<strong>NATO</strong> <strong>School</strong> Community Bulletin <strong>March</strong> <strong>2006</strong> Edition Impressions of the “Northern Bivouac”
<strong>NATO</strong> <strong>School</strong> Community Bulletin <strong>March</strong> <strong>2006</strong> Edition ISAF Deployment by Major Sarah Scullion I deployed to Afghanistan at the request of JWC in support of the JALLC to participate in a team study conducted Oct-Nov 2005. This team comprised members of France, Italy, Norway, United Kingdom and the United States. The Joint Analysis Lessons Learned Centre (JALLC) was tasked to analyze the relief-in-place of a US Provisional Reconstruction Team (either under <strong>NATO</strong> control or just prior to <strong>NATO</strong> assuming control of the PRT) to another <strong>NATO</strong> or non- <strong>NATO</strong> relieving nation and thereby identify lessons to improve the transition process. We traveled to Kabul, Farah and Herat within Afghanistan. Central and regional headquarters were visited, as well as two Provisional Reconstruction Teams, Non Governmental Organization offices, reconstruction worksites in the civilian communities, and a Forward Support Base. Our report was issued 31 Jan 06 and is classified as <strong>NATO</strong> Confidential Releasable to ISAF. Key recommendations were in the areas of doctrine, organization, training, material, facilities and interoperability. The lessons-learned report is intended to facilitate and improve <strong>NATO</strong>’s involvement in ISAF’s Stage 3 expansion. Learning English with the Flying Cow By Mandy Payne Sixteen <strong>NATO</strong> <strong>School</strong> wives are taking part in a unique trial of a remarkable English language learning software programme. The ladies, who between them come from thirteen different European countries, among them France, Spain, Poland and Lithuania, are all working daily at fun computer games featuring flying cows and talking turtles. While they are clicking at the animals, they are being subtly trained in the skills needed to learn and improve their English – how to discriminate between similar sounds, such as “d” and “t”, for instance, and how to remember and follow increasingly complex spoken instructions. The software, which is widely used in the US but is relatively new to Europe, appears to develop the human brain’s language learning centres in a way that makes it easier to absorb the English language. The American company that developed the products has agreed to make this normally expensive course available to these ladies free of charge for the purposes of the trial, and we are grateful to the <strong>NATO</strong> <strong>School</strong> for generously covering the trial’s running costs. Speech therapist Catherine Ruckert, who practises in Starnberg and who has been using the software successfully with her clients in recent years, is giving up her own time to analyse the data and manage the trial. The <strong>NATO</strong> <strong>School</strong> currently employs personnel from 23 different countries, many of whom arrive here with wives and children who speak neither German nor English. Can you imagine coming to Oberammergau knowing that there will be not one person outside the family that you can talk to in your own language? Families can face an uphill struggle to learn enough German or English to be able to make friends and enjoy life as part of the <strong>NATO</strong> community. While kids learn quickly, adults who’ve had little exposure to English can find the language almost impossible. This is why European wives deserve all the support we can give them. The software training will, we hope, shorten the learning curve substantially – it is claimed to achieve around a year’s progress in English in the space of a few weeks. The trial began at the end of January, and into its second week it’s already generating plenty of discussion. It is expected to continue until April, after which the results will be published. Please give your support by taking a moment to have a chat with any <strong>NATO</strong> <strong>School</strong> English learners and give them a bit of practice!
Change language