The centre, providing full-time, after-work and lunchtime training for up to 1,000 students a year, was opened at the FCO’s main building in King Charles Street last Thursday.
At the opening, Fraser told CSW that the new centre, run by private company Language Services Direct, is “an offer for the whole of Whitehall – not just for diplomats, but other departments sending people overseas”. He added that the centre will help to promote the “idea of one government overseas”.
Foreign secretary William Hague (pictured above), speaking at the launch, said: “The ability to speak, read, listen and write in a foreign language is one of the fundamental skills of our diplomats. Without it, they cannot get under the skin of a country and really understand its people.
The FCO first opened a language centre in 1978, but closed it in 2007, with language training outsourced to a number of private firms across London.
The new centre offers training in more than 80 languages. A total of 110 full-time and 400 part-time students are already signed up.