Metaglossia: The Translation World

On the drive from his home in Anoka to MSP airport, William Wilder rehearsed his Arabic. "As salamu alaykum, as salamu alaykum..." It's been almost 21/2 years since he used the language, but he wanted to greet his Iraqi friend properly when he arrived in the United States.
Wilder met Basim Al Hassan in 2009 when he was stationed at the Basra military base in southern Iraq for a one-year tour with the National Guard. The two worked together at the entry control point to the military base. Al Hassan -- nicknamed "Coy" -- was a translator and spoke good English, making it easy for them to shoot the breeze for 10 to 12 hours while they worked.

"You can learn a lot about someone when you have time to talk -- and I talk a lot," said Wilder, 42.

Their talks about family, relationships, clothing and culture developed into a friendship, and when Wilder's deployment came to an end, he and a number of others in his unit volunteered to sponsor some of the Iraqis on the base to come to the U.S.

Al Hassan arrived in Minnesota late Thursday night on a special immigrant visa, a path offered to people who worked with or helped the U.S. military. During the application process he was able to pick a resettlement location; he chose Minnesota because of his friendship with Wilder.