DOUBLE DEUTSCH

Having studied German since elementary school, Wilson Wildeman felt confident about following in his father's footsteps and embarking on a two-year industrial-mechanic apprenticeship in the Bavarian town of Naila between high school and college. But he soon was at a loss for words--particularly the names of assembly-plant machinery and computer-related terms. He had no idea what a milling machine was called or even technical stuff, like a keyboard. Now, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering at Clemson University, Wildeman is Germany-bound once again. This time, however, he will arrive primed to work in the advanced textile industry with a semester of technical German under his belt. The introductory course, which debuted this spring, is just the initial phase of an ambitious Engineering + Language initiative slated to roll out next year with mechanical engineering and German and eventually encompassing other disciplines and languages.