It takes less time to train an airman to become a fighter pilot than it takes to train an Arabic interpreter, but the accuracy of the latter may be more important to national security, said the president of the American Translators Association.

Faulty translations have the potential to lead to international incidents, ranging from health risks on items such as cans of exported infant formula, to political misunderstandings, such as the one in January that led to Iran briefly banning CNN for misquoting the country's president.

"You can't risk getting the translation wrong," said Marian Greenfield, president of the association, at a conference in Salt Lake City on Monday.

Billed as the first of its kind by organizers, the Translation Summit brought together representatives from government, academia and the private sector to talk about the increasing need for accurate translation services.

The conference, organized by the Center for Language Studies at Brigham Young University and co-sponsored by the National Virtual Translation Center and the American Translators Association, aims to increase cooperation among the various worlds of translation and interpreting with an eye toward the increased demand for translators.

Scholar and certified California courts interpreter Alexander Rainof called for a government policy on language, saying the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks were an "extraordinarily painful wake-up call" for U.S. language translators.

"A clear language policy on the part of our government is more crucial than ever," he said.

The country's well-being, integrity and survival depends on an increased focus on teaching languages at an early age, he said.

"We have to start in kindergarten," Rainof said, noting that it can take 25 years for someone to hone their skills in another language.

Glenn Nordin, a federal language and culture adviser, told Rainof and conference-goers they may get their wish.

In January, President Bush announced the National Security Language Initiative, designed to strengthen national security and international commerce by developing American students' foreign language skills through expanded programs from kindergarten through college.

Bush has requested $114 million in the next budget year to help teach U.S. students Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Hindi, Farsi and other languages that are rarely studied.

Nordin said the program will have three goals: expanding the number of Americans speaking critically needed languages and starting the learning process at a younger age; increasing the number of foreign language speakers; and increasing the number of foreign language teachers and providing more resources for them.

"We now have a general momentum toward a significant and lasting change in our national culture toward the need of understanding and communicating in the world's languages," he said.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.