By Captain Mark Giles

It rained for much of the first two days – apparently an uncommon occurrence during the summer in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM*) – but the rain didn’t dampen the spirits of the 67 reservists participating in the 2007 CIOR Language Academy.

With a mission to teach English and French – NATO’s two official languages – to selected reservists from NATO, Partnership for Peace and Mediterranean Dialogue countries, the academy also provides participants with an orientation to the CIOR. Now an annual two-week event, this year’s academy was held in Skopje in August and included a visit by the CIOR president to meet with students, instructional staff and local officials.

“I want to get a close-up view, and meet with those delivering the program, to determine the rate at which students are learning,” said Canadian Capt. (N) Carman McNary, CIOR president. “I can then report to NATO what we’re producing and how we can make the program even better.”

Established in 2000, the academy has trained more than 420 officers from every nation of Eastern and Central Europe – another example of the CIOR’s successful professional development programs that better prepare reservists for service in the NATO environment

This year candidates from Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Italy, FYROM, Moldova, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Spain and the Ukraine attended the academy, which received significant support from the local reserve association and senior officials at the Ministry of Defense.

“By hosting this CIOR Language Academy we start a new tradition of international engagement, cooperation and affirmation,” said Maj.-Gen. (R) Risto Damjanovski, president of the Reserve Officers Association of the Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). “Our efforts are to educate highly professional officers who (will use) the domestic and world knowledge (they acquire).”

Developing usable skills in either of NATO’s official languages provides an essential and indispensable tool for these reservists to carry out international business, helping pave the way to work within the NATO alliance and deploy to Afghanistan or other NATO-led missions.

By all accounts, the 2007 Language Academy was a huge success – providing a high level of academic instruction with creative and practical teaching techniques.

“They (teachers) presented the information in a really fascinating way, which made acquiring the knowledge much easier,” said Capt. Todor Shishkov, a Bulgarian army reservist who runs his own chemical business in civilian life.

“They taught us not only how to talk more fluently, but as well how to think in English,” said Angelina Ilchenko, the chief advisor to the Supreme Administrative Court of the Ukraine – one of three civilians invited to attend.

“The teaching team was excellent – there were teachers in each class from English and North American speaking areas, which helped us to recognize differences between British and American English,” said Sgt. Zdravko Jakovlevski, a reservist with the FYROM Ministry of Defense.

The plan is to make the academy even better, adding additional standards so that students can achieve a recognizable qualification upon completion of the program.

“Our big project for next year, and one that our students wholeheartedly support, is to make NATO standardized tests available at the first two levels,” said Maj. Lin Maclean, academic director and a U.K. reservist. “Students can then leave with a qualification that is recognized by NATO and that translates into civilian equivalencies around the world.”

One student thought enough of the program to even suggest additional pre-course study. Capt. Arnost Libezny, president of the Association of Reserve Brigades in the Czech Republic and a military police reservist, suggested the CIOR should consider internet-based studies throughout the year in preparation for the formal summer course.

Regardless of the format, many students found the 2007 CIOR Language Academy in Skopje to be a very valuable and worthwhile experience, and many look forward to coming back for more advanced training.

* Turkey recognizes the Republic of Macedonia with its constitutional name.

Captain Mark Giles is a public affairs officer with the CIOR presidency team.