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Anchor Lead: In the months following 9/11, intelligence agencies were embarrassed by revelations that tens of thousands of documents relating to terrorism investigations were not translated due to a shortage of Arabic translators. Since then, Congress has allocated millions of dollars to teaching strategic languages, like Arabic. Much of that money has gone to universities, but these classes are in high demand and places like the University of Washington continue to turn students away.

Little attention has been paid though to Arabic in the schools, with only 70 elementary and high schools to date offering Arabic nationwide - most being private Islamic schools. One exception is in Seattle, where a non-profit called "One World Now" is trying to bring Arabic into high schools. Its founder says the reason why Arabic is so wildly popular is because kids understand the value of learning what is now called a "strategic language."

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At the University of Washington, first year Arabic students are showing off their newly acquired language skills with an entertaining yet challenging class project.

Student: Merhebe. Isme Alex Trabeck…

This group presents an Arabic version of the popular TV show jeopardy, with the host posing questions like, who is the president of Iraq?

Student: Ayatollah Khmoeini?

Current events are a major focus for these students, many of whom were inspired to learn Arabic by the events of September 11th and by the US’ increasing involvement in the Middle East. Erin Bell is an incoming sophomore.

Erin Bell: I figured it was a step in the right direction for anybody (especially Americans or Europeans) to reach out and learn for themselves about the culture and language of the Middle East.

Since 9/11, colleges and universities have been inundated with students wanting to take Arabic. Many say they are hoping the language will help them in their careers, working for the State Department, or the intelligence agencies, or for companies or non-profits that operate in the Arab world.

Recent figures are hard to come by, but according to the Modern Language Association, there were 11,000 students of Arabic in 2002—that’s double the number from four years earlier.

At the University of Washington, all three sections of first year Arabic are not only full, but oversubscribed, and dozens of students wanting to take the course are being turned away.

Felicia Hecker: Well, it’s been a remarkable increase right after 9/11. We saw a doubling or tripling of students wanting to get into our first and second year Arabic classes.

Felicia Hecker is the associate director of the UW’s Middle East Center. She says the sudden interest in Arabic is welcome, but it is creating its own set of problems. For years, Arabic programs attracted few students, and were largely under funded. Now, with students clamoring to learn Arabic, universities are struggling to find qualified people to teach them.

Hussein Elkhafaifi: In general, the field has been a neglected field. There is not depth of team or a rich pool of expertise nationwide, so the people who are able to do this, to teach Arabic, are in very high demand.

It takes most people years to become even minimally proficient in Arabic. With its unique script, its unfamiliar pronunciations and its numerous distinct dialects, Arabic is one of the world’s most difficult languages to learn. Hussein Elkhafaifi is a professor of Arabic at the UW.

Hussein Elkhafaifi: There is a desperate need for people who are really competent in the language but at the same time they have to realize that language acquisition is very slow. It takes time to produce people who are definitely at the superior level.

And yet, most students of Arabic begin their studies as adults, in college, graduate school or beyond. Arabic programs are practically non-existent in the earlier grades, a time when the brain is best able to learn new languages. One survey found only 70 elementary and high schools in the country that offer Arabic. Most of those were private Islamic schools.

Other language programs—like French, or Spanish, or even Chinese—benefit from a pipeline of students who finish high school with a background in the language. Educators say the same is needed for Arabic.

Starting early is what they are trying to do at Garfield High School in Seattle. These kids come from all over the city to take Arabic classes here after the regular school day is over.

The program is being run by a Seattle-based group called One World Now, whose mission is to give leadership opportunities to inner city kids. Founder Kristin Hayden says Arabic classes are wildly popular because kids understand the value of knowing what is now considered a “strategic language”.

Kristin Hayden: We have a phenomenal opportunity--that’s how I look at it. There is just so much to be done, there is such a need.

But there are also challenges. There are no Arabic textbooks written for high school students, so these kids use the same books as their UW counterparts.

One World Now is developing its own curriculum and teaching materials, which Hayden hopes eventually to share with other schools around the country.

Kristin Hayden: We’re on a mission to provide more Arabic language programs to high schools around the United States. We’re starting small in Seattle but we’d like to make this a national model so there will be opportunities all over the place.

Proponents admit that Arabic will never be mainstream. The 11 thousand people who now study Arabic nationwide still pale in comparison with the four million who study Spanish in grade school and beyond. But with the need for Arabic linguists so acute, they say, any small step to bring Arabic into the schools is progress.

Deborah Wang, KPLU News, Seattle.