COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) -- The Canadian military plans to hire a Colorado woman to teach some of its soldiers to speak French -- one of Canada's official languages.

The proposed deal is raising eyebrows in Canada, but the teacher, Fadia Gnoske, calls it "a big storm in a teacup."

If the contract is finalized, Canada will pay Gnoske's company up to $270,000 US to tutor Canadians assigned to NORAD, a joint U.S.-Canadian command in Colorado Springs.

The Canadian military is trying to improve its French after faring poorly in a review. It says Gnoske's company is the only one it found in Colorado Springs that understands the military's language program.

Gnoske says she's a U.S. citizen who attended French-speaking schools while growing up in Italy.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)