Improvement in Standards of Language Proficiency and in Recruiting for the Foreign Service: Hearing Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, Eighty-sixth Congress, First Session, on S. 1243, a Bill to Amend the Foreign Service Act of 1946, as Amended, to Establish Standards of Foreign Language Proficiency for the Foreign Service of the United States, and for Other Purposes. April 16, 1959

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U.S. Government Printing Office, 1959 - 92 pages
 

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Page 88 - Purpose of this Circular This circular supersedes Foreign Service Circular No. 237 and amends the previous technical requirements for lateral appointment as Foreign Service officer to reflect a basic change of policy pursuant to which employees of the Department of State, its Foreign Service Reserve, or its Foreign Service Staff, may count service performed in a responsible position in any Federal Government agency, including the Armed Forces, for the purpose of complying with the statutory prior...
Page 19 - ... quality, and in particular music and dancing, which it would be cruelty to bar the sex of, because they are their darlings; but besides this, they should be taught languages, as particularly French and Italian; and I would venture the injury of giving a woman more tongues than one.
Page 33 - ... met. What does he do? He goes across the street and discusses it with his neighbor. Then what happens? A committee comes into existence and then the committee begins functioning on behalf of that need, and you won't believe this but it's true. All of this is done without reference to any bureaucrat. All of this is done by the private citizens on their own initiative.
Page 33 - In a local community in their country a citizen may conceive of some need which is not being met. What does he do? He goes across the street and discusses it with his neighbor. Then what happens? A committee comes into existence and the committee begins functioning on behalf of that need, and you won't believe this but it's true.
Page 1 - The Secretary shall designate every Foreign Service Officer position in a foreign country whose incumbent should have a useful knowledge of a language or dialect common to such country. After December 31, 1963, each position so designated shall be filled only by an incumbent having such knowledge : I'roritled.
Page 33 - These Americans are the most peculiar people in the world. You'll not believe it when I tell you how they behave. In a local community in their country, a citizen may conceive of some need which is not being met. What does he do?
Page 15 - Interpreters are no substitute. It is not possible to understand what is in the minds of other people without understanding their language, and without understanding their language it is impossible to be sure that they understand what is on our minds.
Page 34 - An individual appointed or assigned to be a chief of mission should possess clearly demonstrated competence to perform the duties of a chief of mission, including, to the maximum extent practicable, a useful knowledge of the principal language or dialect of the country in which the individual is to serve, and knowledge and understanding of the history, the culture, the economic and political institutions, and the interests of that country and its people.
Page 1 - It is the policy of the Congress that chiefs of mission and Foreign Service officers appointed or assigned to serve the United States in foreign countries shall have, to the maximum practicable extent, among their qualifications, a useful knowledge of the principal language or dialect of the country in which they are to serve, and knowledge and understanding of the history, the culture, the economic and political institutions, and the interests of such country and its people.
Page 16 - Americans — mostly amateurs — who are now working for the United States overseas. What we need is a small force of welltrained, well-chosen, hard-working, and dedicated professionals. They must be willing to risk their comforts and, in some lands, their health. They must go equipped to apply a positive policy promulgated by a clear-thinking Government.

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