as Basque or the
aboriginal Australian, have the verb agree with the subject in present
tense; Pashtu is ergative only in past tense, where the verb agrees with th=
e
object.=94 Pashto is the best example of non-typical ergativity. Basque is th=
e
best example of typical ergativity.
Essentially, Bin Laden is speaking broken=92 Pashto. Dr. Taylor Roberts, an
expert on Pashto "clitics" (pronominal clitics are weak pronouns) said,
=93Pashtu is a formidable language that would take a second language learner
some time to tune into past tense constructions involving two pronouns, whe=
n
certain verbs would be problematic.=94 For example, My father is sending you
back to the cave I was in yesterday=92 could be mis-interpreted, Your father
is sending me back to the cave I was in yesterday.
THE PASHTUNS
The Pashtuns are an Indo-European people genetically related to the Kurds i=
n
Iraq, Turkey, Iran, and Syria. Pashto belongs to the Indo-European family o=
f
languages and is distantly related to English. Despite the fact that Pashto
is written in a variant of Arabic script, and has many loan words,
particularly from the Qu=92ran, it is not related to that language group.
A now famous Arabic loan word is =93Taliban meaning students. English words
derived from Sanskrit such as =93star, =93God and =93spec (storey=92 Kwaday=92 spek=92
respectively in Pashto) still show an historical echo between English and
Pashto.
Concerning Pashto dialects, Dr. Tegey says, =93Generally speaking there are
three dialects: Western, Eastern, and the Central dialect of Kabul formerly
used by Kabul Radio, which is the de facto standard.=B2 Since Pashto lacks a
=93V=B2 sound, speakers of it will pronounce many English words with =93V=B2 by
substituting a =93W=B2. For example, Very=92 might be pronounced as Wary=92.
The British fought the Afghans (or Pashtuns) in the nineteenth century. Joh=
n
Watson, Sherlock Holme=92s biographer was wounded in a battle between the
British army and the Pashtuns. Rudiyard Kiplings famous poem captures that
period "When you're wounded and left, On Afghanistan's plains, And the wome=
n
come out, To cut up your remains, Just roll on your rifle, And blow out you=
r
brains, And go to your Gawd, Like a soldier."
The Pashtun society is made of hundreds of tribes, governed by an unwritten
code of ethics and hospitality, Pashtunwali. In general, the Pashtuns are
the more conservative Sunni Moslems whose mujaheddin, or freedom fighters,
drove out the Soviets between 1979 and 1989. That decade was the heyday of
Pashto studies in the United States, and courses were offered at the Defens=
e
Language Institute. DLI ended its Pashto program in the early 1990s and the
learning materials have been dispersed.
At the present time, not a single program exists in the United States for
teaching Pashto to English speakers. But that=92s sure to change. Moreover,
following the U.S. strikes on Afghanistan, the Taliban has reportedly banne=
d
people from speaking
English.
For Further Information:
1. Taylor Roberts home page with Pashtu materials:
http://www.yorku.ca/twainweb/troberts/
2. Books and cassettes for learning Pashto have been prepared by the Center
for Applied Linguistics in Washington, DC:
http://www.cal.org/pubs/pashto_p.html
ATTACHMENT IV
Excerpt from Section 12-B in
"Community Development with E-Learning and E-Healthcare in Amazon, Brazil"
-- Grant application to be submitted to the InfoDev of the World Bank.
http://www.friends=20
partners.org/GLOSAS/Manaus%20Workshop/InfoDev_Application/infoDev_Proposa_%=
2
0v_6.html=20
3. English as a Second Language (ESL) Program
Globalization is an inevitable trend of our society nowadays everywhere.
English is the lingua franca of global society in the 21st century. After
very successful teaching of more than 20 million students in 5 years with
Everyday English program via terrestrial radio in the Mainland China, the
Center for Continuing Education (CCE) Department of McGill University in
Montreal, Canada is now initiating the ESL for Japanese businessmen to
improve speaking capability of would-be decision makers of Japanese
organizations. This program may well be converted to university students an=
d
general public in Brazil.
This project is to use following cutting-edge technologies;
* well proven content,
* advanced broadband (10 Mbps) wireless Internet,
* laptop with wireless Internet access to web and to conduct smooth
audio/video conferencings from anywhere within the range of the wireless
antenna,
* web-teaching of pronunciation with audio analyzer,
* multimedia e-book,
* combined use of DVD with web access via narrow-band Internet,
* multimedia collaborating system via narrow-band Internet with audio
conferencing via Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) network.
The expected benefits of this program are;
* its new delivery system can be used for not only English, but also any
other languages and also any subject matters,
* the system can individualize learning, at anywhere, anytime and at any
pace,
* shift from approach of replicating classroom by expensive analog and
digital videoconferencing via ISDN or satellite to inexpensive web based
learning via broadband Internet,
* individualization of learning, thus democratization of educational system=
.
This is a new approach of delivering e-learning as combining the most
advanced Japanese technologies on broadband wireless Internet and
laptop/notebook with the North American's web-based platform and content
development.
List of Distributions
Steven Donahue
Broward Community College
1128 N. 16Th Avenue
Hollywood, FL 33020
954-927-8807
cell: 954-701-1561
(678) 275-6952--Demo
sdonah01@bellsouth.net
sdonahue@broward.cc.fl.us
http://www.10tongues.com
http://www.glearner.com
http://fs.broward.cc.fl.us/~sdonahue
http://www.erepublic.com/publications/gt/2000/sept/departments/eCommerceSLF=
.
shtm
Dr. David Levy
Centre for Continuing Education (CCE)
McGill University
680 Sherbrooke Street West, Suite 1184
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
H3A 3R1
514-398-7374
Fax: 514-398-2650
AXEL@conted.lan.mcgill.ca
Dr. Larry T. Gell
Director-General
International Headquarters
International Agency for Economic Development (IAED)
United Nations Plaza
P. O. Box 2260-GCS
New York, NY 10017
212-687-1775
Cel: 1-646-621-6161
Fax: 212-697-2363
lgell@iaed.org
http://www.iaed.org
Sandra M. Benedetto
Director, Product Development
Product Development & Technical Support Division
Pioneer New Media Technologies, Inc.
600 E. Crescent Ave.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458-1846
201-327-6400
201-236-4179 (direct)
Fax: 201-327-9379
sbenedetto@pnmt.com
http://www.pioneerusa.com
Paul Bauersfeld
VP of Business Development
eZmeeting
654 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10021
1-888-990-0900
paul.bauersfeld@eZmeeting.com
Bob Stein
President
Night Kitchen
41 East 11th Street, 11th Floor
New York, NY 10003 U.S.A.
917 335-6201=20
bob@nightkitchen.com
http://www.nightkitchen.com
James Masao Toyama
Vice President
International Public Affairs
Sony Electronics Inc.
155 Tice Boulevard, Mail Drop: TA3-12
Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey 07677
201-930-6238
Cel: 201-819-3108
Fax: 201-930-6165
James.Toyama@am.sony.com
Paul Kawachi
80-4 Minou Yamamoto Machi,
Kurume City, 839-0826
Japan
Cel: 090-4-999-7820
Fax: (81) 942-44-9727
paul@paulkawachi.com
http://www.paulkawachi.com
or,
Home:
1927-1-206 Higashi Kushiwara
Kurume City, Fukuoka 830-0003
Japan
fax: 0942 40 2080 (home)
or
Shin-ai Women=B9s College
2278-1 Mii-machi
Kurume-shi, Japan 839-8508
Tel: 0942-43-4531
Fax: 0942-43-2531
tandai@kurume-shinai.ac.jp
http://www.kurume-shinai.ac.jp
**********************************************************************
* Takeshi Utsumi, Ph.D., P.E., Chairman, GLOSAS/USA *
* (GLObal Systems Analysis and Simulation Association in the U.S.A.) *
* Laureate of Lord Perry Award for Excellence in Distance Education *
* Founder of CAADE *
* (Consortium for Affordable and Accessible Distance Education) *
* President Emeritus and V.P. for Technology and Coordination of *
* Global University System (GUS) *
* 43-23 Colden Street, Flushing, NY 11355-3998, U.S.A. *
* Tel: 718-939-0928; Fax: 718-939-0656 (day time only--prefer email) *
* Email: utsumi@columbia.edu; Tax Exempt ID: 11-2999676 *
* http://www.friends-partners.org/GLOSAS/ *
**********************************************************************
--B_3093250744_959053
Content-type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>(01/07/02) Pashuto of Afghanistan and ESL</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<FONT FACE=3D"Courier"><<January 7, 2002>><BR>
Archived distributions can be retrieved by clicking “Correspondence&#=
8221; in our home page at <http://www.friends-partners.org/GLOSAS/>.<B=
R>
For those after 2/27/01, see or bookmark:<BR>
<http://www.friends-partners.org/pipermail/gu-l/> and click on “=
;Date,” for example. The most recent archives are the bottom lin=
e.<BR>
<BR>
Steven Donahue <sdonah01@bellsouth.net><BR>
<BR>
Dr. David Levy <AXEL@conted.lan.mcgill.ca><BR>
<BR>
Dr. Larry T. Gell <lgell@iaed.org><BR>
<BR>
Sandra M. Benedetto <sbenedetto@pnmt.com><BR>
<BR>
Paul Bauersfeld <paul.bauersfeld@eZmeeting.com><BR>
<BR>
Bob Stein <bob@nightkitchen.com><BR>
<BR>
James Masao Toyama <James.Toyama@am.sony.com><BR>
<BR>
Paul Kawachi <paul@paulkawachi.com><BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<B><U>Dear Steve:<BR>
</U></B><BR>
(1) Many thanks for your msg (<B>ATTACHMENT I</B>).<BR>
<BR>
My sincere congratulations to the New York Times article of today about you=
r project of teaching Pashuto of Afghanistan via Internet (<B>ATTACHMENT II<=
/B>).<BR>
<BR>
I am taking the liberty of posting your previous msg relevant to this matte=
r (<B>ATTACHMENT III</B>). It is quite interesting write-up!!<BR>
<BR>
(2) During the holidays, David Levy was in New York.<BR>
<BR>
</FONT><BLOCKQUOTE><FONT FACE=3D"Courier">(a) Thanks to the kind introduction=
of Larry Gell, we had very interesting demo’s of DVD web by Sandra an=
d eZmeeting by Paul Bauersfeld at Paul’s office. (<B>Paul:</B> M=
any thanks for your demo, time and conference room. <B>Sandra: </B>Man=
y thanks for your time and very impressive demo.)<BR>
<BR>
</FONT><BLOCKQUOTE><FONT FACE=3D"Courier">(i) Sandra’s demo was the com=
bined use of DVD with web access via narrow-band Internet. (When you c=
lick on a web, its multimedia content previously stored in the DVD can be sh=
own on your screen immediately, thus saving long time and money to download =
it through narrow-band Internet.)<BR>
<BR>
(ii) Paul’s demo was the multimedia collaborating system via narrow-b=
and Internet with audio conferencing via Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) =
network.<BR>
<BR>
</FONT><BLOCKQUOTE><FONT FACE=3D"Courier">This is similar to ShareVision via =
POTS. However, eZmeeting can do up to 32 simultaneous participants com=
pared with only two participants of ShareVision.<BR>
<BR>
</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE><FONT FACE=3D"Courier">(b) David Levey and I=
had a pleasure of visiting Jim Toyama of SONY, and talked about their exten=
sive capabilities of content development — particularly with the use o=
f DVD.<BR>
<BR>
</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE><FONT FACE=3D"Courier">(3) David is now planning to have =
two-day workshop at his McGill University in Montreal, Canada in the coming =
month, to brainstorm on how to integrate various cutting-edge technologies f=
or our ESL.<BR>
<BR>
<B>ATTACHMENT IV</B> is the synopsis of this ESL program. David expec=
ts to have the attendance of those people related with the technologies ment=
ioned in this list at his workshop in Montreal.<BR>
<BR>
</FONT><BLOCKQUOTE><FONT FACE=3D"Courier"><B>David:</B> Pls check it an=
d let me know of your refinements, since the deadline of the InfoDev of the =
World Bank is February 1, 2002.<BR>
</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE><FONT FACE=3D"Courier"><BR>
<B><U>Dear Paul Kawachi:<BR>
</U></B><BR>
(4) David is very interested in the results of your survey on the learnabil=
ity of English by the Japanese Self-Defense Force/Kurume Campus which David =
and I arranged last May at their headquarters in Tokyo, though the kind intr=
oduction of Mr. Sohei Miyashita, former Secretary of the defense force, and =
my family acquaintance.<BR>
<BR>
Since David is now start contemplating the construction of similar question=
naires for Japanese businessmen and Brazilians, pls send me and David your r=
eport of this project at your earliest convenience. Thanks in advance.=
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
Best, Tak<BR>
<HR ALIGN=3DCENTER SIZE=3D"3" WIDTH=3D"95%"></FONT>
<P ALIGN=3DCENTER>
<FONT FACE=3D"Courier"><B>ATTACHMENT I
</B></FONT>
<P>
<FONT FACE=3D"Courier"><BR>
<B>Subject: </B>Re: PASHTO, the language of the Taliban etc.<BR>
<B>Date: </B>Monday, January 7, 2002 3:47 AM<BR>
<B>From: </B>steven donahue <sdonah01@bellsouth.net><BR>
<B>To: </B><utsumi@columbia.edu><BR>
<BR>
Tak,<BR>
Here is an update on the Afghan Language project in today?s New York Times.=
You can experience the phone program by calling toll free to (866) 53=
4-8531 or visiting www.1usa1.info<BR>
Best,<BR>
Steven<BR>
<BR>
<HR ALIGN=3DCENTER SIZE=3D"3" WIDTH=3D"95%"></FONT>
<P ALIGN=3DCENTER>
<FONT FACE=3D"Courier"><B>ATTACHMENT II
</B></FONT>
<P>
<FONT FACE=3D"Courier"><BR>
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/07/technology/07PASH.html?pagewanted=3Dprint<B=
R>
The New York Times<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
January 7, 2002<BR>
<BR>
Electronic Primer for an Afghan Language<BR>
<BR>
By CHRIS GAITHER<BR>
<BR>
With speakers of Pashto, Afghanistan's most commonly used language, in dema=
nd in diplomatic and military circles, a linguistics professor has devised a=
Pashto primer that teaches the language by phone and computer.<BR>
<BR>
Its inventor, Steven Donahue, a professor at Miami-Dade Community College i=
n Florida, sent free software and workbooks to United States senators, State=
Department staff members, officials at the Defense Department and military =
intelligence specialists. He thought they could use the lessons to pave the =
way in missions in Afghanistan, where about half the population speaks Pasht=
o.<BR>
<BR>
"Even if you know a couple of words, it opens doors," Professor D=
onahue said. "It gets you out of that category of being an ugly America=
n."<BR>
<BR>
For soldiers, who have their own training program on his Web site (www.1usa=
1.info), words learned could include battlefield (dagar), flag (bayragh), pr=
isoner (bandi) or bullet (gwaley).<BR>
<BR>
The program allows students to recite and listen to Pashto in lessons over =
downloaded computer software or over a toll-free telephone number. Students =
can even use voice-recognition software for basic translation from English i=
nto Pashto, and back again.<BR>
<BR>
Professor Donahue teaches English as a second language. He has used the tel=
ephone and computer to teach languages for several years and he moved to cre=
ate a program for the languages of Afghanistan quickly after the Sept. 11 te=
rrorist attacks.<BR>
<BR>
"I had all the tools," said Professor Donahue, who speaks no Pash=
to himself. "The only thing I didn't have was a Pashto speaker."<B=
R>
<BR>
In late September, Professor Donahue flew to the Washington offices of Habi=
bullah Tegey, who is the senior editor of Pashto services for Voice of Ameri=
ca. Over the next few days, Professor Donahue recorded Mr. Tegey as he recit=
ed some 1,000 basic Pashto words to fill out the database.<BR>
<BR>
The dictionary, which uses voice- recognition software by a company called =
Voxeo, is temperamental. A query for words that a soldier might use produced=
mixed results. "Dog" and "surrender" translated properl=
y, but the best the system could do with "shoot" was the Pashto eq=
uivalent of "shoe."<BR>
<BR>
Sgt. Maj. Rich Czizik, a spokesman for the United States Central Command, i=
n Tampa, Fla., said he had received Professor Donahue's training materials &=
quot;with no strings attached," and passed them on to linguists in the =
intelligence community. He said they had found the program useful, though he=
declined to say what they did with it.<BR>
<BR>
Mr. Donahue, who financed the venture himself, said he distributed the prog=
ram "to the troops as a work of love," though he added that he hop=
ed to eventually win a government contract for his services.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company | Privacy Information<BR>
<BR>
<HR ALIGN=3DCENTER SIZE=3D"3" WIDTH=3D"95%"></FONT>
<P ALIGN=3DCENTER>
<FONT FACE=3D"Courier"><B>ATTACHMENT III
</B></FONT>
<P>
<FONT FACE=3D"Courier"><BR>
<B>Subject: </B>PASHTO, the language of the Taliban etc.<BR>
<B>Date: </B>Saturday, November 10, 2001 9:11 AM<BR>
<B>From: </B>steven donahue <sdonah01@bellsouth.net><BR>
<B>To: </B><utsumi@columbia.edu><BR>
<BR>
Tak,<BR>
Perhaps you can help me bring this course pack to Columbia or another major=
school.<BR>
Or perhaps it may be of interest to someone in your networks.<BR>
Regards,<BR>
Steven<BR>
---------------------<BR>
After 9/11 I re-thought all of my work that was directed towards English as=
a Second Language and re-committed it to the minority or miscellaneous lang=
uages at the epicenter of the war on terrorism—Pashtu (the lanaguage o=
f the Taliban), and the languages of Southern Russian, Pakistan, and Iran. I=
've sent you pretty comprehensive materials on that effort which is now up a=
nd running. A large publisher will probably be publishing the workbook. I am=
in discussions with several universities to host it or make it available to=
the public (Red Cross, Humanitarian Aid workers, Media traveling there, Dip=
lomats, Business people involved in reconstruction, Medical personnel etc.) =
We have met with top officials in the Department of Defense.<BR>
<BR>
We have been to D.C. many times since the disasters and filmed the foremost=
authority on Pashto, Dr. Habib Tegey of the Voice of America Pashto Service=
s. He is the Senior Editor there and broadcasts daily to Afghanistan. =
He wrote the only textbook for English speakers to learn Pashto. The books w=
ere used at the Defense Language Institute for awhile to teach Pashto, but h=
ave since been discontinued. In fact, not a single institution teaches the c=
rucial language at this time in the U.S. Due to the shortage of materials an=
d teachers, a super-technology system has been developed to deliver 900-1000=
Pashto vocabulary items. The system, language, and contact information are =
described below:<BR>
<BR>
------------------------<BR>
To learn Pashto over the telephone, call toll free (866) 689-5307<BR>
----------------------<BR>
<BR>
PROGRAM<BR>
(a) 50 page text with bilingual glossaries for 900-1000 terms. (Pearson)<BR=
>
(b) CD with assessment and feedback features for 900-1000 terms. (Dazzle Te=
chnologies)<BR>
(c) Web program which delivers the same as go to http://www.1usa1.info<BR>
(d) Video which covers the material in the text.<BR>
(e) Access to wireless/Internet-enabled phones or PDAs to a Pashto lookup p=
rogram and text test-battery for the BPV.<BR>
</FONT><BLOCKQUOTE><FONT FACE=3D"Courier">(i) Taliban-By-Phone (8=
66) 689-5307<BR>
(ii) PDA device point to http://www.1usa1.info<BR>
(ii) http://www.glearner.com/p2/tests/index.asp<BR>
(iii) http://www.glearner.com/p2/tests/lookup/lookup.asp<BR>
</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE><FONT FACE=3D"Courier">(f) Access to 8 hours of Phone Lab=
via a toll free number.<BR>
</FONT><BLOCKQUOTE><FONT FACE=3D"Courier">call toll free (866) 689-5307<BR>
web page at http://www.languagfone.com<BR>
</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE><FONT FACE=3D"Courier">(g) User access to database for th=
e above to see their results.<BR>
(h) Access to support.<BR>
<BR>
------------------------------------------------<BR>
Contacts: Steven Donahue 954 920 8192<BR>
---------------------------------------------------<BR>
<BR>
LANGUAGE BACKGROUND<BR>
<BR>
PEAKING OF AFGHANISTAN: THE LANGUAGE OF THE TALIBAN.<BR>
<BR>
Steven Donahue<BR>
<BR>
Give me two things.<BR>
Then let the British come.<BR>
A gun to fight with that won?t jam.<BR>
A girl to fight next to who will love.<BR>
<BR>
YOUR CAVE OR MINE?<BR>
<BR>
NO. They don?t speak just Afghani in Afghanistan. Things, linguistically sp=
eaking, are not that simple. Pashto (also spelled Pushtu) is a national lang=
uage of Afghanistan and is spoken by over half of the people, including the =
Taliban. The other main language (there are dozens) is Dari, or Afghan Persi=
an.<BR>
<BR>
Probably, Osama bin Laden is the world?s most notorious second-language stu=
dent. In fact bin Laden, ?Is [Adapted From p. 182 A Reference Grammar of Pas=
hto. Habibullah [Tegey, Barbara Robson. Center for Applied Linguistics. Wash=
ington, D.C.<BR>
1996] definitely not fluent in Pashto, probably the main means by which he =
communicates with his Taliban lieutenants and guards,? according to Dr. Habi=
bullah Tegey, Senior Editor of the Pashto Services for the Voice of America.=
Dr. Tegey elaborated, ?Pashto is what is called in language typology an erg=
ative language? which is not related to Bin Laden?s<BR>
native Arabic language. Typical Ergative languages, such as Basque or the a=
boriginal Australian, have the verb agree with the subject in present tense;=
Pashtu is ergative only in past tense, where the verb agrees with the objec=
t.? Pashto is the best example of non-typical ergativity. Basque is the best=
example of typical ergativity.<BR>
<BR>
Essentially, Bin Laden is speaking broken? Pashto. Dr. Taylor Roberts, an e=
xpert on Pashto "clitics" (pronominal clitics are weak prono=
uns) said, ?Pashtu is a formidable language that would take a second languag=
e learner some time to tune into past tense constructions involving two pron=
ouns, when certain verbs would be problematic.? For example, My father is se=
nding you back to the cave I was in yesterday? could be mis-interpreted, You=
r father is sending me back to the cave I was in yesterday.<BR>
<BR>
THE PASHTUNS<BR>
<BR>
The Pashtuns are an Indo-European people genetically related to the Kurds i=
n Iraq, Turkey, Iran, and Syria. Pashto belongs to the Indo-European family =
of languages and is distantly related to English. Despite the fact that Pash=
to is written in a variant of Arabic script, and has many loan words, partic=
ularly from the Qu?ran, it is not related to that language group.<BR>
A now famous Arabic loan word is ?Taliban meaning students. English words d=
erived from Sanskrit such as ?star, ?God and ?spec (storey? Kwaday? spek? re=
spectively in Pashto) still show an historical echo between English and Pash=
to.<BR>
<BR>
Concerning Pashto dialects, Dr. Tegey says, ?Generally speaking there are t=
hree dialects: Western, Eastern, and the Central dialect of Kabul formerly u=
sed by Kabul Radio, which is the de facto standard.” Since Pashto lack=
s a ?V” sound, speakers of it will pronounce many English words with ?=
V” by substituting a ?W”. For example, Very? might be pronounced=
as Wary?.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
The British fought the Afghans (or Pashtuns) in the nineteenth century. Joh=
n Watson, Sherlock Holme?s biographer was wounded in a battle between the Br=
itish army and the Pashtuns. Rudiyard Kiplings famous poem captures that per=
iod "When you're wounded and left, On Afghanistan's plains, And the wom=
en come out, To cut up your remains, Just roll on your rifle, And blow out y=
our brains, And go to your Gawd, Like a soldier."<BR>
<BR>
The Pashtun society is made of hundreds of tribes, governed by an unwritten=
code of ethics and hospitality, Pashtunwali. In general, the Pashtuns are t=
he more conservative Sunni Moslems whose mujaheddin, or freedom fighters, dr=
ove out the Soviets between 1979 and 1989. That decade was the heyday of Pas=
hto studies in the United States, and courses were offered at the Defense La=
nguage Institute. DLI ended its Pashto program in the early 1990s and the le=
arning materials have been dispersed.<BR>
<BR>
At the present time, not a single program exists in the United States for t=
eaching Pashto to English speakers. But that?s sure to change. Moreover, fol=
lowing the U.S. strikes on Afghanistan, the Taliban has reportedly banned pe=
ople from speaking<BR>
English.<BR>
<BR>
For Further Information:<BR>
<BR>
1. Taylor Roberts home page with Pashtu materials: http://www.yorku.ca/twai=
nweb/troberts/<BR>
2. Books and cassettes for learning Pashto have been prepared by the Center=
for Applied Linguistics in Washington, DC:<BR>
http://www.cal.org/pubs/pashto_p.html<BR>
<BR>
<HR ALIGN=3DCENTER SIZE=3D"3" WIDTH=3D"95%"></FONT>
<P ALIGN=3DCENTER>
<FONT FACE=3D"Courier"><B>ATTACHMENT IV<BR>
<BR>
Excerpt from Section 12-B in<BR>
</B>"Community Development with E-Learning and E-Healthcare in Amazon,=
Brazil" -- Grant application to be submitted to the InfoDev of the Wor=
ld Bank.<BR>
http://www.friends partners.org/GLOSAS/Manaus%20Workshop/InfoDev_Applicatio=
n/infoDev_Proposa_%20v_6.html
</FONT>
<P>
<FONT FACE=3D"Courier"><BR>
<BR>
<B>3. English as a Second Language (ESL) Program<BR>
</B><BR>
Globalization is an inevitable trend of our society nowadays everywhere. En=
glish is the lingua franca of global society in the 21st century. After very=
successful teaching of more than 20 million students in 5 years with Everyd=
ay English program via terrestrial radio in the Mainland China, the Center f=
or Continuing Education (CCE) Department of McGill University in Montreal, C=
anada is now initiating the ESL for Japanese businessmen to improve speaking=
capability of would-be decision makers of Japanese organizations. This prog=
ram may well be converted to university students and general public in Brazi=
l.<BR>
<BR>
This project is to use following cutting-edge technologies;<BR>
<BR>
</FONT><UL><LI><FONT FACE=3D"Courier">well proven content,
</FONT><LI><FONT FACE=3D"Courier">advanced broadband (10 Mbps) wireless Inter=
net,
</FONT><LI><FONT FACE=3D"Courier">laptop with wireless Internet access to web=
and to conduct smooth audio/video conferencings from anywhere within the ra=
nge of the wireless antenna,
</FONT><LI><FONT FACE=3D"Courier">web-teaching of pronunciation with audio an=
alyzer,
</FONT><LI><FONT FACE=3D"Courier">multimedia e-book,
</FONT><LI><FONT FACE=3D"Courier">combined use of DVD with web access via nar=
row-band Internet,
</FONT><LI><FONT FACE=3D"Courier">multimedia collaborating system via narrow-=
band Internet with audio conferencing via Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS)=
network.<BR>
</FONT></UL><FONT FACE=3D"Courier"><BR>
The expected benefits of this program are;<BR>
<BR>
</FONT><UL><LI><FONT FACE=3D"Courier">its new delivery system can be used for=
not only English, but also any other languages and also any subject matters=
,
</FONT><LI><FONT FACE=3D"Courier">the system can individualize learning, at a=
nywhere, anytime and at any pace,
</FONT><LI><FONT FACE=3D"Courier">shift from approach of replicating classroo=
m by expensive analog and digital videoconferencing via ISDN or satellite to=
inexpensive web based learning via broadband Internet,
</FONT><LI><FONT FACE=3D"Courier">individualization of learning, thus democra=
tization of educational system.<BR>
</FONT></UL><FONT FACE=3D"Courier"><BR>
This is a new approach of delivering e-learning as combining the most advan=
ced Japanese technologies on broadband wireless Internet and laptop/notebook=
with the North American's web-based platform and content development.<BR>
<HR ALIGN=3DCENTER SIZE=3D"3" WIDTH=3D"95%"></FONT>
<P ALIGN=3DCENTER>
<FONT FACE=3D"Courier"><B>List of Distributions
</B></FONT>
<P>
<FONT FACE=3D"Courier"><BR>
Steven Donahue<BR>
Broward Community College<BR>
1128 N. 16Th Avenue<BR>
Hollywood, FL 33020<BR>
954-927-8807<BR>
cell: 954-701-1561<BR>
(678) 275-6952--Demo<BR>
sdonah01@bellsouth.net<BR>
sdonahue@broward.cc.fl.us<BR>
http://www.10tongues.com<BR>
http://www.glearner.com<BR>
http://fs.broward.cc.fl.us/~sdonahue<BR>
http://www.erepublic.com/publications/gt/2000/sept/departments/eCommerceSLF=
.shtm<BR>
<BR>
Dr. David Levy<BR>
Centre for Continuing Education (CCE)<BR>
McGill University<BR>
680 Sherbrooke Street West, Suite 1184<BR>
Montreal, Quebec, Canada <BR>
H3A 3R1<BR>
514-398-7374<BR>
Fax: 514-398-2650<BR>
AXEL@conted.lan.mcgill.ca<BR>
<BR>
Dr. Larry T. Gell<BR>
Director-General<BR>
International Headquarters<BR>
International Agency for Economic Development (IAED)<BR>
United Nations Plaza<BR>
P. O. Box 2260-GCS<BR>
New York, NY 10017<BR>
212-687-1775<BR>
Cel: 1-646-621-6161<BR>
Fax: 212-697-2363<BR>
lgell@iaed.org<BR>
http://www.iaed.org<BR>
<BR>
Sandra M. Benedetto<BR>
Director, Product Development<BR>
Product Development & Technical Support Division<BR>
Pioneer New Media Technologies, Inc.<BR>
600 E. Crescent Ave.<BR>
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458-1846<BR>
201-327-6400<BR>
201-236-4179 (direct)<BR>
Fax: 201-327-9379<BR>
sbenedetto@pnmt.com<BR>
http://www.pioneerusa.com<BR>
<BR>
Paul Bauersfeld<BR>
VP of Business Development<BR>
eZmeeting<BR>
654 Madison Avenue<BR>
New York, NY 10021<BR>
1-888-990-0900<BR>
paul.bauersfeld@eZmeeting.com<BR>
<BR>
Bob Stein<BR>
President<BR>
Night Kitchen<BR>
41 East 11th Street, 11th Floor<BR>
New York, NY 10003 U.S.A.<BR>
917 335-6201 <BR>
bob@nightkitchen.com<BR>
http://www.nightkitchen.com<BR>
<BR>
James Masao Toyama<BR>
Vice President<BR>
International Public Affairs<BR>
Sony Electronics Inc.<BR>
155 Tice Boulevard, Mail Drop: TA3-12<BR>
Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey 07677<BR>
201-930-6238<BR>
Cel: 201-819-3108<BR>
Fax: 201-930-6165<BR>
James.Toyama@am.sony.com<BR>
<BR>
Paul Kawachi<BR>
80-4 Minou Yamamoto Machi,<BR>
Kurume City, 839-0826<BR>
Japan<BR>
Cel: 090-4-999-7820<BR>
Fax: (81) 942-44-9727<BR>
paul@paulkawachi.com<BR>
http://www.paulkawachi.com<BR>
or,<BR>
Home:<BR>
1927-1-206 Higashi Kushiwara<BR>
Kurume City, Fukuoka 830-0003<BR>
Japan<BR>
fax: 0942 40 2080 (home)<BR>
or<BR>
Shin-ai Women’s College<BR>
2278-1 Mii-machi<BR>
Kurume-shi, Japan 839-8508<BR>
Tel: 0942-43-4531<BR>
Fax: 0942-43-2531<BR>
tandai@kurume-shinai.ac.jp<BR>
http://www.kurume-shinai.ac.jp<BR>
<BR>
**********************************************************************<BR>
* Takeshi Utsumi, Ph.D., P.E., Chairman, GLOSAS/USA  =
; &nb=
sp;*<BR>
* (GLObal Systems Analysis and Simulation Association in the U.S.A.) *<BR>
* Laureate of Lord Perry Award for Excellence in Distance Education *=
<BR>
* Founder of CAADE &n=
bsp; =
&nbs=
p; &n=
bsp; *<BR>
* (Consortium for Affordable and Accessible Distance Education)  =
; *<BR>
* President Emeritus and V.P. for Technology and Coordination of &nbs=
p; *<BR>
* Global University System (GUS) =
&nbs=
p; &n=
bsp; *<BR>
* 43-23 Colden Street, Flushing, NY 11355-3998, U.S.A. &n=
bsp; *<BR>
* Tel: 718-939-0928; Fax: 718-939-0656 (day time only--prefer email) *<BR>
* Email: utsumi@columbia.edu; Tax Exempt ID: 11-2999676 &=
nbsp; *<BR>
* http://www.friends-partners.org/GLOSAS/ &nb=
sp; &=
nbsp; *<BR>
**********************************************************************<BR>
<BR>
</FONT>
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