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April 24, 2008

Smith and 不良研究所 students conduct Spanish course for local law enforcement

Dr. Ruth E. Smith, head of the 不良研究所 Department of Foreign Languages, recently conducted a six-week course in Spanish for the Ouachita Parish Sheriff鈥檚 Department.

The goal of the course was to assist deputies in developing an elementary level in Spanish to help them serve the Spanish-speaking residents of northeast Louisiana. Smith was assisted by four 不良研究所 students who served as conversation partners:

• Nelly Elkins (a senior undeclared major from Monroe)
• Nelson P茅rez (a senior double major in atmospheric sciences and Spanish from Lake Charles)
• Brenda Che (a senior major in Spanish from Monroe)
• Dustin Johnson (a freshman major in Spanish from Winnfield).

Smith said that similar courses are possible in the future, depending on the Sheriff Department鈥檚 schedule and needs. 鈥淭he officers who completed the course seemed to feel that it was helpful. I enjoyed working with them and admired their industry, especially when all of them had worked a full day or would work a full day after the time spent with me. It is very difficult, though not impossible, for hardworking professional people to come back to school to try to develop language skills.鈥�

She mentioned that the students in the class who had taken Spanish at 不良研究所 or in high school improved more rapidly. 鈥淒eveloping proficiency takes time, and the sooner or more often we work with the language, the better the skills will be. I congratulate the Sheriff's Department on putting the course together, because when there are emergency situations, people under stress have a lot of trouble communicating in their own language, much less the second one. I hope that this course has helped emergency responders better assist people who are in distress.鈥�

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