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âSpanish Language Dayâ commemoration event in room XX. Casilda Regueiro and the Lancy-Genève Orchestra. Geneva, Switzerland, October 13, 2016. UN Photo/Pierre Albouy
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, California -- The 2017 Language Day celebration was held by the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center at the Presidio of Monterey, May 12. Language Day is open to the public and attended by schools throughout the region to promote an understanding of diverse customs and cultures from around the world. Approximately 5,000 people attended the annual event featuring cultural displays, activities and international ethnic cuisine served by local vendors on Presidio’s Soldier Field.
The event featured a Vietnam War veterans recognition ceremony. Vietnam War lapel pins authorized by Congress were individually presented by POM Garrison Commander Col. Lawrence Brown and Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Roberto Marshall to approximately 75 Vietnam War veterans in attendance.
Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook
PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.
On the way to the Zací cenote- another huge storm approaching, so we practically ran, the air charged with nervous electricity.
Valladolid, Yucatán, México
August 4, 2010
Valladolid is an incredible place- The ancient Maya had a town here called "Zací", which was destroyed by the Spanish under a nephew of the conquistador Montejo family. They had established a town further away, but plagued by mosquitos, they arrived here and established Valladolid on March 24, 1545. The Mayans of the region, of course, did not take kindly to this invasion and, in the face of horrific horrific exploitation, staged numerous revolts over the following centuries, culminating in the Caste Wars of the 1840's, in which the town was sacked and many of the residents slaughtered. In other parts of Mexico, the tensions and fallout stemming from the Spanish colonial system still run very high, but here there seems to be some peace at the moment.
It's a small town, and you seem to run into the same people over and over again. Due its proximity to some major archeological sites, it has begun to see more tourism over the past ten years- predominantly European backpacker types- We twice bumped into some Germans who were traveling through the Yucatán and Central America. As far as we could tell, we were the only Americans in town. It's a compact, densely packed place and there are a number of modest hotels near the zócalo and a handful of exceptional restaurants.
Under the extreme tropical sun (by mid-afternoon, you can't walk half a block without being drenched in sweat), the narrow, brightly colored streets are a flurry of activity -stores specializing in leather and clothing; -food vendors selling strange fruits, medicines, and streetfood; -bicycles, cars, traffic cops; -old Mayan women dressed in traditional huipiles sewing embroidery on the sidewalk or walking the streets in pairs.
The language here is accented by Mayan, and occasionally you hear pure Yucatec Mayan being spoken, as it is still the first language of many.
Bologna or Bulåggna; pronounced [buˈləɲɲa] in the Bolognese dialect of Emiliano-Romagnolo language) is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. It is the seventh largest city in terms of population and it is the heart of a metropolitan area (officially recognized by the Italian government as a metropolitan city) of about 1,000,000 inhabitants. The urban sprawl of Bologna – Modena, whose metropolises are adjoining, is continuously expanding. Home to the oldest university in the world, University of Bologna, founded in 1088, Bologna hosts numerous students who enrich the social and cultural life of the city. Famous for its towers and lengthy porticoes, it has a well-preserved historical downtown (one of the largest in Italy) thanks to a careful restoration and conservation policy which began at the end of the 1970s, on the heels of serious damage done by the urban demolition at the end of the 19th century as well as that caused by wars. The city, the first settlements of which date back to at least one millennium before Christ, has always been an important urban center, first under the Etruscans (Velzna/Felsina) and the Celts (Bona), then under the Romans (Bononia), then again in the Middle Ages, as a free municipality (for one century it was the fifth largest European city based on population). An important cultural and artistic center, it is rarely recognized as such, as it does not possess a world renowned "masterpiece" that would attract tourists en masse; that having been said, its artistic importance and its importance in terms of landmarks can be contributed to homogenous mixture of monuments and architectural examples (medieval towers, antique buildings, churches, the layout of its historical center) as well as works of art which are the result of a first class architectural and artistic history. Bologna is also an important crossroads of the roads and trains of Northern Italy, where many important mechanical, electronic and nutritional industries have their headquarters. According to the most recent data gathered by the European Regional Economic Growth Index (E-REGI) of 2009, Bologna is the first Italian city and the 47th European city in terms of its economic growth rate.[2] It is home to prestigious cultural, economic and political institutions as well as one of the most impressive trade fair districts in Europe. In 2000 it was declared European capital of culture[3] and in 2006, a UNESCO “city of music”. The city of Bologna was selected to participate in the Universal Exposition of Shanghai 2010 together with 45 other cities from around the world.[4] Bologna is also one of the richest cities in Italy, often ranking as one of the top cities in terms of quality of life in the country: it was ranked 5th in 2006, and 12th in 2007, out of 103 Italian cities.[5] Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, and it has spectacular history, art, cuisine, music and culture.
The Dongducheon Foreign Language High School invited U.S. Army Garrison
Casey Commander Lt. Col. Steven G. Finley, as a keynote speaker on May 14.
Finley spoke to 113 students and faculty members starting with a brief
biography and he explained why he had joined the U.S. Army. Students asked
questions about his career, family, hobbies, and the daily life of a
Soldier.
Throughout his speech, Finley charged the young Korean students to start
thinking about their future and establish a twenty-year plan, or "road map"
for their life.
Near the end of his speech Finley cheered, "readers are leaders" as way to
motivate the future leaders to develop positive and healthy habits.
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. -- The 2016 Language Day event was held by the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center at the Presidio of Monterey, May 13. Language Day is open to the public and is attended by schools throughout the region to promote an understanding of diverse customs and cultures from around the world.
Approximately 5,000 people attended the annual event featuring cultural displays, activities and international ethnic cuisine served by local vendors on Presidio’s Soldier Field.
Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook
PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.
Kelley Greenman and Bobbie Bigby in Ravuru village, watching a Lambadi women's dance. They are working in Warangal Dist., Andhra Pradesh, as part of Washington University's Village India Program.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona
Arizona is a state in the Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. Its other neighboring states are Nevada to the northwest and California to the west. It also shares an international border with the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California to the south and southwest. It is the 6th-largest and the 14th-most-populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix, which is the most populous state capital in the United States.
Arizona is the 48th state and last of the contiguous states to be admitted to the Union, achieving statehood on February 14, 1912. Historically part of the territory of Alta California and Nuevo México in New Spain, it became part of independent Mexico in 1821. After being defeated in the Mexican–American War, Mexico ceded much of this territory to the United States in 1848, where the area became part of the territory of New Mexico. The southernmost portion of the state was acquired in 1853 through the Gadsden Purchase.
Southern Arizona is known for its desert climate, with extremely hot summers and mild winters. Northern Arizona features forests of pine, Douglas fir, and spruce trees; the Colorado Plateau; mountain ranges (such as the San Francisco Mountains); as well as large, deep canyons, with much more moderate summer temperatures and significant winter snowfalls. There are ski resorts in the areas of Flagstaff, Sunrise, and Tucson. In addition to the internationally known Grand Canyon National Park, which is one of the world's seven natural wonders, there are several national forests, national parks, and national monuments.
Arizona is home to a diverse population. About one-quarter of the state is made up of Indian reservations that serve as the home of 27 federally recognized Native American tribes, including the Navajo Nation, the largest in the state and the country, with more than 300,000 citizens. Since the 1980s, the proportion of Hispanics has grown significantly owing to migration from Mexico and Central America. A substantial portion of the population are followers of the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Arizona's population and economy have grown dramatically since the 1950s because of inward migration, and the state is now a major hub of the Sun Belt. Cities such as Phoenix and Tucson have developed large, sprawling suburban areas. Many large companies, such as PetSmart and Circle K, have headquarters in the state, and Arizona is home to major universities, including the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and Northern Arizona University. The state is known for a history of conservative politicians such as Barry Goldwater and John McCain, though it has become a swing state in recent years.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antelope_Canyon
Navajo Upper Antelope Canyon is a slot canyon in the American Southwest, on Navajo land east of Lechee, Arizona. It includes six separate, scenic slot canyon sections on the Navajo Reservation, referred to as Upper Antelope Canyon (or The Crack), Rattle Snake Canyon, Owl Canyon, Mountain Sheep Canyon, Canyon X and Lower Antelope Canyon (or The Corkscrew). It is the primary attraction of Lake Powell Navajo Tribal Park, along with a hiking trail to Rainbow Bridge National Monument.
The Navajo name for Upper Antelope Canyon is Tsé bighánílíní, which means 'the place where water runs through the (Slot Canyon) rocks'. Lower Antelope Canyon is Hazdistazí (called "Hasdestwazi" by the Navajo Parks and Recreation Department), or 'spiral rock arches'. Both are in the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo Nation. They are accessible by Navajo guided tour only.
Additional Foreign Language Tags:
(United States) "الولايات المتحدة" "Vereinigte Staaten" "アメリカ" "米国" "美国" "미국" "Estados Unidos" "États-Unis" "ארצות הברית" "संयुक्त राज्य" "США"
(Arizona) "أريزونا" "亚利桑那州" "אריזונה" "एरिजोना" "アリゾナ州" "애리조나" "Аризона"
F. M. Borras and R. F. Christian - Russian Syntax
Aspects of Modern Russian Syntax and Vocabulary
Second Edition
Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1971
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. - For the first time in more than a decade, the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center opened its doors to the local community for its annual Language Day celebration.
Held May 11, on the open grounds of historic Soldier Field and surrounding classrooms, Language Day was a colorful celebration of foreign languages and cultural education highlighting the 26 different languages taught to military personnel at the Presidio of Monterey.
Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook
PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.
Learning a second language is fun and has many developmental benefits. Knowing a few signs can give your child the confidence to engage and interact with a deaf child rather than both children feeling awkward and helpless. Here is a set of sign languages for beginners. Download the whole set for FREE at:
www.sharemylesson.com/teaching-resource/Amnerican-Sign-La...
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. - The quarterly team running competition at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, a.k.a. the Commander's Cup, took place at the Price Fitness Center track on August 1. The Army took first place in the women's division and the Air Force captured first place in the Men's Division. The Army was presented the Commander's Cup trophy by DLIFLC Commandant Col. Danial Pick for achieving the best combined time of the men's and women's teams.
Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook
PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.
Midori Chinen, center, teaches vocabulary to students March 17 at the Camp Courtney Education Center during a Japanese language class. "I did (an) English class (on the installation) for six years and (was offered) the chance to teach Japanese," said Chinen. "I think this is a good chance to return something because I have learned many things here." Chinen is a professional language teacher who coordinated through the Camp Courtney community relations office to voluntarily teach Japanese to interested participants on the installation.
Bristol firefighter Kevin McCauley uses some body language at the scene of a flipped over pickup truck on water dept. land off Lakeside Avenue Wednesday afternoon, January 3, 2000. Mike Orazzi-The Bristol Press
The College of DuPage Language Department and French Club (La Connexion Française), in collaboration with community members from the Alliance Française of DuPage, recently presented "Célébration de la Francophonie" at the College’s Glen Ellyn campus. The multicultural event featured displays on the customs of Francophone countries and treats from French-speaking countries, including Belgium, Congo, Switzerland, France, Haiti and Cameroon. In addition, participants had their “passports” stamped in each location and enjoyed student presentations and international folk dance.
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, California -- The 2017 Language Day celebration was held by the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center at the Presidio of Monterey, May 12. Language Day is open to the public and attended by schools throughout the region to promote an understanding of diverse customs and cultures from around the world. Approximately 5,000 people attended the annual event featuring cultural displays, activities and international ethnic cuisine served by local vendors on Presidio’s Soldier Field.
The event featured a Vietnam War veterans recognition ceremony. Vietnam War lapel pins authorized by Congress were individually presented by POM Garrison Commander Col. Lawrence Brown and Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Roberto Marshall to approximately 75 Vietnam War veterans in attendance.
Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook
PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, California -- The 2017 Language Day celebration was held by the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center at the Presidio of Monterey, May 12. Language Day is open to the public and attended by schools throughout the region to promote an understanding of diverse customs and cultures from around the world. Approximately 5,000 people attended the annual event featuring cultural displays, activities and international ethnic cuisine served by local vendors on Presidio’s Soldier Field.
The event featured a Vietnam War veterans recognition ceremony. Vietnam War lapel pins authorized by Congress were individually presented by POM Garrison Commander Col. Lawrence Brown and Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Roberto Marshall to approximately 75 Vietnam War veterans in attendance.
Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook
PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.
Vision, Language, and Influence:
Photographs of the South by Baldwin Lee, Walker Evans, and Eudora Welty
Knoxville Museum of Art
May 14 – August 1, 2010
Vision, Language, and Influence brings together for the first time the work of three photographers of the American South over a 50-year period. Walker Evans (1903-1976) is represented by incisive images of Alabama sharecroppers stemming from his epic collaboration with James Agee on Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. Eudora Welty (1909-2001) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning Southern writer and photographer who traveled across Mississippi in the 1930s and early 1940s taking photographs and documenting rural and small-town life in her home state. Baldwin Lee (born 1951) is a professor of photography at the University of Tennessee, and a former assistant to Walker Evans. Complementing the 50 or so works by Evans and Welty are more than 30 of Lee’s images of African-American life in the South taken during the 1980s with the support of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Vision, Language, and Influence was organized by the Knoxville Museum of Art in collaboration with Baldwin Lee.
It's actually a macro shot (you might notice the slight barrel distortion). The books were part of a special edition of very small (and colourful) paperbacks.
Urmia (Turkish language: Urmu, Urmiyə, اورمیه; farsi: ارومیه) variously translitterated as Oroumiyeh, Orūmīyeh and Urūmiyeh, is a city in and the capital of West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 577,307, with 153,570 households.
The city lies at an altitude of 1,330 m above sea level on the Shahar Chay river (City River). Urmia is the 10th most populated city in Iran. The population is mainly mainly Azerbaijanian Turkish(85-90%), with Kurdish, Assyrian Christian, and Armenian minorities.
Urmia is situated on a fertile plain called Urmia Plain, on western side of Lake Urmia; and eastern side of Turkish border and marginal range of mountains.
Urmia is the trade center for a fertile agricultural region where fruit (especially Apple and Grape) and Tobacco are grown. An important town by the 9th cent., Urmia was seized by the Seljuk Turks (1184), and later occupied a number of times by the Ottoman Turks.
Urmiye (Türkçesi:اورمو, Urmu, اورمیه, Urumiyə;Farsça: ارومیه, Orumieh), İran'ın Batı Azerbaycan Eyaleti'nin yönetim merkezi olan şehir. Şehir, bağlı olduğu eyaletin orta kısmında, Urmiye Gölü ile Türkiye sınırı arasında, kendi adıyla anılan ovada kuruludur. Nüfusu 2006 yılı verileriyle 577,307 kişidir ki Urmiye ülkenin en büyük 10. şehridir.
Urmiye şehrinde nüfusun çoğunluğunu (tahmini 90%) Türklerdir, azınlık kısmınıysa Kürtler, Süryaniler ve Ermeniler oluşturuyor.
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, California -- The 2018 Language Day celebration was held by the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center at the Presidio of Monterey, May 11. Language Day is open to the public and attended by schools across the nation to promote an understanding of diverse customs and cultures from around the world. Approximately 6,000 people attended this annual event featuring cultural displays, activities and international ethnic cuisine served by local vendors.
Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook
PHOTO by Joseph Kumzak, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs
I taught my daughter several signs from the American Sign Language (ASL). She does not have a full ASL vocabulary as she only knows 7 signs. But you know what, just three of those signs have saved us so much grief. I know when she wants "more", I know when she's hungry and wants to "eat", and I know when she wants her sippy cup to "drink" from. I don't have moments of frustration at meal times (okay, maybe some frustration sometimes..we're both human after all). The short of it though, is that sign language has helped us communicate better, even with just a few signs.
Has it hampered her speech? No, not really. I think it wires the brain to connect that all objects have names. And the words she can say, she says. She can say more for example, while signing. But she can't say the hard word "cracker" yet, so she signs that (it's incidentally her favorite word). Other words I didn't teach her the sign for but she instead says are "bird" and "water".
It would be the ultimate understatement to say I'm proud of her.
The College of DuPage Language Department and French Club (La Connexion Française), in collaboration with community members from the Alliance Française of DuPage, recently presented "Célébration de la Francophonie" at the College’s Glen Ellyn campus. The multicultural event featured displays on the customs of Francophone countries and treats from French-speaking countries, including Belgium, Congo, Switzerland, France, Haiti and Cameroon. In addition, participants had their “passports” stamped in each location and enjoyed student presentations and international folk dance.
Mr. M.H.M.N. Bandara is a Member of the Sri Lanka Foreign Service (2000 batch)
(The following article published on Sunday Nation on 30 September 2007,{www.nation.lk/2007/09/30/special2.htm} and Sunday Observer on 7th October 2007 {www.sundayobserver.lk/2007/10/07/fea01.asp}
Foreign Service Invest further for a fruitful harvest
(The 58th anniversary of the Sri Lanka Foreign Service falls on October 1)
By M.H.M.N. Bandara
The Sri Lanka Foreign Service (SLFS) will commemorate its 58th anniversary on October 1. The SLFS, which commenced its activities independently on October 1, 1949 with five members – Dr. V.L.B. Mendis, H.O. Wijegoonawardena, A. Basnayake, I. B. Fonseka and Y. Yogasunderam – has since grown substantially, having undergone changes, challenges, disputes, etc., and now has a strength of 153 career personnel serving as ambassadors, high commissioners, additional secretaries, directors general and directors.
It is my view that the SLFS has not received its due share of ‘praise’ from both the media and the general public. This is mainly due to the fact that the general public is not appropriately apprised of the onerous duties performed by the members of the SLFS for the benefit of the country as a whole.
One allegation levelled against the SLFS is that SLFS officers are not closely linked with Sri Lankans living abroad. They are at times targetted by the media in a critical manner for not taking action to ‘safeguard’ the Sri Lankan migrant workers who are found guilty of violating the rule of law applicable to the respective countries. Nevertheless, it will have to be conceded that there may be very few instances where SLFS officers have observed the rules in the breach, perhaps unwittingly.
Criticism
Another criticism levelled against SLFS officers is that they are keener on ‘looking after the welfare of their children’s, education,’ rather than the wellbeing of the country. This allegation is baseless and is unfounded.
Of the 419 home based officers serving in Sri Lankan foreign missions abroad, only 97 officials, a mere 23%, are from the SLFS. The remaining 322 personnel, or 77%, comprise officers from various government services and also those who have political patronage.
Of the 153 officers now serving the SLFS, 61% comprise of unmarried officers and officers with one child per officer or none. Most of the children of these officers are not receiving the ‘education allowance.’ Hence, it is not fair by these officers to level such criticism against them.
The SLFS is a specialised service. It runs parallel to the Sri Lanka Administrative service and other combined services in the country. However, its role is different from other services. Broadly, the SLFS officials are tasked with the responsibility of coordinating bilateral and multilateral relations with foreign countries and also with the responsibility of protecting and safeguarding the image of the country.
The SLFS officers have measured up to their counterparts in other countries in discharging their assigned duties with diligence and bringing ‘name and fame’ to our motherland.
When we gained independence in 1948 after a period of foreign domination of almost 150 years, the most sought after and the prestigious service in the country was the then Ceylon Civil Service (CCS). Therefore, every young man with the requisite qualifications aspired to be a ‘civil servant’ and the failures at the Civil Service had the opportunity to join the then Overseas Service, which was then new to the country. However, they had to answer an extra question paper on world affairs.
First Overseas Service Minute
In terms of the first Overseas Service Minute – operative from 1949 to 1959 – nearly 32 officials were recruited to the then Ceylon Overseas Service as probationers and they were designated as ‘Grade IV Officers of the Ceylon Overseas Service.’
The Overseas Service Minute of 1949 was superseded by the Overseas Service Minute of 1959, which had the effect of a revision of the examination to recruit officers to the Overseas Service. From 1949 to 1973, a total of 73 officers had been recruited to the SLFS.
From January 4, 1974 onwards, the scheme of recruitment to the SLFS was revised so as to allow the opportunity to those graduates who had qualified themselves in Sinhala and Tamil media also to sit the examination in Sinhala and Tamil media in addition to the examination in the English medium.
Thereby, many graduates from Sinhala and Tamil speaking rural areas who received their education in the Sinhala and Tamil media and who were the products of ‘central colleges’ established in keeping with the ‘C.W.W. Kannangara vision’ were benefited and the numbers from such rural areas exceeded the numbers from the urban areas.
Until the time of late President Ranasinghe Premadasa, the post of Foreign Affairs Ministry secretary was held by non-SLFS officers. It was during Premadasa’s time that an SLFS officer was appointed to this post for the first time and that honour went to Bernard Tilakaratna.
Subsequently T.H.W. Woutersz (1965 batch), R.C. Vendargart (1967 batch), G. Wijesiri (1970 batch), D.E.N. Rodrigo (1965 batch), B.A.B. Goonetilleke (1970 batch) and H.M.G.S. Palihakkara (1979 batch) held that coveted post.
Creating history
Manel Abeysekera created history in the SLFS by being the first female career diplomat and the first female chief of protocol of the Foreign Ministry. Mary Luxhmi Naganathan was the second female career diplomat and the first from the Tamil community to reach that level.
Sarala Fernando (1975 batch) was the first female permanent representative of the United Nations. Of an approved cadre of 179, the SLFS now has 153 officers in its service in the categories Grade I, II, and III, (and at the additional secretary level too).
The ethnic, religious and gender balance in the SLFS is healthy. Of the 153 serving officers, 52 are females and four of them are serving as heads of missions in Paris (C. Wagiswara), The Hague (Pamela J. Deen), London (Kshenuka Senewiratne) and Vienna (Aruni Wijewardane).
In addition to the aforesaid female heads of missions, SLFS officers head the following missions: New Delhi (C. R. Jayasinghe), New York (Prasad Kariyawasam), Berlin (Jayantha Palipana), Warsaw (C. F. Chinniah), Beijing (Karunathilaka Amunugama Stockholm (Ranjith Jayasuriya – designate) , Tel Aviv (W.M. Senevirathna – designate), Tokyo (Ranjith Uyangoda), Muscat (M. Maharoof), Cairo (I Ansar –designate), Oslo (Esala Weerakoon), Katmandu (Sumith Nakandala), Pretoria (R.K.M.A. Rajakaruna), Hanoi (A. L. Rathnapala), Dhaka (V. Krishnamoorthy), Frankfurt (T. Raveenthiran) and Chennai (P.M. Amza).
Two officers of the ‘ambassador rank’ are serving as an Additional Secretary (Sarala Fernando) and a Director General (Grace Asirwatham) respectively at the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
Of the aforesaid 153 SLFS officers, 57 officers, including the 10 officers recruited in April 2007, are attached to the office of the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Colombo. The remaining 91 SLFS officers are attached to Sri Lankan missions abroad (four officers are on study leave and one of senior officers has been working in the international organisation).
Recruitment
The majority of the SLFS officers had been recruited through competitive examinations and some through the ‘merit system,’ which was an opportunity extended to clerical grade officers serving the Foreign Ministry and the other category through a ‘limited examination’ conducted by the Examinations Department for the benefit of certain grades of public servants with a certain number of years of service to their credit in government departments.
Recruitments to the SLFS under the merit and limited systems were abolished by the new minutes introduced in 2001. Anyone who wishes now to join the SLFS has to sit an Open Competitive Examination conducted by the Examinations Department. The examination comprises six written papers and a viva voice.
When we look back at the performance of some of our SLFS officers during the last ‘half-a-century,’ we can be really proud of our service. Many of them have excelled in their respective fields. I take this opportunity to name a few of them:
Deshamanya Dr. V. L. B. Mendis was in one of the very first batches of officers selected to the overseas service of Sri Lanka (then Ceylon). His contribution to our foreign service is priceless. He was highly respected wherever he served. To his credit, there are several publications authored by him which are a sine qua non to SLFS officers.
The 1976 Non-aligned Summit was the most successful international conference ever held in this country. Dr. Mendis was its secretary general and it was he and the SLFS officials who meticulously planned and programmed the proceedings of the summit. The whole world acclaimed that it was a complete success.
The diplomatically famed Dr. Jayantha Danapala has brought fame not only to the Foreign Service, but also to our motherland as a whole. He is a product of the SLFS and has displayed his ‘diplomatic skills’ internationally by serving the United Nations at different levels. His name was also proposed for the post of secretary general of the United Nations in the year 2006.
Achievements
Dr. John Gunaratne, who joined the Foreign Service in 1967, has several publications to his credit, one of which is A Decade of Confrontations: Sri Lanka and India in the 1980s. His recent publication launched in July 2007 is Negotiating with the Tigers.
S.B. Atugoda joined the Foreign Service in 1975 and he has several publications to his credit – fiction in both Sinhala and English.
Ranjith Gunaratana of the 1992 batch has published several fictions both Sinhala and English.
In 2006 he translated into Sinhala and published the biography of the former Singaporean Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew.
Niluka Kadurugamuwa, who joined the Foreign Service in the 2003, was a journalist at the Lakbima Newspaper. He has translated into Sinhala and published two publications, In Evil Hour authored by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Maya authored by Manel Abeyratne under the titles Vikal Horawa and Maya, respectively.
Bandu de Silva and Kalyananda Godage of the 1956 and 1973 batches respectively are two prolific writers. They subscribe to the local press periodically on matters not only pertaining to the Foreign Service but also of national interest. Their publications have boosted the image of the Foreign Service.
Nihal Rodrigo is not only a diplomat (1965 batch) but is also a painter of no mean repute. Rodrigo, when he once met Cuban Leader Fidel Castro, on the spur of the moment sketched the Cuban Leader’s face on a piece of paper. The Cuban Leader was so happy with the ‘sketch’ that he autographed it. It is now a souvenir with Rodrigo. Rodrigo served as the SAARC Secretary General from January 1, 1999 to January 10, 2002.
T.Z.A. Samsudeen of the 1981 Foreign Service batch served as the executive director of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IORARC) in Mauritius. Rodney Perera of the 1988 batch and a former ambassador to Italy received one of the highest honours awarded by the Italian government.
Media personnel
Our Foreign Service also possesses experienced media personnel. Ravintha Abeysinghe of the 1988 batch was an announcer as well as a presenter at Sri Lanka Rupavahani Corporation. As a presenter of SLRC, he had also conducted several interviews with visiting VIP leaders of many countries. He is presently the director general of public communications at the Foreign Ministry.
Madhrika Joseph and George Cooke of the 1998 and 2007 batches sharpened their skills as announcers at SLRC and TNL respectively. Several SLFS officers are well versed in UN languages and other international languages.
B. Kandeepan joined the Foreign Service in the year 1996. His hobby is playing the tabla and he is a skilled tabla player. He has displayed his tabla-playing skills even at musical shows conducted by Maestro Visaradha Amaradeva.
Chanaka H. Talpahewa (year 2000 batch) has excelled in the sport of rowing in the country. He became the first rowing captain of Sri Lanka when he led the Sri Lanka rowing team to the Asian Games in South Korea in 2002. He also won a silver medal at the SAF Games in Pakistan (2004) and a bronze medal at the South Asian Games in Colombo (2006). He is the holder of two Sri Lanka records. He is also an accomplished rowing coach and the secretary of the National Rowing Association.
The SLFS had to face an uphill task to redeem the lost prestige of the country. Human rights violations were the main allegation levelled against Sri Lanka. Our officers working in foreign missions, especially New York, Geneva, Brussels and some European countries and India, had to burn the midnight oil to keep the Sri Lankan flag flying with prestige.
Our officers, with the guidance of that great and inimitable statesman, the late Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, were not only able to turn the tide against the terrorists and redeem the lost prestige of our motherland but also to persuade several countries, including those who initially supported terrorist activities, to proscribe the anti Sri Lanka movements in their countries. It was a great achievement and the unsung heroes were the Foreign Affairs Ministry officials and the Minister.
Significant role
Foreign Ministry officials played a significant role at the peace talks/negotiations with the LTTE commencing from Thimpu to Geneva. The first Peace Secretariat Secretary General was B.A.B. Goonetilleke, a product of the SLFS 1970 batch. Dr. Jayantha Danapala and Dr. John Gooneratne too had worked at the Peace Secretariat. Presently C. H. Poologasingham of the SLFS 1975 batch is working at the Peace Secretariat. The two SAARC summits held in Sri Lanka were excellently handled by SLFS officers.
The tsunami of December 2004 was the biggest disaster the country ever suffered. The administrative machinery too was affected and several public servants could not even reach their work places. The international community reacted to the situation immediately and the influx of foreign aid was instantaneous. Over 300 foreign delegates arrived in the country.
The SLFS officers were ever ready to meet any situation and the coordination of the visits of the foreign delegates was handled by the SLFS officers to the satisfaction of everyone.
Officers of the Sri Lankan missions abroad collected more than Rs. 500 million as donations as well as officers’ personal contributions. The Sri Lankan Mission in China alone collected approximately Rs. 200 million. With those funds, the Foreign Ministry completed five housing projects comprising 856 housing units for tsunami victims – 152 units at Trincomalee, 300 units at Ampara, 116 units at Galle (two projects) and 288 units at Kalutara.
The recent reception held at the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Japan to commemorate ‘Sri Lanka Day’ was attended by more than 100,000 guests and the spouse of the Japanese Prime Minister graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. It was a great publicity event organised by the SLFS officers of the mission.
Yeoman service
SLFS officers have done a yeoman service to the country. They have protected and safeguarded the image of the country. They have kept the Sri Lankan flag flying with dignity. Their services are indeed praiseworthy.
The next batch to the SLFS is scheduled to be recruited in the near future. As a member of the SLFS, I invite talented young graduates who passed out recently to join the SLFS and serve our motherland.
In conclusion, I mention with gratitude the encouragement given to me by that veteran administrator, Lionel Fernando, a one time Foreign Affairs Ministry secretary and member of the former Civil Service, to make an in-depth study of the SLFS. I thank him from the bottom of my heart.
(The writer is the First Secretary of the Embassy of Sri Lanka, The Hague, The Netherlands. E.mail. menikb@hotmail.com
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, California -- The 2017 Language Day celebration was held by the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center at the Presidio of Monterey, May 12. Language Day is open to the public and attended by schools throughout the region to promote an understanding of diverse customs and cultures from around the world. Approximately 5,000 people attended the annual event featuring cultural displays, activities and international ethnic cuisine served by local vendors on Presidio’s Soldier Field.
The event featured a Vietnam War veterans recognition ceremony. Vietnam War lapel pins authorized by Congress were individually presented by POM Garrison Commander Col. Lawrence Brown and Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Roberto Marshall to approximately 75 Vietnam War veterans in attendance.
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PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.
The Love Language - July 14, 2010 - TT the Bear's Place - Boston, MA
Photo by Charlotte Zoller © 2010
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Vision, Language, and Influence:
Photographs of the South by Baldwin Lee, Walker Evans, and Eudora Welty
Knoxville Museum of Art
May 14 – August 1, 2010
Vision, Language, and Influence brings together for the first time the work of three photographers of the American South over a 50-year period. Walker Evans (1903-1976) is represented by incisive images of Alabama sharecroppers stemming from his epic collaboration with James Agee on Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. Eudora Welty (1909-2001) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning Southern writer and photographer who traveled across Mississippi in the 1930s and early 1940s taking photographs and documenting rural and small-town life in her home state. Baldwin Lee (born 1951) is a professor of photography at the University of Tennessee, and a former assistant to Walker Evans. Complementing the 50 or so works by Evans and Welty are more than 30 of Lee’s images of African-American life in the South taken during the 1980s with the support of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Vision, Language, and Influence was organized by the Knoxville Museum of Art in collaboration with Baldwin Lee.
UNICODE 5.1.0 meets Or-Omcode∞.1.0
Unicode represents the Tower ob Babel en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Babel In computing, Unicode is an industry standard allowing computers to consistently represent and manipulate text expressed in most of the world's writing systems. Developed in tandem with the Universal Character Set standard and published in book form as The Unicode Standard, Unicode consists of a repertoire of more than 100,000 characters, a set of code charts for visual reference, an encoding methodology and set of standard character encodings, an enumeration of character properties such as upper and lower case, a set of reference data computer files, and a number of related items, such as character properties, rules for normalization, decomposition, collation, rendering and bidirectional display order (for the correct display of text containing both right-to-left scripts, such as Arabic or Hebrew, and left-to-right scripts). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UniCode
Or-Omcode∞.1.0 represents a new Universal Language de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universalsprache derived within the Doctine Of Essense by
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Christian_Friedrich_Krause
Encoding Unicode into the Or-Omcode∞.1.0 all traditional languages become semantically transformed within the new universal language parameters. portal.or-om.org/art/UnicodemeetsOrOmCode/tabid/6319/Defa...
Urmia (Turkish language: Urmu, Urmiyə, اورمیه; farsi: ارومیه) variously translitterated as Oroumiyeh, Orūmīyeh and Urūmiyeh, is a city in and the capital of West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 577,307, with 153,570 households.
The city lies at an altitude of 1,330 m above sea level on the Shahar Chay river (City River). Urmia is the 10th most populated city in Iran. The population is mainly mainly Azerbaijanian Turkish(85-90%), with Kurdish, Assyrian Christian, and Armenian minorities.
Urmia is situated on a fertile plain called Urmia Plain, on western side of Lake Urmia; and eastern side of Turkish border and marginal range of mountains.
Urmia is the trade center for a fertile agricultural region where fruit (especially Apple and Grape) and Tobacco are grown. An important town by the 9th cent., Urmia was seized by the Seljuk Turks (1184), and later occupied a number of times by the Ottoman Turks.
Urmiye (Türkçesi:اورمو, Urmu, اورمیه, Urumiyə;Farsça: ارومیه, Orumieh), İran'ın Batı Azerbaycan Eyaleti'nin yönetim merkezi olan şehir. Şehir, bağlı olduğu eyaletin orta kısmında, Urmiye Gölü ile Türkiye sınırı arasında, kendi adıyla anılan ovada kuruludur. Nüfusu 2006 yılı verileriyle 577,307 kişidir ki Urmiye ülkenin en büyük 10. şehridir.
Urmiye şehrinde nüfusun çoğunluğunu (tahmini 90%) Türklerdir, azınlık kısmınıysa Kürtler, Süryaniler ve Ermeniler oluşturuyor.
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, California -- The 2018 Language Day celebration was held by the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center at the Presidio of Monterey, May 11. Language Day is open to the public and attended by schools across the nation to promote an understanding of diverse customs and cultures from around the world. Approximately 6,000 people attended this annual event featuring cultural displays, activities and international ethnic cuisine served by local vendors.
Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook
PHOTO by Joseph Kumzak, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, California -- The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center Joint Service Color Guard and marching elements from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines celebrated our nation's independence by participating in the City of Monterey 4th of July parade in downtown Monterey, July 4.
Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
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PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.