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'Linguists are not spies, technically'
Updated On: 16 February, 2014 10:20 AM IST | | Anu Prabhakar
<p>How easy is it to work for an American intelligence agency? Not too difficult, if you know how to speak, write, read and think in an Indian regional language fluently, according to William Holden, who works within the US defense industry</p>
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If recent media reports are to be believed, the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), India’s premier intelligence agency, has been hiring native linguists to teach languages such as Pashto and Myanmarese to R&AW officials, for almost a year now. Interestingly, it is believed that the agency took a cue from American intelligence agencies that have always hired Indian linguists — those that speak Hindi, Punjabi, Telugu and Malayalam are popular favourites. William Holden, military intelligence analyst, linguist and CEO of website IntelligenceCareers.com, speaks about what it is like for a linguist to work for an American intelligence agency.
If Posted overseas, linguists work in the same environment that US troops do — no holidays, 10-12 working hours and they have a limited circle of friends and associates
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