The Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) have introduced Arabic and Chinese courses as part of their latest training disciplines.
Major General James Birungi, the Chief of Military Intelligence, said on Wednesday, March 27th, while launching the languages wing and officially opening the Arabic and Chinese courses, that they will be conducted in partnership with the Makerere University School of Languages.
He lauded the Dean School of Languages at Makerere University for partnering with the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces on a noble cause for the country.
“This is indeed an important milestone for the entire UPDF fraternity and the country,” said Maj. Gen. Birungi.
The CMI boss also observed that the course comes at a time when the new world order, globalisation, and advances in technology have brought new opportunities and challenges that require effective communication skills to avoid ambiguities and the possibility of being misunderstood and navigating through multicultural and intricate partnerships.
Maj. Gen. Birungi implored the participants to be focused and have a positive attitude to be able to harness as much knowledge as they can to succeed in the course.
“This training will prepare you to become certified linguists on your job specification, especially in interpretation, translation, and being subject matter experts on cultural issues, among others.”
Col. James Muhumuza, the Commandant of the School, said that the course aims to produce trainees who can effectively read, listen, write, speak, and translate the languages.
Chinese is the most widely spoken language in the world, with over one billion native speakers, and Arabic is the fourth most spoken language in the world, with over 360 million speakers.