A language class that enemy forces imposed on his country prepared Frank Chou for the job he's enjoyed for decades.

Japanese language courses were added to the Taiwan school curriculum in the 1940s, a policy enforced when the Japanese occupied the island province during World War II.

Chou, who was hired 31 years ago as Augusta National's first interpreter, studied the language until he was a sixth-grader. After the war ended, the rigid Chinese government of Chiang Kai-shek imposed yet another language on Taiwan and its school system.

``After the war, we had to learn a new language - the official Chinese language, Mandarin Chinese,'' said Chou, whose native language is the Taiwanese dialect he first learned in his hometown, Taisui, Taiwan.

``I've always liked languages,'' he said. ``So I kept it up.''

Twists in his homeland's political situation and its education system planted the seeds for the four languages Chou subsequently would master.

The 70-year-old Augustan was hired as a Masters interpreter about 10 years after he relocated to the city to work as a behavioral science professor at Augusta State University in 1960.

Year's earlier, he earned masters and doctorate degrees in educational psychology from the University of Georgia.

He retired from Augusta State in 1999 but continued to serve as a volunteer consultant that year, translating for Japanese and Chinese players during tournament interviews.

``When it started, I was merely there to interpret during social functions,'' he said. ``It was embarrassing for the players to just stand there and not be able to converse.''

This week Chou stood by at the ninth and 18th holes each time the three Japanese players - Toshi Izawa, Shingo Katayama and Shigeki Maruyama - came through. He's there in case the players are rushed by English-speaking media with questions about their round.

``I am glad that I'm asked to help out,'' he said Friday afternoon as he sat in the media lounge monitoring Maruyama's progress on a large-screen television. ``It's an honor.''

In the press room at Augusta National, Chou occasionally fields questions for the 30 Japanese photographers and reporters who are there among hundreds of others.

``I help with the incidentals,'' he said, ``so they can concentrate on the game.''