Language

PLEASANT VIEW — Students across the Top of Utah traveled the world Thursday night. The bonus? They didn’t have to leave the commons area of Weber High School.

More than 2,500 junior high and high school students, along with their families, attended the annual World Language Fair sponsored by Weber School District.

LAYTON -- Jane Eskelsen said she was surprised when she found out she had been nominated for the Utah Foreign Language Teacher of the Year award -- but she was shocked when she won.

HARRISVILLE -- Like its constellation namesake, Orion Junior High aims to be a shining star of learning and innovative teaching, says the school's proud principal.

PROVO -- A Brigham Young University linguistics professor is researching the case of the missing T.

FORT BRAGG, N.C. -- Gunfire on a distant range and the roar of cargo planes overhead are the sounds usually associated with paratroopers in training. Now add to those the halting conversation between American soldiers practicing Dari.

"Nice to meet you," reads the English translation of a phrase written in the Perso-Arabic script taped to a wall.

"What is your name?"

"I am from America."

Since January, 64 paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division's 4th Brigade Combat Team have spent their days learning to read, write and speak basic Dari, the most common language among the people of Afghanistan, and delving into the country's culture and history.

The Army has taught the same 16-week course at Fort Drum in New York, Fort Polk in Louisiana and Fort Campbell in Kentucky. Marine Corps base Camp Lejeune will graduate its first class this summer from a 52-week course in Dari, Pashtu and Urdu, two other languages of the region.

As a speech pathologist in the 1980s and 1990s, Judy Tobe worked closely with individuals suffering from neurological and facial disorders, and she provided diagnostic expertise about whether surgery would help or hinder communication skills.