DLI isn't the only intensive 3-letter language school. See how Mormon missionaries learn languages fast at the MTC 👉🏼 kzread.info/dash/bejne/gaxqr8aLhMaWqag.html

THOM Gizziz

4 күн бұрын

@Locutus D'Borg The hardest language for native english speakers is norwegian and that is probably not a target language...

THOM Gizziz

4 күн бұрын

@BeReSe So do people in the DLI, initially. DLI students know things relating to war and general conversation, mormons know things relating to religion and general conversation. Mormons are in the program for a couple months vs 15 months for DLI. As both of their experience grows so do their ability to talk about different subjects. Do you think DLI people are able to talk about everything under the sun? SMH

THOM Gizziz

4 күн бұрын

@Andrew not always... all you are doing is what you are accusing others of...

Joshua Little

24 күн бұрын

Guess what there are more than a few Mormans at DLI specifically becsuse of that fact by younger brother met his wife ( a recovering former Morman) while they were students at DLI

Thomas Pemrich

25 күн бұрын

Gloss is online. Where ? Under what name?

I studied German at DLI in the late Eighties. Here was their secret: daily testing and assessment. They’d give you lessons, tons of homework, and a test every morning on the previous day’s work. For us Air Force troops, anything under an 88 was a failing grade. Imagine a school where a “B” is a failing grade! If you failed two days in a row, you washed out. If that happened, they made you a cook or another career. Motivation was high! Throughout the course, they cranked the rigor. At first, they’d give you 50 vocabulary words to memorize daily. By the end of the course, it was 300 words to memorize DAILY! The DLI prepared me to get through college and grad school.

None

Күн бұрын

@Mindset Olympics it's impossible, and not even close to true coming from someone who went through the dli as well

Mindset Olympics

2 күн бұрын

that's a ton of words my goodness

None

2 күн бұрын

@THOM Gizziz no you weren't

Brian G

2 күн бұрын

I also attended at the same time, studied Russian, and I think he misspoke. While most of this is correct, I think meant weekly instead of daily. Everything he said is true on a weekly basis, not daily.

The quickest path to learning a language is total immersion. It is paramount that you ONLY speak the target language. You CANNOT use your native tongue. Remember, the greatest obstacle to learning a language is already knowing one.

PlayLIekIdiots

2 күн бұрын

@Miovic Dina a lot of people here are arguing for or against grammar, but I think it kind've misses the point. For me at least, learning the grammar was really only important because it trained me to notice and see the grammar. The actual work of becoming comfortable with using grammar came mostly with input and output. But if I didn't even notice the grammar, no amount of input would help me overcome that barrier.

Miovic Dina

5 күн бұрын

@Murad M Speaking of ignoring, can you please answer with a "Yes" or with a "No" about the 4 languages you "speak", do you...? Can you ..? Etc. Judging by your answer it's a No. You probably do well talking to people in that language, i.e. simple conversation. Even though it's flowing, that's not fluent. I LOVE math. I was really good at math and physics, and I love astrophysics, too. I was an all-A student all my life. PS I accept the criticism, scratch "more intelligent", replace it with "more knowledgeable". I meant to say "the person who has better insight in the given subject matter", i.e. is "smarter for language acquisition", or "smarter for mathematical problem-solving", knows more about it, reaches 100% correct conclusions on that subject matter much faster.

Murad M

5 күн бұрын

@Miovic Dina also good job ignoring everything else I have said.

Murad M

5 күн бұрын

@Miovic Dina you are confusing translator with average person. Calling people less intelligent than yourself will not prove anything, English is 3rd language I speak, and I speak 4 in total. Grammar is boring for majority of people because it is mechanistic and artificial. I’m mathematician but I don’t go around telling people that math is fun for everyone.

My dad was almost fluent in Arabic by the time he came back from jordan, he was there for a year and a half. He has some of the language but he can still have a deep conversation with his Jordanian friends in Arabic. It’s really impressive, not a lot of people expect a Mexican guy to speak more Arabic then Spanish.

THOM Gizziz

4 күн бұрын

Do you know Arabic? No? Then how on earth do you know his skill level. I know another language pretty well and I have spoken with people that claim to be fluent and other people that dont know the language think that they are fluent, the problem is they arent that good. It is easy to think that others are great but there is no way for you to know.

Wazkaty

2 ай бұрын

@The Ultimate Reductionist Agree with you! Plasticity and neurology are not very (most of it) developed, I guess and hope we'll learn much about brain's capacities !

Wazkaty

2 ай бұрын

Wow! Congratulations ! Im learning Arabic right now, and I practice my Spanish! Did he struggled with the guttural sounds or it was easy for him ?

Ice Swallow

3 ай бұрын

@The Ultimate Reductionist none of these criticisms are valid imo. immersion is much easier to learn and retain than books. sure some grammar etc by books is probably necessary. but to actually get the hang of enough conversational language it’s best to speak it with someone and your whole idea of translator programs is true only if you want to read the work of someone. for actual technical linguistic needs such as scholarship you need to know the language to see what century it might belong to, if that’s unknown, and differences etc. Not to mention you can’t have a conversation with someone using that tool, and sure if someone like you hates talking to other ppl, which personally i dont think is very good, that works, but clearly others dont hate it and translator devices are probably slow and useless if you’re trying to read manuscripts etc with sloppy handwriting. this countercriticism of mine comes from a very lazy person (me), so I definitely do not wish hard work like learning a language (not that hard if you’re motivated) was necessary

I am active duty navy and I studied to be a military Russian linguist at DLI it is no exaggeration when I say it is definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life the stress levels of the school puts Bootcamp to shame but if you make it through the course it is one of the most gratifying experiences you’ll ever have. When you get to that point in class where you realize three months ago you had trouble pronouncing the difference between a chair and a table and now you can listen to a news broadcast and understand is just amazing. It reminds you that the almost unsustainable amount of effort you’re putting in isn’t worthless. this video was fairly accurate about the schooling structure, more so than any other video I’ve ever seen about DLI. The instructors there are extremely skilled often knowing English grammar better than most college students and being able to explain their native language grammar in their second or even third language sometimes. The school is not for the faint of heart but it is a once in a lifetime opportunity that if you’re given it hit the ground running and do your best just remember that even more than your ability to learn the language having a positive attitude can make or break whether you make it through the course.

Ww1zardD

3 күн бұрын

For those who want understand what he meant by saying about table and chair, in Russian the table is pronounced like 'stol' and chair is like 'stool'. Yeah, so it really may seem hard to differ them

THOM Gizziz

4 күн бұрын

@K D You should be fine. If he was going away and you were staying then the stats are correct and you would be dumb to ignore it. The good thing, for you, is men only start 10-20% of divorces so since you arent staying home and he is your relationship should be fine unless you decide to do something bad, which the rates show is much more likely.

THOM Gizziz

4 күн бұрын

@Brian Fitch You are going off the numbers for a guy going away and his wife leaving him. I dont know the numbers for the military but if it holds true to the general population the chances of her marriage being fine on his end is 70-80% where as if the roles were flipped then it would be 10-20% which your 15% would fit into. The sex of the person going away matters.

Roman Sit

23 күн бұрын

Ну и что из этого вышло, как успехи?🙂

БейБеги

25 күн бұрын

ну а русский-то выучил? and one more question - what's average age of students (and how old were you?) I'm learning english now in my 30, it's my first foreign languige, and it's so #### hard, I really feel as a stupid, I've started to doubt in my cognitive abilites :)

I was a Russian DLI graduate from 1989. Your video is very accurate, and I noticed how much has changed since I went through the course. I work in an elementary school now, and there is a newly arrived student from Russia who doesn't speak English. Unfortunately, not having used Russian since I left the military 30 years ago has me barely remembering even basic words and phrases. I've been Googling those, and the pronunciation is still there, because she understands everything I say, or at least is very happy to hear an adult attempting to speak her language!

Mark Sewell

5 күн бұрын

We were there at the same time.

Ron Hunt

27 күн бұрын

Very cool! I studied there 89-90 at the top of the hill school. Air Force

KReaL570

Ай бұрын

Thats good, i suppose you lucky to have experience like that, probably it can not be forgotten in the future?

Колтук Вячеслав

Ай бұрын

Желаю вам удачи)

ice Nova

2 ай бұрын

Здравствуйте, выпускник DLI.

As enlisted Navy, I graduated from the basic Mandarin 47 week course in 74-75, and came back as an MLI in 86-89. Worked in the signal's intelligence field. Retired in 1994 and did an MA in Chinese in Hawaii. Qualified as a graphic language analyst at the NSA in 1990 while still on active duty with the Navy. The AVERAGE graduate of DLI in Asian languages is not really fluent, but they do have a solid foundation in the language. Most would be placed at the start of the 3rd year level at a university (CHN 301). University students have a better knowledge of literature and the written language. DLI grads tend to have better listening comprehension.

Jkdbuçk 76

Күн бұрын

Your resume sounds like my dad's, but he started in 69.

MusicPatron

Ай бұрын

that's fair, but university languages is soo much harder..and listening is so much easier once you get the reading and written parts done first.

8pija

2 ай бұрын

@Phil Gainey Oh no, I was just curious about your personal experience, I’m in DEP right now waiting on waivers, hoping to enter as a linguist

feng wei

2 ай бұрын

听起来很不错🎉

Phil Gainey

2 ай бұрын

@8pija No, pinyin AND characters. You learn better by studying both. What are you studying Chinese for? College? Or just on your own?

Having studied Russian, Japanese, and Korean, I can't imagine having to learn any of those in 64 weeks. Very impressed with anyone who can stick out something like that.

THOM Gizziz

4 күн бұрын

@Marshingo They can translate them incorrectly... I have met people that have gone through DLI for korean in korea and their skill is abysmal and they try to make guesses that sometimes are hilariously bad.

Mark Sewell

5 күн бұрын

@Marshingo The topics are on everything, from picnics and potato salad to current events. Some of it is political, some basic military terms, but certainly not the focus. The focus is on catching all Essential Elements of Information (EEIs). Dates, numbers, facts, figures, whatever.

Patricia Macias

14 күн бұрын

If you take it seriously, you cando it. I learned Italian in 2 months, of course not at a proficiency level but I was able to comunicate and I had some job interviews in Italian. I never took a course, I taught myself by watching TV, reading magazines and listening to my Italian relatives. After a year I was able to translate technical, complex texts (I'm an interpreter/translator), with a little help from my husband and I was 42 years old. I also learned French on my own, it's a matter of being serious and disciplined, that's all. Where there's a will, there' a way.

Alex Finiks

22 күн бұрын

@KuroNeko не спорю про корейский - я его только поверхностно смотрела, но насчёт русского - зависит, откуда вы сами изначально, как мне кажется: англосаксам и иже с ними русский сложнее воспринимать, нежели восточноевропейцам (включая постсоветское пространство)~

Marcus

28 күн бұрын

64 weeks is almost 1,5 years. That's more than enough time to get pretty good at any language, if you put in the effort. I studied Japanese full time at a college, for around 64 weeks, and got to almost N2 level, which is the second most difficult level. And I didn't even study that hard. There were students that studied hard and passed N2 level before 64 weeks. It's all about the effort you put in. If you're just studying a language on your own as a hobby, and you're not putting in the effort, nor using it outside of studying, of course it's going to take a long time.

I was an Army Mandarin linguist, the only woman in my DLI class of 10 in 1976. The sexism and bias of the teachers was so terrible that my male classmates had to go to the Dean about it (there was no sexual harassment training, or easy ways to report, in those days). Still, it was great training which I highly recommend - and Monterey is a lovely place to live for a year. I didn’t find the training difficult per se, but there was a lot to learn in a short time (I always had flash cards on me). About half way through, English began to sound odd, and I even had some dreams in Mandarin.

Felicia

Ай бұрын

That sexism/bias still exists, unfortunately

Marlon Moncrieffe

2 ай бұрын

...SHE was that girl, @FLO Techno !

ice Nova

2 ай бұрын

Yes. I took the German course and after about a month I was dreaming in German.

FLO Techno

2 ай бұрын

Souns cool (other then the girl getting harassed). Sounds pretty rough.

This is by far the most interesting video I've ever seen. I'm an absolute lover of learning languages. I speak German, Spanish, Italian, and just recently Japanese. I'm almost 50 years old and I marvel when people say you can't learn a language at 50. I'm entirely self-taught and have no difficulty learning languages easily. Hearing about the process is getting me so excited. I'm going to map out a course for myself to learn these ways and I bet I'll learn new languages even better than my old process. Thank you.

THOM Gizziz

4 күн бұрын

@Alison Pereira Yeah dabble in a language to the point you can say a few basic things and then pretend like you can speak it fluently. If somebody tries to test you take control of the situation say the few things you know and then get away from the language that you claim to know as quickly as possible so you dont get caught out. I run into people that say they know a bunch of languages fluently and they barely know what I know and my ability is pretty trash in most languages.

БейБеги

13 күн бұрын

@Jjhonsib you should listen adolf's speeches, they are very impressive and will sink deep in your soul, you'll love this guy

Jjhonsib

13 күн бұрын

I live in Germany and want to speak it so badly I’m trying to learn on my own but I’m only remembering a few words. What are some tips you have for learning German.

БейБеги

25 күн бұрын

you can learn languige in 50, and in 60 and in 70 BUT if it isn't your first foreign languige. learning first foreign languige in 50 would be pretty tough

Emka

Ай бұрын

You speak to my soul. I love learning languages. The mere thought of learning a new language excites me and I can't wait to start. It's why I jump between a few, learning new words every time. I speak Polish, English and Czech on a fluent level, and learning Spanish and Turkish as well. Did a bit of Arabic too as a personal challenge, because I love the music and seeing and recognising words you learned is incredibly rewarding considering how different the letters are. Total immersion is really the key though. Without it the process is very slow.

My grandfather went to Monterey in the military and learned Russian during the Cold War. He worked as a codebreaker during the korean war in Japan breaking and translating soviet code. He didn't speak much of his service, and always fought tooth and nail for my family to never join the military but i'm proud he was able to study one of the hardest languages at the DLI.

Wango

4 күн бұрын

I’m sure you grandfather is proud.

I work as a linguist, translating & interpreting in 6 languages. I'm also a USAF Veteran. The testing & exams prior to serving on active duty, was very thorough, for me. They are very intensive to discover a prospective recruits strengths, weaknesses. People who have a natural ability to learn languages will learn more quickly & thoroughly. Some people have a latent language ability that even they didn't know they had. The training will bring out or enhance a person's ability. Many people misunderstand the aspects of speaking a language other than a language that is native to them. Cultural aspects of speaking a language is just as important as the language fluency. I have lived in the countries where all except one of my languages is spoken. I learned most of the cultural aspect, there. When I left, then divorced an abusive male, I thought that I had no marketable skills. I only knew I was unwilling to accept being treated badly. My career path started in an unexpected way. I'm deeply grateful that I was taken seriously when I told someone who was instrumental in getting on this career path, that, yes, I'm fluent in 5 languages. People often hear that past a certain age, it's nearly impossible to learn language(s) other than native one(s). I taught myself a 6th language a year ago, I tested as fluent, added a certification in that language in addition to the other 5. For me, learning and speaking languages are as natural as drinking water.

Fhoenis Amintole

2 ай бұрын

Greetings and thanks for sharing, what would be your suggestion for a beginner like me to learn and become fluent in the Latin languages Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese. I notice that some of the words are similar since they are Latin base. I would like to become a professional contractor for hire, what are some books and free websites that you can recommend so I can teach myself and network with others and get marketable skills that will take me into retirement as I will be starting a new career in my early sixties and don't want to be concern about being laid off and waiting to become employed again, I hope translator and interpreters are still in demand in2023. Thanks for all your help and reply.

Brenda B

3 ай бұрын

@JPD2574 Thank you for clarifying. When I was AD USAF, I was certified at a military facility. Now, as a civilian, the company I work for certifies me. I don't know how much it costs, I've never had to pay for it.

JPD2574

3 ай бұрын

@Brenda B Who. In the OP you mention you were certified in an additional language? Who certifies individuals in languages.

Brenda B

3 ай бұрын

@JPD2574 Please clarify. Did you men to ask "who" or "how"?

JPD2574

3 ай бұрын

Were you a linguist in the Air Force? Who do you get certified in a language through?

The most important thing when learning a foreign language whatever it is, is MOTIVATION, the more you have, and it doesn't really matter the reason, the more likely you will stick with it. Learning languages is tough.

Chris

Ай бұрын

@Mike Good to know about the loss of interest after 6 months! I haven't reached that timeframe yet with the language I'm studying at the moment, but I have fallen off the bandwagon many times when it came to fitness (after 6 months, coincidentally) or other various interests. 😢 I think that in parallel with language study we need to learn about how our brains work and design a lifestyle and environment that support our goals. What I found works best for me is setting up small and achievable goals to build trust in myself -- there's nothing worse than letting yourself down. I am also trying to identify myself as "the kind of person that does x and y" because a lot of our habits derive from our identity. This has helped particularly well with eating a healthy diet, haha. Now I tell myself I'm a fast learner, I love learning this language, I love learning about the culture (which is all true, of course, but I have to remind myself of these things and spark some extra excitement). In theory, we should also find ways to hold ourselves accountable (with an accountability buddy or a teacher, like you mentioned -- except that I think some old-school grammar study is very welcome along with a 'modern' approach). It's something I'm trying to find a solution for at the moment because no matter how independent I think I am, the drawbacks of not having a study partner or mentor are real.

Mike

2 ай бұрын

@Chris Motivation is only the start but if you have a passion it can help you get through the inevitable bad spells, which often come early on when you think you are making no progress at all! Think I read somewhere the crunch comes often after about 6 months when a lot of people give up. Language learning is fairly mechanical mostly, memorizing words to build vocabulary, grammar rules, etc Having a good teacher helps. Unfortunately, in my day teachers were old school and it was just textbooks and grammar and you never really developed a feel for the language.

Chris

2 ай бұрын

True, motivation pushes you to do it but it has limited power. It usually gets you going; afterwards, you need sheer discipline, structure/methodology, and maybe some creativity to make learning entertaining as well.

In the early 80’s I had a girlfriend who joined the Air Force as a linguist. After basic training she spent 6 months at Lackland AFB in Texas doing a full immersion Russian course. For 6 months they spent 5 days per week on a section of the base where she said they were only allowed to speak Russian from day one. They were forced to learn Russian just to function.

Kurt the cat

3 күн бұрын

@THOM Gizziz True, everybody can be vague about their language level especially with all the polyglot videos. I go by the European level system of language learning, ie, A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2, B level being intermediate. When I studied in Germany 40 years ago I took a test and was placed in Level A2. Being familiar with the system I can roughly quantify my language level.

THOM Gizziz

4 күн бұрын

@Kurt the cat intermediate? based on what? your feelings? There is so much BSing about people knowing languages it isnt even funny.

Now Mine

5 ай бұрын

@Jar Jar Sphinx don't ever say such about yourself, life is a ball basher don't bash yourself too never give up, we try till our last breath

Jar Jar Sphinx

6 ай бұрын

@manager I think you just figured it out.

Fluently speaking two foreign languages (Mandarin Chinese and English) I've learned that one of the best ways to learn a language fast is to involve your emotions. You memorize new words quickly when you're in a native environment, so when learning on your own you can try to curate that exiting or stressful feeling by learning new vocab from movies about traumatic experiences (example: "tangshan earthquake" for mandarin) or reading erotic novels (manga/manhua for asian languages works great too). And watch tiktoks in that language! It works wonders, really helps to get that native feel in your speech.

Marcus

28 күн бұрын

​​​​​@BEFA Language School It's more about intent than emotions though. Using the words and phrases etc with intent like in a real situation. I can say a word angrily, but it won't make me memorize it any faster. But if I say it with intent, that may or may not involve an angry emotion, it helps. Just adding emotions isn't it. It's like learning lines as an actor. Just saying the lines with emotion doesn't do it. But understanding the words, the lines, and the underlying meaning and intent, knowing what it is you're actually saying and why, and learning them through that understanding, makes it so much easier.

Derp K

4 ай бұрын

@BEFA Language School that is sound, in neuropsychology it is known the importance of the amygdala with the formation of memory. If you are capable of mixing emotions with information, it will definitely help to retain it faster. That is why it is better to teach languages with comic books and fun stories, meeting people and dating. The more fun you have, the better and faster retention.

BEFA Language School

4 ай бұрын

I speak 14 languages and i came to the same conclusion. You have to use emotions and feelings then you talk to yourself by imagining talking to someone else but still feeling the feelings like in an actual conversation

Camille Chaustre McNally

4 ай бұрын

huh， 这是有意思的。你可以把漫画发给我推荐吗？我要试试你说的方法。

I went to DLI in 1980 and the Russian Language course ran 46 weeks. I can confirm that the DLI experience is extremely intense. After week 9 you are not allowed to speak English in the classroom complex and most days have you studying between 10 and 50 new words -- which you must be able to understand, read, write and conjugate properly by the next day -- when you'll get a new vocab list to study. When I first reported there, I was issued a reel-to-reel tape player, a two-foot tall stack of tapes, and a stack of forty text books -- that was just for weeks 1-9. At week 10 I got another issue of about the same size. It was insane. It continued like this for the whole 46 weeks -- after graduation it was off to Goodfellow Air Force Base for further training. If you want to be a military linguist -- whether as a transcriber, a translator, an analyst or an interrogator -- just know that by the end of the process your brain will be bent and you'll have a massive superiority complex. You won't actually be any smarter than a non-linguist, you'll just think you are.

Olly, I just want to say that I was taught Spanish at the MTC and after my mission to Buenos Aires, I went to DLI and first learned Czech. After the wall came down and peace broke out, I changed to Arabic. I also was an MLI (Military Language Instructor) at DLI. I agree with all of what they said and I was there for 6 and a half years after the year and a half of studying and four years of working with the language. Thank you for your video. It's great. Oh, and by the way, my recruiter was a cook and he knew nothing about DLI, Linguists and my MOS. I would like to add that in Spanish, I learned the religious part of the language. In Czech, more military rather than religion. But in Arabic, the language is so tied with the Koran and Islam that learning religious language goes hand in hand with learning Arabic. Still, I read the Book of Mormon a couple of times through in Spanish, one time in Czech (though Slovak languages are hard because of cases) and several times in Arabic. I now translate certain books from English to Arabic...a skill I learned at DLI.

Hans Magnusson

4 ай бұрын

Great comment on the cultural aspects and the difference on what deemed important e.g., Arabic and the Koran, Spanish and religion, Czech and military. It really paints a picture about the country or countries. I found that this could be translated to company cultures as well. How do you get things done e.g. in a big company. How do you anchor decisions, power distance, religion, acceptable ways of using the language, hierarchy or networking the list goes on...

I studied Farsi, Dari, MSA/ Levantine at DLI. It's really intense amd stressful. You're learning, speaking, listening, and mainly self studying majority of the time. They give you the instruction and tools but it mostly rests on yourself and your discipline.

I’m just visiting

4 ай бұрын

@Az 🐈‍⬛ It's pretty clear from the video why the military would train people in these languages. You are fooling nobody.

Az 🐈‍⬛

4 ай бұрын

@I’m just visiting I did. Was great, I got to do a lot of chaotic good but you should educate or ask more questions about why I learned the languages and cultures before you go off typing judgemental comments mate.

I’m just visiting

4 ай бұрын

Awesome! Now you can go ahead wreak havoc in the countries of those languages!

Pooya Monajemi

5 ай бұрын

Yes both are beautiful countries as Faryad said, just make sure you skip the D in DLI when talking to authorities lol

carl johnson

6 ай бұрын

Great job on learning persian I Hope you like our language🌹

I attended DLI in the late 80s (army) and all of our instructors were native speakers of different countries (all civilians) who NEVER spoke in English. We were also in a trial class that was not using the the typical mod course materials. The final test was conversational with different native speakers from different countries with different accents. There was also a written test. I earned a 2,2,2 so it was very successful. Believe it or not, a 2 is difficult to attain. By the time I finished, I was dreaming in the language. I also loved the Monterrey area, but military routines outside class were exhausting and your brain had to keep switching language.

These videos about how different groups of people learn languages are so interesting, I'm really enjoying this series!

white 😈 devil

4 ай бұрын

@Olly Richards Fan from India 🇮🇳 ♥, Pls also ask ur Defense military add Tamil language

muc JWT

Жыл бұрын

surely you do honey

alanguages

Жыл бұрын

@Israel Lai - Composer The polyglot celebrities don't use their languages in a professional and high level. Majority know just a little of a lot. With that said, DLI, FSI, etc... focus on one language and to a high proficient degree. They aren't trying to learn multiple languages.

Laur-un (stage name, actually called Faith)

Жыл бұрын

fr!!!!!

white angel

Жыл бұрын

Yeah right, it motivates me to learn new languages

Things may have changed a little since I went through DLI 1969-70 (9 month course in Russian) but this was a pretty good synopsis. Two additional "perks" worth mentioning: 1) credits are transferable to college (if you later attend one that offers the language) 2) you are allowed to keep all the text books. In our case that was a stack over 12" high!

I was in Army basic training in January 1991. One day they asked if 3 of us wanted to take a test. So they sent us over to a class room and had us sit for the DLAB. I think they were looking for people to send to Monterrey to learn Arabic for the Gulf War (or afterward). I ended up scoring 97. Which I realize is a low score - but keep in mind I was a basic training private going on little sleep without any understanding or knowledge of the test. No pre-study or anything. I always wonder what would have happened if I had done a little better. I've got a decent ear for languages. I speak German (largely self taught) and learned a lot of Arabic while I was in Egypt (another irony of the military).

I completed the Arabic language course at DLI in 1993. We studied Modern Standard Arabic and then Egyptian, Iraqi, and Lebanese dialects. Very intense but well worth it. I used it when I went on the U.N. Multinational Force and Observers tour in the Sinai Peninsula. 10/10 WOULD RECOMMEND! 😃👍

I was in this program. They expected us to learn Korean completely in a bit over a year. I couldn’t make it, so I ended up flunking out😅 I also picked the hardest language for enlisted to learn and I had a lot of personal issues going on at the same time. I’m sad I didn’t get the chance to complete the program, but I think if I tried now I’d be able to complete it. It was extremely intense, and being fresh from high school I wasn’t prepared mentally at all, but I think I am now. When I left, they begged me to come back in a few years because so few people score high enough in the DLAB to study Korean.

JulyFlame

5 күн бұрын

@Ms Maybe Yeah, the Japanese definitely didn't help there, especially with similar words due to the Sino connection. I also had some medical issues; I wound up getting vertigo and collapsed at the school house one day in between classes. I got taken to the hospital by ambulance. My teachers tried to write me up for that and tried to make me sign for it after I returned, and that really was the beginning of the end because the unit refused to accept the counseling chit for that and things just went downhill from there.

Ms Maybe

5 күн бұрын

@JulyFlame I also had solid Japanese knowledge. It helped a little in the beginning- mostly with getting the hang of having the verb at the end of a sentence, of using particles, but eventually I realized it hindered me in other ways (especially with vocab). I had developed a few medical issues (I was literally throwing up and pooping out blood from the stress) that allowed me to get out of the military entirely and not just get Re classes. I think if I hadn’t had those physical reactions, they would’ve handled me a lot harsher than what they did.

JulyFlame

5 күн бұрын

Same, did Korean and didn't make it at the time; it didn't help that there were also issues with the Korean schoolhouse *and* I unluckily went in with a solid Japanese foundation beyond other stuff happening. The schoolhouse LOE'd me in the end but my unit's leadership told me I just had shit luck even though they knew I tried. 😬 The military leadership for the various branchs at DLI do *not* kid around if they think you were screwing up or screwing around and they drop harsh punishments if they decide you were in the wrong.

Ms Maybe

2 ай бұрын

@Lovely Lady oh I loved the Korean language. I actually study Japanese on my own now, because eastern Asian languages sound amazing to me. Korean is probably a little bit better, since Hangul is amazing and makes way more sense than Kanji.

Lovely Lady

4 ай бұрын

But then Korean in my view is very beautiful and sonorous language unlike many other foreign languages. I really suggest you to throw all these blocked emotions away, these so unnecessary success and failure judgmental views and restart learning it again. I wish I could also do the same as I absolutely love korean language and for me it's the real romance language and not the European ones. By the way, I am also learning French to wash away few life's sad realities.

Took the DLAB in 99' and was told I had the ability to learn languages such as Russian, and Serbo-Croat. The term drinking from a firehose is an understatement, it is like being waterboarded with language.

Military specialist and technical training is absolutely insane. They manage to teach several years worth of knowledge in a couple months.

P.A.W.S The Traveling Gamer

7 ай бұрын

This not only makes me feel weak as fuck, but also makes me slightly annoyed college can't be like this. Like, why go years to get a degree that ain't worth shit when you could do this?

Cristian Baluta

7 ай бұрын

They don't do anything else all day long, if they also have the motivation it's impossible not to learn.

BigfootUnibrowMan

10 ай бұрын

@Dr. Getgood In a combat environment you don't always have the luxury of 8 hours of sleep. In a sense your sleep deprivation is a part of the training.

Light Worker

10 ай бұрын

@Dr. Getgood so true. Sleep helps your subconscious put the puzzle pieces together as well as greatly improve long term memory. Lack of sleep is a high resistance to learning. I know this from medical school and residency

One of the hardest aspects of DLI was that after a few months it sort of became like Groundhogs Day. You're doing almost the same thing day after day, and depending on your class dynamics and military leadership, it can get real old real fast. My class had some unfortunate drama and boy was it a struggle to make it through to the end. We never got past the "storming" phase of group dynamics until the very end. Additionally, over our 64 week course 2/3s of the class, and many other friends in other classes, washed out for one reason or another. Some passed on the second try but most were either discharged ("lack of motivation") or re-classed to another career field ("lack of ability"). In that kind of environment you can become very close to people, and seeing them get kicked (for whatever reason) is very demoralizing. That being said, Monterey was such a beautiful place to be -- definitely the experience of a lifetime, and one which I'm very grateful for.

I am an American who has lived in Türkiye for the past 4 years. My husband, who is Turkish, speaks English very well and I have been studying Turkish. It's a challenge. I can't imagine the difficulty of learning a language like Turkish so quickly. God bless!

Most of my friends had French in school for 4-6 years. In my school we had exactly 1 year to earn French to get to the same language level. It was stressful and I had 15h French every week, but now I'm quite good at it. I'm also learning Japanese atm and I'm around 18 weeks in but I barely have any speaking practice. Listening and reading is OK, writing and speaking will take me longest

I did a year of Japanese at university in Scotland over 30 years ago. The native Japanese instructor spoke NO English. We did have books that explained a few things in English. A lot of the course was audio and video work. I learned German myself many years later, when I was over 40. I'd never done German before. 6 months part time with radio and phone app courses, then I moved to Berlin and did 3-4 hrs a day, 4 days a week (plus homework, about 2hrs) for a year. I'd estimated 6 months! The schools in Berlin also followed a standard of no English in the class (not 100% achieved!). I was then fit to do my job as a software analyst/developer - which involves a lot of talking to the business and working out what they need. For 2.5 years my work was done entirely in German. My friends were at least half older east Germans who didn't speak much if any English. Immersion is the way, I'm convinced. I was quick at school at learning French (but after 30 years of disuse I have now forgotten it all). I have a good memory, I'm a musician (singer) and have had to learn many computer languages in my career, also my working memory is very well practiced from my job. I don't know how much all that helps. Probably some.

I learned english in 1.5 years with a self developed system, much akin to this one (congeniality really is a thing) After that I managed to learn german in 1 year and spanish subsequently in 6 months. Things like "100 most needed phrases" and "1000 most needed words" speed up the learning process immensely!

Ray

6 күн бұрын

I'll also echo the others. Would really appreciate some details!

Electric Head

16 күн бұрын

How many words did you learn a day?.. I'm currently studying Russian and it would be interesting to hear your input!

Betty

Ай бұрын

Can you please elaborate on the whole process? I'm currently learning Spanish and I feel like I'm stuck at lower intermediate level.

I studied Mandarin Chinese here in 2000-2001, Despite not having taken any formal classes in the past 20-ish years (just a bit of self-study now and then to brush up), and not being exposed to the language regularly, I still feel very comfortable speaking it when the opportunity arises! DLI is literally the only thing about the US military that I can speak positively of.

Traplover

10 ай бұрын

@rob garcia precisely, they train you to be a cog in their machines in order to perform properly. People who love the US military but also love the concepts of individualism are so bizarre.

dev stuff

10 ай бұрын

You are safe to say stupid things because of the military. -there, gave you a second thing good about it.

PNKS! miGGE

10 ай бұрын

@Yurzys yeah ignore the girl who went through the experience because an anime lover on the internet said so lelel

One thing missing from this video is that the people who are successful at DLI have an above average aptitude for learning foreign languages fast. This can't be taught and not everyone is capable of learning a language even the easier ones at the pace. You get nearly 200 vocabulary words a day. And then you are tested at the end of each week. This is pretty much consistent throughout the entire course. And it depends on the curriculum. For the shorter courses, it can be more intense. For the 64-week programs this is the case for the first 6 months. Don't be fooled, you truly have to have an aptitude for language learning at a fast pace.

EJ K

16 сағат бұрын

Yup, they don't teach language they weed out those that don't have the innate ability to learn one

This sounds amazing! I've never been great at school, but I always got As in my intense summer classes. It would be 6 hours per day, 5 days a week of classroom/lab time. Usually another 4 to 6 hours per day every day of study. Because it was just one focus it was so easy to lock onto. It's a very different type of learning that some people flourish in and others it just doesn't work for.

Very interesting video! A lot of this is very similar to how my Japanese language school taught Japanese. I studied for 72 weeks at a language school in Japan and by the end of it I was able to apply for, test, and get into a University in Japan. Between language school, University, and later work, I ended up living for 10 years in Japan which was a fantastic experience. The idea brought up in the video a few times about also learning the culture hits home a lot when thinking about Japanese as a language since it's a very contextual based language, so having that knowledge background goes a long way.

At various times in life (out of practice now), I’ve been formally evaluated as being at the intermediate language level (French, Spanish and Russian). I first took Spanish at the University of Houston Accelerated Language Learning program in the late 1980s. I went through two, six-week sessions that were roughly 30 hours per week (this was pre-family so I could easily sacrifice all my spare time). I can’t recall the name of the method but it was developed by an Eastern European gentleman and involved periodically lying on the floor in a darkened room listening to Baroque music and slowing one’s breathing while the native speaker teacher read the dialogue! This was the only training I had before my placement test at my new position in Caracas. I believe these learning methods (music, breathing aspects) continue to be studied but even as a doctoral level researcher I haven’t put in the effort to understand if there is solid scientific support. Other aspects included taking on a false identity to lower adult inhibitions based on perceived status of classmates, singing songs and playing kindergarten- like games, like races to a classroom fruit stand to correctly grab the fruit called out in Spanish. There were also fantastically absurd mnemonics for learning the past tense of some irregular verbs which I can still picture in my mind 30+ years on. I got my base in Russian from the Pimsleur self-study program (during the era when they were on CDs!) and when I was tested via phone call by the native speaker teacher for placement, I got into Level 5 of 6 (at this time I was more like an advanced beginner, I don’t want to imply I was anywhere near a top level as a 5 - this was just the uni’s levels for what they had on offer and before my company gave me daily private language tutoring for my new position in Russia. ) What was interesting though was that the Russian teacher was shocked I’d learned to speak an inflected language with correct grammar simply by using the Pimsleur program and asked to review the materials.Pimsleur is really excellent if it fits one’s learning style and being able to read in the language early is not critical (I’ve used it also to refresh my French and learn just the rudiments of Bahasa Indonesian and Egyptian Arabic.). Thanks for this episode - I really enjoy hearing about different language learning approaches (also why I carried on so long in my comment 😂).

Very interesting. I was at DLI in the 70's and the changes since then are enormous. We were in classrooms all day with books and chalkboards and tape recorders and then had hours of written homework in our dorms in the evening and that was it. None of those other immersive experiences existed and obviously no computers or internet back then. Just seeing a Russian language movie was a rare treat. How fortunate these students are to have access to so much.

I learned the Czech language in 1985 at DLI. My sister and I eventually flew to the Czech Republic. I was shocked when the Czechs understood what I was saying! It was wonderful.

Petr Belousov

5 ай бұрын

Oh, I love that moment when people got me understood.

Eva Abrhamova

5 ай бұрын

Wow, I am from Czech Republic and as far as I can say - every nation is very pleased when somebody is learning their language, especially the one which you can not use in other countries - like it is very different to learn spanish because you can use it worldwide but when you learn czech you can only use it in Czech Republic :)

Darjan Spasojevic

6 ай бұрын

Sta si naucio?

Brano Filipovic

7 ай бұрын

Ahoj, snad se ti tady líbilo :-)

Daniel Cupak

11 ай бұрын

Češtinu? Ty jo, tak to muselo bejt něco! :)

when i was in the UAS pilot program I met another Marine who failed the linguistic MOS he told me it was the most difficult course he’s ever had to do, he also told me that they don’t have time to hold your hand through everything because they’re on a time limit so either you get it quick or they kick you out, so the key was to basically keep up with the fast pace

I learned Japanese in the navy. A lot of us learn from just being deployed in the area, not everyone tries to learn but you will pick up stuff. It's definitely not easy learning by just being moved to a new country with the culture shock aspect in development.

Back in 1983 when I took the DLAB, if I scored above 113 on the DLAB I would get to choose which language (from a list of six "critical low-flow" languages) I would learn at DLI. I did exceed 113 and I got the language I wanted to learn. The DLAB at the time was composed of a language very similar to Esperanto in construction and syntax. Interesting aside: many polyglots are also musicians; the same portion of the brain processes language and music.

PsiliPharm2012

5 ай бұрын

I took the DLAB and also did very well, which surprised me because I didn’t understand any of it. However, at that point, I already had some Spanish and French training but nothing really that advanced. I still tell people about the made up language test whenever it comes to mind and when I think about it today, that skill of being able recognize patterns quickly is one of my special abilities. These days I mostly use it to quickly scan code for defects or get context of an email at a glance, also pretty good a certain types of video games, etc.

My wife and I completed the German language program in the late 80s. We were privates. I didn't have officers in my class, but my wife did. Once we entered the classroom, rank seemed to disappear. When interacting with the other students, we never got hung up on rank ... it was all about learning the language. To that extent, we were all equals and that's the way the classes were conducted. The funniest thing was what the Germans through was funny versus what we thought was funny. There was certainly a sense of humor gap!

As a career Army officer, I was once sent on a three year diplomatic assignment to a Slavic speaking country without the opportunity to complete DLI training. I was able I learn quite a bit though immersion and some off-the-shelf resources, but I was very envious of State Dept and military peers who wen through intense language training before assignment. Luckily, almost all official business was conducted in English and/or with paid professional translators involve, even for the diplomats with language training.

Imagine if we just prioritized teaching foreign languages in school at a young age like other countries lol

Asin Søðöjrn

5 сағат бұрын

This is one of the reasons I homeschool... so I can decide what my child learns. We just started learning French 3 days ago, and my 10 year old is already running around the house saying all kinds of things in French that I don't remember us learning. She'll be able to have basic conversations within a month! Here I am struggling to remember how to introduce myself 😅

Cynthia Crawford

20 күн бұрын

@P good luck getting into the language classes . My daughter can speak 2 languages and understand 1. That is because of learning 1 in elementary school. They dont give you a choice in school of being interested in classes. They just teach them. By your ideas not many would learn to read or write much less math.

P

21 күн бұрын

Nothing would change, because schools are not the most appropriate place to learn a foreign language anyway. Particularly with the kind of teaching that is practiced in schools almost everywhere around the world, and large class sizes. From what I've heard American schools already offer foreign language courses to students who specifically sign up for them and that's a lot more efficient because at the very least it guarantees motivation, even if the methods are still not going to be optimal. Sincerely, a foreigner who had four different language classes (including my native one) in school.

Smith

28 күн бұрын

@rejvaik Yes, except, the younger you start teaching children, as in 5 years old, the less time & money spent teaching them! Combine it with something else they are doing, like PE class, or whatever class you have a bilingual teacher. In that ONE class, every day, ONLY the new language is spoken. I can speak to you in French, without your knowing a single word in the beginning, and you will understand the concept I am conveying! Immersion is a VERY fast way to learn!! Then, when all your friends are learning the same words, you start “speaking” the foreign language with them outside of class, and before you know it, the children have learned a second language pretty effortlessly and cheaply. We are foolish in the States. We should be taking advantage of the knowledge our immigrants have and employ them to teach their language to our children! It opens unimaginable doors to our children!

Cynthia Crawford

29 күн бұрын

Barns got rid of the elementary school language classes in Georgia.

Back in 1965, I was drafted. My cousin and a couple of my friends had been in the Army Security Agency as linguists and I knew that is what I wanted to do. So, draft notice in hand, I enlisted specifically for the ASA and the linguist specialty. I took a number of tests while in Basic, one of which was the Army Language Aptitude Test - ALAT - which I learned from this video is now the Defense Language Aptitude Battery and is much more comprehensive but based in the same concept of made-up language elements designed to determine if you have the aptitude to learn a new language. I scored, so I was told, in the top 1% of those taking the test that year. That meant, I learned, that I would most likely be assigned an Asian language, since they were considered the most difficult to learn, most being tonal. Sometime during Basic I got the "dream sheet" to select the languages I wanted in order of preference. Russian, which my cousin Tommy had learned, was at the top, with German, which I had a year of in prep school and a couple of other European languages and Mandarin, Cantonese and Japanese rounding it out. I was informed when I graduated basic that after leave, I'd report to Washington, DC, to the Defense Language Institute East Coast and be learning Lao, which was not on my list or my language radar. I took nearly my full 30 days of leave, since the class wasn't due to start until after the New Year. Now, there was significant pressure to fast-track Lao linguists, since that part of the Indochina War was heating up. The DLIEC didn't have a Lao course, so they reached out to the Foreign Service Institute, which trained State Department people in their various disciplines, including language. Well, they didn't offer Lao either, but they contracted with a small private language school in Arlington, VA. The people who ran it were involved, so I was told, in developing the Rosetta Stone programs. The teaching model was very similar. We had an administrative linguist, a young woman, a recent graduate of Ol' Miss in French Linguistics, who was a couple of months ahead of us in learning Lao. Our principal instructor, Suksomboom Sayathtitsena, who told us to call him Sook, was fairly fluent in English, very fluent in French and had to bring his Lao up to speed to be our instructor, since being an upper-class Lao he spent most of the time in French. He spoke Lao to servants, older people and his wife, the daughter of a "country squire" a major landowner but rather old school and not a French speaker. We also had Sook's wife and two other young women as instructors, both with teaching backgrounds in Laos. We were told that classes would be taken in civilian clothes. I hardly ever wore the uniform except to pull "charge of quarters" at our barracks about once a month. The FSI folks didn't want the various personnel from NGOs they were training to be confronted with a bunch of military young men. So, civies and longer hair. We were in class about six hours a day, Monday to Friday. Our weekends were mostly free unless we pulled weekend CQ duties. From what the two former DLIWC "Monterey Marys" said, our experiences were similar, although they got enhancements we didn't. We did learn a good deal about the culture and history of Laos and spoke mostly in Lao - although one of my classmates, a Cajun who spoke fluent Cajun French, our admin linguist who spoke French with a heavy Mississippi accent and Sook, who spoke very good - to my ear - Parisian French - often discussed points in a combination of French and Lao. Late in our course - which was 39 weeks long - we got three Royal Lao Air Force NCOs on their way to Lackland AFB in Texas to learn the intricacies of maintaining the aircraft we were giving to the RLAF. We helped them in their English and they helped us in military vocabulary, something none of our Lao native speakers were all that familiar with, nor was our admin linguist. Anyway, although our experiences differed due in part to them being at DLIWC and mine being at a contract civilian school, much of it was the same. The four single Army guys - the fifth classmate was a married Navy guy several years older than we were and part of the Navy's Intelligence branch - went on the town on weekends, speaking Lao among ourselves and maintaining an air of mystery. When asked what we did, we said we worked for the government and when pushed, said our jobs were classified, which once we graduated was actually quite true. GIs were sort of the lowest in the dating pecking order in DC at the time. So, my experience was quite different to those of your two DLIWC graduates, but the end result was the same. I had no real attachment to Lao, but I used it with some modification while stationed at my assignment in Thailand. The two languages are quite similar and I could make myself understood where we were and further North. Going South, I did better in English. And, my language skills and "cultural competence" as they put it, got me assigned by the Military Assistance Command, Thailand to a liaison mission with the Royal Thai Border Patrol Police for several months. That led to offers from the then Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, which I declined and later, from the agency they had morphed into, the DEA. I also turned them down. When I left the military in '69, there were few Lao or Thai speakers in the US and I lost a good deal of my proficiency. If I had kept it up or had an easy path to refresh it, with the influx of Lao refugees into an area near where I lived, the police would have been happy to take me on and pay me bilingual pay.

My dad went there and learned Mandarin and was sent to Taiwan in the early 70's. Ironically, he's in his early 70's and can still speak it. In business he had to use it. And I've seen him have conversations with Chinese people for an hour. I asked him where he learned and he told me about DLI and the total immersion.

Kinda funny since when I tried to learn Spanish in high school from a native speaking teacher, the method she used was basically quite like the DLI... but with kids in their 14's. First day, she explained to use how to pronounce each letters with examples and it was kinda fun. 2nd day, she gave us a list of 220 common words in Spanish that are different from French (our main language) and ask us to remember them. 3rd day (2 days after the 2nd day), we had our first written exam where we needed to translate 150 of the 220 words in 1h30. At 2 months, we had to do a 5 minutes presentation in front of the class where we would describe ourselves in as many details as possible. Our final exam at the end of the session (3 months with 2 classes lasting 2h00 each week) was to go to a restaurant owned by family of native Spanish speakers and try to only speak in Spanish, including reading the menu and ordering our meals. (There was a deal between the High school and the restaurant so that the students parents would pay a fixed amount regardless of what they order and the teacher was the one who paid for the meals at the end.) I passed the class with 60% (minimum passing grade) for my efforts because that method was totally not compatible with me. Hahaha!

This was an excellent presentation of what it's like at DLI. Definitely the hardest thing I have ever done in my life.

Rb5241

7 ай бұрын

Me too, Evan. And making it to the end was one of my happiest and proudest moments Our Russian class (Sept. '64 - April '65) began with around 60 students. Thirty of us graduated. During our time at DLI, LBJ was cranking up our involvement in Vietnam and we were told, "Bust out and you'll become a 'Moveable Mount for an M14' ". I, with my lowly final average of 78, finished (or better said, ESCAPED), as I've heard quipped, "Thank Lordy!".

Olly Richards

8 ай бұрын

Thanks Evan, glad we got it right!

The DLI method is pretty good for language learning for highly motivated students who want to learn a particular language, but completely misses on the most important point: motivation. The military does give you the chance to pick your top three languages that you'd like to learn, but they completely ignore this. But they do give you instructors who are native speakers, so you get to discuss the difficulties you are having with your language with people who experienced the same struggles of learning the language you are learning and who are native speakers of your native language. Very helpful. You do get an immersive environment. You also get military speakers of the language who went through the course. IMHO the courses should start out with a generic, why learning languages is important module, and then a module on why you should want to learn this language, which may be a language you've never heard of before. This would cover the people, the customs, the history, etc.

I am an Army veteran and graduated the Arabic program at DLI-FLC in 2001. It really was the hardest thing I had ever done up to that time, but it is also one of my proudest accomplishments. The attrition rate for Arabic at the time was 2/3, with half of those being kicked out of DLI entirely for showing a lack of effort. The other half of those were kicked out of the language and may or may not be reassigned a new, easier language for lack of ability. The latter was always more desirable because those people either got put in an easier language class and continued in their jobs or got reassigned to another non-linguist job but usually a decent one. Those kicked for lack of effort, however, typically got chewed out thoroughly for failing to give 100% and then were reassigned to what was often the least desirable job the Army could find for them at the time - they were made an example. The two veterans you interviewed had somewhat differing experiences from mine, but things do change over time in the Army as anywhere else. For example, we actually learned exclusively Modern Standard Arabic for a very long time, and the last portion of our training was more focused on learning three major dialects at the same time while maintaining our MSA skills and preparing for our final exams. We were given about 100 new words every day for most of the course, and the next day we would have a 100 question quiz on those same words worth 100 points total at one point per word. If you scored less than 90 on a quiz, you failed the quiz. The idea as they explained it to me was that in the military, in life and death situations there is no room for error, so 90% is considered the very worst acceptable score, rather like a D- in high school. If you failed three quizzes during the course, you were kicked out of the Arabic program. If you consistently scored at or near the 90% cutoff, you were usually assigned remedial training during your lunch periods and/or after school, usually in the classroom with a teacher or MLI. To graduate with good scores and fluency you had to do a lot of extra study outside of class anyway. I practiced on my own for about six hours a day after class (stayed up late) around my military duties. It paid off, and I graduated at the top of my class, but to say it was intense is an understatement. I did not take "Jack's" advice much to enjoy Monterey. 9/11 happened during our training there and we were advised we could expect to play a crucial role in the war and that we were to be deployed pretty much immediately upon graduation. I think partly because of that, I wanted to make sure I was as close to native proficiency as I could get. I didn't want anyone dying because I mistranslated a crucial bit of information. I did make time to explore Monterey a bit on the weekends, but I also kept up on my studies seven days a week, so I went out a lot less than most. Any fun had to fit around that, because I wanted to be the best I could be in my language. I didn't want to learn Arabic originally (I hate the heat and the dessert), and I even tried in vain once to work out a language trade with a guy in Russian, but I learned to love Arabic and the Arab people in the end. My experiences there spurred a lifelong love of languages and other cultures. I now speak many languages, although Arabic is still my strongest language next to English, and I love being what I call a "word nerd". Also, something they failed to really mention is that the teachers at DLI are a HUGE part of the success of language learners there, and they deserve a serious shoutout for their dedication, patience, and excellence as teachers. Having native speakers to explain all the nuances of the language makes a huge difference, and the MLI's rounded it out with their language learning experience. I could not have graduated without all the amazing support of my MLI and الأساتذة (professors/instructors). I still remember every one of their names and faces, and I am still grateful to each of them, although I am sadly aware at least one has passed away now. Anyway, thanks for sharing this. It was a fun walk down memory lane. I hope you don't mind me sharing my experiences here.

yssr Xr

2 ай бұрын

من الواضح انك عانيت انك تتعلم اللغة العربية بس الجميل انك تقدر تفهمني الان بدون ما اتكلم معك بلغتك الي هي انقليزي

Giraffe Factory

8 ай бұрын

This must be the longest comment I ever seen on KZread ever, interesting reading sir. I remember they had a cap (500 chars or smth), good thing it's gone

jasmina Ina

8 ай бұрын

Thank you for shering this R.

Mark Merrithew

10 ай бұрын

I really enjoyed your sharing. I am really impressed by how you "went that extra mile". 👌🏻😄

Muhammad M Wahid

Жыл бұрын

Hey Robert, first of all, a big thank you from all the struggling arabic learners for these DETAILED comments. Thank God that I have come across your comments. Very Lucky. I am just astounded by the amount of effort you have put it. It feels like we strugglers do not much effort into learning arabic. It would have been nice (a man can always dream!) to have this content of yours in a whole video or two or several short videos with a separate Q/A telling/motivating us strugglers what we need to go through to have the proficiency in MSI and Street Arabic It can be annyoing with people asking you the same questions but I see your patience in the comment section. Again a big thanks and hug to you!

People are always looking for the breakthrough way of learning a language and its really not that hard. The trick is that you have to use that language all the time to do it. Anyone who has learned another language will tell u the same. I used to be able to speak spanish when I ran a landscaping crew with guys from Guatemala who didnt speak any English. I picked up spanish real quick. Now , I dont remember any of it.

The video is very accurate. I graduated Basic Russian in 1990. DLI also offers advanced courses. In 1994 I attended the advanced Russian Course and later the Russian Interpreter Course for a specialized mission. Ranks E-7 and above have much more freedom but everyone is required to do the work and maintain military standards. After graduation, linguists in garrison spend at least a few hours a week in their language training. Twice, i was able to spend 2 weeks in an Immersion class in Germany. Plus my job after the Interpreter course required me to use the language almost daily.

What a great video! Learning a language is more than learning grammar, words, phrases, and rules if you are interested in learning about the culture and topics like geography, history, and even the sense of humor you will learn faster. I firmly believe that repetition is essential in the whole process of learning any language 👍🏼

Jack talking about the guilt of enjoying time off instead of studying is so true even for other difficult career fields in the military. In cyber ops tech school, you need to get a civilian mid level cyber security certification ON TOP OF your actual course load that recommends you have at least 2 years of experience. I was 18 with no IT or cyber experience and we had DLI dropouts all the time bc they try to keep them in high IQ fields. Fail rate on the cyber security exam was 80% when i was there.

I speak Finnish, Swedish, English, Dutch fluently, (including dialects). I have a good understanding of Norwegian, German, Danish and notions of Russian. I used to hate foreign languages because I thought they were difficult in comparison to math, chemistry or physics. Fast forward, I learned to respect the knowledge of foreign lanuguages. I think that understanding foregn languages have made my metaphysical mind more adept.

Elative

2 ай бұрын

@Brad Thompson I guess that would be an argument for panpsychism. That is not my view, but I happily let you have that view without any premises.

d10valentin

3 ай бұрын

False. No-one understands danish.

Elle is my daughter! She loves everything Korean and enjoyed her experiences there. I got to visit her while she was stationed in South Korea; it's a wonderful place. Great video!

Frankie

6 ай бұрын

I could tell as soon as I saw she was wearing a Masters Sun necklace 🙂What a wonderful experience for you both!

RockyD671

6 ай бұрын

@JT McAilin it’s gonna be hard to not lose focus for sure. I’m hoping that they’ll let me have BAH since I’m an E-6 not married. I think I won’t struggle too much because I think I’ll genuinely enjoy it. My weekends I hope to hit the beach and Santa Cruz much as possible. I also heard people will love anyone who has a car lol. Good luck in your classes I appreciate the tips

JT McAilin

6 ай бұрын

@RockyD671 the best advice I can offer is make sure you have a high attention to detail because they are VERY strict about homework. Also, as a careerist, it is likely you will have more of an outside life than the people still in IET, so try to not let your outside life get in the way of your studies. That’s how most careerists tend to fail out.

RockyD671

6 ай бұрын

@JT McAilin hey JT I’m a 7 year careerist myself hoping to cross train into the same language, can I hit you up for advice?

Dead Toy

8 ай бұрын

Elle does not look like she took physical training

I'm a '72 graduate with honors, tied for 2nd in my Spanish class of DLIWC. One of the best experiences of my life. I really enjoyed the video; excellent job.

"Full language immersion" is the absolute best and most complete way to learn foreign languages. It's the same concept as boot camp/AIT/Basic Training: Was only two months for me (2003, USN). The first month: absolute ZERO contact with the outside world. First week of the second month: We were given ten minutes to make phone calls; and allowed to go to the convenient store. As an eighty man division, mostly full of kids in their late teens: that was a huge culture shock for us; but vital, in teaching to value the little things in life. Amazing video, Olly.

Having done both LDS and DLI and speaking 4-5 languages decently taking a few months (MTC 6-12 weeks) or so to learn to speak proficiently, I think military program was easier and less effective than the MTC. Now happy to be fully conversational fluent in those languages. Practice and immersion into the language are the two most important factors.

Greg Moress

5 ай бұрын

"Practice and immersion" that's how I learned English!!!! "Oh really! Where were you born?" "In America"

I’m currently at the DLI for Arabic. Yeah, it’s not easy. It’s a ton of work and my mind is fried by the end of the day.

yssr Xr

2 ай бұрын

الله يعينك حتى حنا ك متحدثين اصليين صعبه علينا فما بالك بمتحدثين غير اصليين!

Miles Smith

2 ай бұрын

How’s it going? Considering being a linguist when I enlist.

LilTeapot

4 ай бұрын

@I’m just visiting I didn’t get to choose, it was the air forces decision. I’m glad I got Arabic though, it’s pretty fun!

I’m just visiting

4 ай бұрын

Why did you choose Arabic?

I was a medic in the Army and we also had to pass 10 months of EMT study materials in just 6 weeks. I think it’s also because yourself also are forced to be on a routine during training school. Failure to pass a test can result in restarting or recycling weeks back to the program and there are usually multiple different types of tests you need to pass, not just written. Not paying attention in class might result some “extra” pt sessions. Also the environment plays huge role I think. pretty much everyone around you wears the same uniform, goes to the same class, eat the same food. You would feel wrong if you aren’t doing what they are doing, studying.

This goes with my theory that you SHOULD focus on a particular accent/regional dialect from the beginning of language acquisition. The more accustomed to accents and phonics in a language, the more intuitive and fluent you can become. People always say "accent is not as important", but I've met too many people who speak a language fluently with absolute unintelligible pronounciation.

Brian Adams

10 ай бұрын

@Hawaiian Knight Of course you've met some, and of course there are standards that can help. These are obvious. I am merely saying, most Filipinos know english from school, but don't use anything but Taglish day to day (at most) in their professional lives. So yes, they have thick accents due to media and the common use of Taglish. ATC communication standards are far above the english communication standards most Filipinos need, and their dialect reflects that. It's the same with Indian people who live in a culture that is taught/accustomed to english and even were a colony of English speaking britain and they are no better on the whole.

Hawaiian Knight

10 ай бұрын

@Brian Adams I've met Filipinos who speak English with no accent. A lot depends on what standards are enforced. In the Army, I went through the Air Traffic Control course where they gigged people with thick, regional accents. We were expected to speak like prime time newscasters when we completed the course. I took up a thick, Southern accent for everyday speech because it scared the Yankees...

Brian Adams

10 ай бұрын

@Hawaiian Knight The issue with the Philippines is they speak Taglish and that heavily distorts how they talk when they are asked to speak direct English.

rojopantalones

10 ай бұрын

@mali Ah, you're right. Been a long time since I learned it. My mistake!

mali

10 ай бұрын

@rojopantalones might you mean "wissen"? I'm German and have never heard of "weißen".

I went through DLI for Korean in 2019 - 2020 as an 18 month course. Toughest thing I’d ever done, and it was even weirder when 2020 hit and we started doing some online class through zoom.

Maintaining what language skill you have learned, is crucial. And for me as a Swede living i Sweden, the part most difficult to keep up, is my spoken German. I take part in discussions in German internetforums about my hobbies, which is really good practise, and it has greatly improved my German. Not to mention also expanding my vocabulary in specialized stuff like mechanics. (I early on decided just to not worry about the grammar, just sort of "shoot from the hip" instead. I knew I was doing alright, when people honestly assumed I was German.) But that is oriented towards reading and writing. As for listening comprehension, I take every chance to watch German language films and TV shows. (I only manage standard "Hochdeutsch", the other dialects are entertaining and interesting, but basically I'm lost!😁And these days there is also of course youtube material on things that interest me. But I very seldom get to practise to speak German, which makes me a bit sad. I don't feel the same way about English. I guess even just a few minor opportunities a year to speak the language somehow satisfies my English urges well enough.😄 My mother - a language teacher - always sayed with a smile, that "There is nothing like a 'sleeping dictionary', when it comes to learning a language". Perhaps that explained that she knew German the best, even though French was her favourite language, as my father was Swedish-German bilingual by birth. But considering her excellent French, I wonder what possibly lay behind that smiling remark...😄

I was in the Navy and went through the Russian program at DLI for 47 weeks in 1980-81. t can tell from this video that things changed after my time there. I know technology has changed a lot, so that can be expected. My class was made up of Army, Navy and Marine Corps personnel. The Air Force had a separate program. The only downside was that my primary teacher had a stroke and later passed away. The Monterey area was beautiful.

I went to DLI in the mid-90s. The language selection process is not the same for everyone. I scored very high on the DLAB but was given Spanish in my contract. Even though based on my scores, I could have learned any language. I even tried to change languages but wasn't allowed because Spanish was in my contract. We had all branches including Navy Seals (officers and enlisted) and Army Rangers in my class. I was a private. Your experience outside of school differs based on your branch of service. I was in the Army and we still had PT and military training as well as other duties that weren't related to our language training. Depending on time of year, we had PT either before class or after. We had no mandatory study hall and no bedcheck formations. We also had to march to our school after morning formation. We did have inspections of our quarters. It was different for married service members whose families were with them (so they lived off base or in housing) and those that didn't come from basic training (prior service).

I am a VietNam Vet. I went through Basic at Lackland AFB in 1966. We were sorted early in the process for Language Apptitude. The sorting began with a 4 part general aptitude test prior to begging service. But this special assessment was done during traininig. The military has become very good at sorting the human raw material (herd) it receives for effective and rapidly developing them.

I went through DLI for Korean from 2002 to 2003. Full disclosure: I was a washout from the course. I was fortunate enough to be already be multilingual, so I was able to go on to be a military linguist. My main criticism with the DLI method is that they tend to focus heavily on syntax and grammar at the front rather than learning expressing basic needs. I believe that learning a second language as an adult should mirror how one learns their first language: express basic needs and build on that. DLI works because they force a large volume of people through it with the hopes of getting certain percent out. It’s sink or swim there.

Derp K

4 ай бұрын

@Nicole Raheem a military "linguist" is to a linguist what a military medic is to a physician.

U R Phake And Gey

5 ай бұрын

Just my opinion, but focusing on grammar can be beneficial if the grammar isn't too hard to grasp. Japanese grammar is pretty straightforward once you really get the basics, for example. After that, it's mostly just a matter of learning vocabulary and more nuanced things about the language like conversational expressions.

Jason Green

6 ай бұрын

@midoribookstore ah yeah lol. You're right. That's chapter 1.

midoribookstore

6 ай бұрын

@Jason Green One of the very first damn things they have you learn to say in the KP course.

Jason Green

6 ай бұрын

@midoribookstorewhat are you talking about???

47 week Hungarian course at DLI Monterey in 73/74. Absolutely the best time of my life. Had 6 students in my class!

Reading all the comments on here has evoked so many memories of my own language learning experience. Two tips from my own experience which I learned over the course of many years would be this: a) don't get too stuck on trying to say something in one particular way. Remember, at the end of the day, languages are about COMMUNICATION, and the important thing is the ideas you are trying to communicate and not so much how you say it. My speciality was Russian, which happens to be a very flexible language. You often find that there are several different ways to say more or less the same thing in any language, so don't be too dogmatic. Just use whatever means comes to mind to get your idea across b) don't worry about making mistakes or thinking you will look an idiot if you get it wrong! This latter point held me back for many years but you will find that most foreigners aren't bothered at all about the mistakes you make so long as you try to make yourself understood and most people are quite forgiving and happy to help. Also it's important to get that tongue wagging and your mouth moving so your speech gets to adapt to the new sounds. And don't worry too much if it comes out as gibberish!

I had a few linguist in my flight during boot camp for the Airforce. Very smart kids. They voted on what language they wanted to learn and it was taken into consideration. Kinda like when becoming a pilot you dont choose what you get to fly. Russian, Chinese and Farsi (Iranian dominant language) were somewhat common in terms of what they might get as their language. Very hard school to pass but certainly amazing aswell. They would teach them the language to the point where you could speak it as if you were born speaking it. Not only understanding various amounts of terms but even picking up on slang and jargin. Which would be things that arent conventional to understand knowing a language.

Very interesting video. I'm currently learning Thai with a tutor on Italki. I'm picking up more and more of the language. Sometimes when I listen to the music I just feel bit lost, I pick up the odd word here and there but I'm still learning and I'm enjoying the process.

I used to work with an SF guy he was a language specialist. He was an American, but spoke, wrote Arabic and Farsi. And he was learning Russian. Amazing guy, hella smart.

I was in German class at DLI when the wall came down in fall of 1990 (yeah, I know--it was reunification, not wall--addressed in comments but editing to avoid more comments 😁). It was an amazing experience. Our instructors used almost no English from the start, but of course that's easier with German than for some other languages. We were housed with fellow German students and encouraged to use the language even when not in class. I knew no German at all when I arrived and could communicate at a pretty high level at the end

None

10 ай бұрын

They actually have a few pieces of the wall at the DLI as an exhibit now

Joel Langvardt

Жыл бұрын

The wall came down in November, 1989. I remember it well. I was a grad student on a one year sabbatical from high school teaching getting a master's from Harvard. Our commencement speaker was to be Vaclav Havel, the dramatist who scripted the Czech revolution. He was interim president of Czechoslavakia. He had to cancel because he was in a runoff election to be the first full-term president of the free non-communist republic of Czechoslavkia. No problem. President Bok of Harvard picked up the phone and asked German chancellor Helmut Kohl to be our speaker. This was with about a three week notice. Kohl, who had two sons studying at Harvard at the time, readily agreed. In his speech to us he casually mentioned "oh, by the way, we're are reuniting Germany next month (July, 1990) and moving the capital to Berlin. This was his announcement to the world.

Heiko Ebbenga

Жыл бұрын

@K F warst du in Sueddeutschland ?

Heiko Ebbenga

Жыл бұрын

@K F das ist bayrisch.

Heiko Ebbenga

Жыл бұрын

Das hoert sich ja gut an.

The DLAB was interesting. I scored second highest in the southwest recruiting region in 1983. I was going into the Navy. At that time I only spoke 4 languages. They told me I qualified for all of the most difficult languages including Russian, Chinese, and Arabic. These days I speak 5+ languages. The + being a smattering of Russian I learned on my own.

I think because of my background I don't consider Korean too hard. I think DLI would help me immensely get better in the language after already having the opportunity to live in Korea for 2 years and learning the language by myself at first. What I used was correlation between English/Korean and Spanish/Korean. and for whatever reason that helped me learn. I just love the clarity that comes after the experience also.

Candace Rain

4 ай бұрын

@Derp K I ditched it when I got to Korea. I preferred the language classes in Pyeongtaek-si. But thank you for the suggestion.

Derp K

4 ай бұрын

@Candace Rain btw, I recommend ditching Duolingo for Korean as they really suck with their weird sentences and sometimes plain wrong translations. Lingodeer is way better for properly learning Korean grammar. But I would recommend to start with Pimsleur Korean, the audio courses will help you getting familiar with the language. Teuida is an awesome app as well as it simulates a live interaction with real Korean people. Have fun in your journey!

Derp K

4 ай бұрын

@Candace Rain you are not, I get the mnemonics you are using to remember the scripts and connecting with the phonemes of English and Spanish to learn the pronunciation. What I am saying is that it won't be helpful from there on. If you want to learn the grammar and actually learn the language, it may become more of a hindrance than an aid if you keep trying to find analogues in English and Spanish, as you will end up making robotic sounding sentences that are unnatural in the actual language.

Candace Rain

4 ай бұрын

@Derp K like I said I'm weird

Derp K

4 ай бұрын

@Candace Rain but yeah, the similarities end with the script; grammatically it will be particularly challenging especially from someone who is native in English _and_ Spanish. I know all three languages, and the sentence I gave you as an example is something that you may hear in the streets everyday, but I think it is almost impossible to faithfully translate it without butchering the nuances and the "actual" meaning or without it's context. And talking about context, Korean is very contextual when spoken colloquially in everyday life, something that would make most language learner's head explode. Sometimes in dialogues you may be using verbs without subject, no adverbs, no objects and no full sentences, and yet making perfect sense for a native (and yet grammatically correct). I will leave an example: - 뭐해? - 그 게임 놀아 - 진짜? - 응 - 어떻게? - 구했어 - 그래? 어때? - 좀 그렇다~ - 샀어? - 아니 - 헐 - 아빠온다, 조용해 - 가셨어? - 응

I can say. I was a generator mechanic. In the army national guard. We trained as army btw. And I knew nothing about electrical circuits and whatever. I scored higher on tests in training than I ever did in school. I had a 99.97% I was 3rd in my class. And that stuff was hard. But it was structured like this school. Very organized and strict. That was over 20 years ago and I could probably tear apart those generators find the problems and fix them even today.

I attended the Korean Basic Course back when it was 47 weeks (now 63). I subsequently went on to take a BA in Korean from the University of Washington. I attended class with a former Marine who was also a DLI Korean grad. We were the only non-"heritage" Koreans in the class, most of whom were there to get an easy A. Our professor repeatedly pointed out that we non-heritage DLI grads had better grasp of grammar and spelling than the heritage Korean speakers, who of course learned colloquial Korean at home. I'm pretty sure that some were in for the shock of getting a B instead of that easy A.

Camille Chaustre McNally

4 ай бұрын

There's a benefit to having to have learned a language from scratch when it comes to a didactic understanding of grammar, but as someone who worked hard to learn a heritage language (Spanish)- it's really frustrating to hear you speak this way about people who were probably trying to learn to speak with their grandparents, and connect with part of their history. And as someone who also worked hard to learn an East Asian Language (Mandarin), those heritage learners are probably much better than you when it comes to colloquial language, pronunciation, and gut feelings concerning the language. Don't throw your fellow language learners under the bus, it's not cool.

My father was a Naval officer in WWII and went to the Institute several times to learn Japanese. The school was keeping the class there because they didn't know when the war would end.

My daughter is a linguist via DLI (military) and learned Korean. She can speak it, read it, and write it. Plus they learn the history, culture, and society. I love to listen to her speak it.

Derp K

3 ай бұрын

@HP PC btw you don't seem to understand the definition of euphemism. You are actually describing idioms.

Derp K

3 ай бұрын

@HP PC I guess you didn't understand what I was saying. Whoever wrote that word in Korean does not speak a single word, and clearly used an automatic translator such as Google translate from English to pretend to be Korean. That word is a literal translation from Cool, the proper translation by a native it would be a completely different word. There are very few words in Korean that can be literally translated to English, everything *must* be interpreted semantically.

HP PC

3 ай бұрын

@Greg Moress Have a mukbang and finally meat(meet) Jun!

Derp K

4 ай бұрын

@Culby well, I wonder how would you know that she sounds natural if you don't speak the language. It doesn't really matter that she had the best native professors, I've met plenty of Americans who are quite fluent in Korean and have a surprising vocabulary, and yet sounds like a robot butchering all the consonants, (especially the Gs/Ks and Js/CHs) And yet, because usually Koreans are quite polite, they will only praise them for their command of the language so they would never know haha. But having said that, it is quite an achievement to get fluency in Korean as it is quite a challenge, its grammar is very complex with their honorifics and the levels of formal speech (it had 6!). It would be a very foreign concept for western speakers to wrap their head around and using it flawlessly.

Derp K

4 ай бұрын

@Agent47 that word was translated from English to Korean using Google Translate. I can read Korean and that word in Korean literally says "the fresh... (as in a cold refreshing breeze, and it is dangling there without a noun)" I was struggling to understand what the hell was that until I pressed on the translate and it translated into "cool" lol That word makes no sense if it is literally translated into Korean. The proper word to express admiration to someone who is "cool" would be 멋지다.

Joining the marines and they had me take the dlab despite my job not requiring it got a 75 out of 164 so a 46% despite never learning or knowing another language. Only three other people took it with me and they were fluent in 3 other languages already. One scored a 144 and the other was 121 it was impressive cause the dlab is straight gibberish with seemingly no logic to it. I rushed thru the test and i probably could have gotten the minimum score of a 95 if i took my time but i didnt need to pass anyway. Anyone who can pass the dlab hats off to you causr that was the hardest test ive ever taken.

I went through DLi for Russian in the Army in 1981-82 and graduated with a 2.2 fluency in the language. Unfortunately I couldn't use it much on my subsequent deployment in Germany. I went back for Farsi in 2003-04 in the National Guard. I ended up failing out about 2/3 rds of the way through. I couldn't get a hang of the "stacked" writing at all and had trouble with the transcriptions. I went back for Arabic with the Army Reserve a year later and also ended up flunking out about 2/3ds through. I should have been recycled but my unit's training NCO was a native Egyptian who couldn't understand why Americans had problems learning Arabic. The mix of military training and language training is unfortunate as we sometimes were woken up an hour early to attend a mandatory briefing because the Army as a whole was experiencing problems with sexual harassment or something else and that screwed up your training for the rest of the day. The best solution would be for anyone wanting to go to DLI to sign up for an extra year. And then after basic training go through a short military reorientation period. I also think the DLAB is basically a CYA tool so that if people fail the course the service can say that it wasn't their fault as they had passed the DLAB. I supposedly was smart enough to learn Farsi based on my DLAB score, but not smart enough to learn Arabic--although I am fluent in Hebrew, which is another semitic language.

Dude let me tell you about DLI and taking the test to get in. I am a veteran and I grew up speaking Russian, English, and German. I’m also fluent in Spanish and Italian. I learned the last two on my own. I’m intermediate in Arabic. I took the DLPT test when I was in to get paid for my German and Russian knowledge. I did well. I think then it was a score 3/3. I took the test to get into DLI and it was a fake test with a fake language to see how you learn languages. I did horrible on that test. Based on the score I got, I wasn’t smart enough to even learn Spanish, which I learned on my own. Lol😂it was s BS test. Doesn’t accurately assess your level AT ALL. I was like F y’all then. I’m not joining. 😂 don’t get discouraged just cuz you don’t test well. They could’ve given me a linguist job for Russian and not spend thousands of dollars on my training. I would’ve saved taxpayer money.

Learning Japanese because I work in Japan, English because it’s the universal language and biblical Hebrew because it is the language of Heaven. I can imagine how hard this is because I underwent language training to work in Japan. Hardest thing I did in my life, since I have to immerse myself in the culture. How much more if you are in the army and people’s life is in your hands. Just wow!

You've really passed the test when you can detect the native language of a speaker who has trained to be an expert in a foreign language.

I attended DLI to study North Vietnamese in 1973. 45 years later I was talking Vietnamese at a nail salon with a woman who told me my Vietnamese was very good, “elegant.“ I have had formal studies in eight languages and since DLI I have found all the commercial language learning products to be too slow. We learned a high-octane method of study, and we learned how our minds best absorb a language for memorization and conversation. I learned as much about myself as I did the language. PS-I may be the only person on earth who speaks both North Vietnamese and Swahili! :-)

Paul Gianni

Ай бұрын

Thank you for your report. I live in North Viet Nam (Vinh Phuc Province) and I'm struggling to learn their language. Do you have any advice or materials you could recommend, please?

8pija

2 ай бұрын

thats awesome!

Damola Aderinwale

3 ай бұрын

Jambo!

Pray for Ukraine PLEASE!!

3 ай бұрын

😎🤗

gambitacio

3 ай бұрын

If you learned the Northern Dialect in the 1970s, it would definitely sound elegant compared to today.

When I moved to Germany, I had a language course. I wish it had been like this. There was very little repetition and we were just pretty much expected to get things on one go at it.

Alright I’m currently 1 week away from finishing my Korean course at DLI and there’s a few things I gotta clear up: 1.) The Korean course (and all other courses here) are said to be equal to 5 + years of college, not 3. Before joining the military I studied both Japanese and Chinese in college for all 4 years and this Korean course has gotten me light years further than college did. These courses here start introducing you to real world politics and societal issues with their vocabulary LONG before you know how to even express certain basic grammatical features. Also the daily quiz and hours of homework force us to know the words before we even talk about them in class, so this course is 90% you teaching yourself the language and then reviewing in class all day. 2.) The process of choosing your language varies greatly on branch and also can depend on when you join, and I’m convinced there’s no actual system for it based on the large sample of people I’ve talked to. I got to choose my top 3 languages the day after I signed up to join the army. The people who joined 6 months after me however did not get to choose at all, and we certainly did not do anything relating to this while at basic training. Another thing that kind of got blown over is the fail-out rate. My class lost half the people by the time I was barely halfway through. Also the careerists who come back to learn a language for their second job in the military make up a huge portion of those fail-outs because they know they already have a job so they have a safety cushion. How do you fail out you ask? Well the most recent rule is you have to fail any 3 tests in the last span of 5. And “failing” means you get a C or lower. Every 3 weeks to a month (depending on your language) you’ll have a test in Reading, Listening, and speaking. The Korean course is 18 units long. If you get a C on any 1 test, that’s mandatory 7th hour. Your second one will land you on probation, and your 3rd will get you either kicked out or recycled depending on what you convince your board to do + whether or not they think you’re putting in enough effort. Lastly, I want to bring up the mental health risks associated with this place. Due to the high intensity class mixed with military duties, lots of people develop some form of anxiety or depression to some extent while here and the base only has like 2 therapists so it’s hard to make appointments. I know a lot of people who failed out due to mental health problems and it’s very sad. All in all it’s a good place and it’s very effective, but don’t think it’s a place like college where you just ride it through and BOOM you know a language. They do give you the tools, but it’s all your own effort and you’re basically teaching yourself under the threat of getting a crappy job as a cook or something if you fail out.

Gmov78

Ай бұрын

Terrible pedagogy

Hong Rose

4 ай бұрын

Thank you. I find your comments very honest and useful

J

5 ай бұрын

@Kevin 왜그렇게사냐..에휴

midoribookstore

6 ай бұрын

The curriculum is most definitely intense, I've had a textbook flung at me by an old war hammer of an instructor there when I slipped and said something to him in Japanese on account of my previous experience in that language and its carbon-copy grammatical structure with Korean. He's normally a great guy and super motivated to teach given the history he's lived through but has some bad blood regarding Japan because of that same history. The mental health thing is also very, very real. Had to sit on "self-deletion" watch (jeez I can't even type the actual word here without youtube blocking my reply) on another Airman after he cracked from the stress.

Yessenia Rodriguez

8 ай бұрын

How did you know this was something you wanted to do? Or what exactly made you want to take this on as a career in the military? I've always had a passion for learning about other cultures, and I know learning another language is so useful, but the mental part of it is what would intimidate me. I don't consider myself extremely intelligent, but I know I'm not dumb either, was this a little enjoyable at least? Any pros and cons that really stick out?

7 hours is how I learned. In about 6 months I went from failing at school to an upper-intermediate level and I was just consuming media. Likely would have been faster if I'd had a teacher guiding me and giving me homework etc. Makes a lot of sense they learn fast in the military with this program.

Most(not all) countries all over Europe are lucky enough to learn many languages from an early age. Most speak at least 3 languages fluently. Apart from my native dialect, English and Hindi, I only picked up Russian, Mandarin, Swedish only after I was 20 so it was really hard.

Domino S

3 ай бұрын

The other SOV languages would be easier for you to learn because you already know Hindi.

I was on a Russian Studies course at Uni of Nottingham, and my first year tutor had learnt Russian in military intelligence in the late 50s early 60s At the end of each day (right from day 1) they were given a list of 100 words with context to look up in a dictionary and learn for a test the next morning. Get one wrong, even months into it - off the course! Later they had to be able to distinguish Russian regional accents and 'classes' from recordings - again, fail and you're off! And later had to be able to convince a native speaker that they also were a native speaker. Being able to do a couple of accents other than Moscow was desirable Only very few got through - but this was in the days when they might actually have been sent out there, and if they were caught they might have spent the rest of their lives in the Lubjanka...

The language aptitude test was really fun. Didn’t want it to end. Spent about 2 years at DLI studying Russian in the 70s. I’m impressed with the improvements made to the program, especially the immersion and simulation exercises.

00bean00

10 ай бұрын

@worldoftancraft what is that even supposed to mean?

Joel Langvardt

Жыл бұрын

@Karthik Tirumala Not until you sign your enlistment papers. Clue: if you haven't had the pre-induction physical, you aren't enlisted yet. If you signed the contract, then God help you!

brentvfreiberger

Жыл бұрын

I spent 47 weeks in Russian at DLI from 1970-71. I didn’t do a lot of hard study. To me Russian was easy, almost intuitive I majored in Greek (classical and Koine) in college and Russian seemed a lot like Greek. I was familiar with the grammatical concepts of the language so that the missing piece for me was vocabulary. Learning the words was the challenge. Halfway through the course I found that I could write like a Russian. We didn’t have the immersion and simulation segments. Those would have been fun.

Make Asylums Great Again • 10 years ago

Жыл бұрын

@Karthik Tirumala they will give you a grade, that's all that happens. Taking the test doesn't enroll you for service.

Laura Kelly

Жыл бұрын

@Maria Just thought I'd throw it out there. You never know...lol! He had an amazing lifetime career because of DLI. He was once held at the border leaving the Soviet Union with a group of NASA scientists because his Russian was so good, they accused him of being a Russian attempting to defect, posing as an American interpreter. We were worried as they held him 3 days. He was one of the interpreters at the disarmament talks with Bush and Gorbachev. Brilliantly educated, he passed away in his sleep in Jan 2020, at only 68 yr old and while still serving at the Marshall Center in Garmish. We miss him so much. DLI is top notch.

I graduated from DLI San Francisco in 1984 speaking Korean. It was either much different 30+ years ago, or it was much different at the Presidio of San Francisco. Our course was only 52 weeks.

it's impressive what people are capable of doing. they literally made the best language learning school themselves.

So so interesting! I wish I'd done it 41 years ago when I was 17. My whole life would''ve been different, and better! I love Jack's attitude.

I had a roommate who failed out of the course. He said they expected you to read ahead about 2-3 chapters then every 3 or so days would be a test on what you were suppose to read and what they expected you to learn. Also this course has a very high failure rate.

This is impressive 👏. As someone who is battling through an Open University course which will take another 3 years I'm also a teeny bit jealous. Love these videos Olly

I learned Korean in 64 weeks in DLI in 2011-2013. What a time! As for "sound and script", we didn't have that. We had an "optional" headstart program before the 64 weeks started to learn the sounds in an afternoon and a few phrases for a couple of days. Week 1 of official class was hitting the ground running with introductions/salutations + vocab study.

ross

6 ай бұрын

@Kevin Whaat, of course it's possible? 🤣

Kyle Wentzel

7 ай бұрын

​@Kevin it's honestly not bullshit. I am attending rn and I'm on week 33 of 64. It might not sound believable but it is true.

Kevin

10 ай бұрын

カンゴ that's exactly what I think which is why I'm asking for his discord to check on his korean but he didn't respond 🤡

Kevin

10 ай бұрын

@HangulMaster Korean here, also living in Korea, you got discord? I'm curious if you really speak Korean or not 😆💀

Charles SWE

10 ай бұрын

@danR They teach the language much further in depth than most other places. I went there for Korean and got the chance to attend Korea University as an immersion program. I can tell you the other foreigners learning Korean there weren't even close to our level. You learn very advanced vocabulary that you may not even know in your native language, things like advanced medical and scientific terms. We learned 20-30 new vocabulary words for the entire 64 week course. These are words that you absolutely need to learn and are testing on intermittently, they also give you lists of hundreds of other words each month for supplementary learning. In the speaking test, you are expected to debate things like the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and other complex geo-political issues. Usually students are what most people would consider "Fluent" by the first semester out of three. The second and third semester go far beyond that.

It sounds a lot like a regular Russian linguistic university😂 with the exception that in Russia it used to take 5 years to complete the course, so obviously 63 weeks sounds very impressive💪🏼 And as a Russian native I’ve noticed that the people in the old promo videos you’ve used at the beginning have a very thick American accent in their Russian, I wonder if it’s the same for other languages shown in such videos🤔 I’d imagine the target was to sound like a compete native by the end of the course?

I was at DLIWC Mar-Sep, 1963 studying German (then the Army Language School, which was transferred from the DoA to DoD and renamed on 7/1/63). There were 29 languages then, all 26, 39, or 52 weeks, and they were beginning to run NCO's through quickie (6 week) courses in Vietnamese. The clever test to get in was then the Army Language Aptitude Test; recall that one's choice of language not only depended on one's score but where one had taken Basic, for reasons I never fathomed. Curriculum was similar to what the video describes: classes 8-11 and 1-4, with some homework and always a dialogue to memorize which was acted out the next day and the basis for new grammar and vocabulary. The homework was quite easy; after a little while one could handle it in one hour. There was no PT, but some Saturday mornings required casual labor, mainly cutting back ice plant or waxing vehicles with floor polish! The rare weekend KP duty could be 'sold' for around $10. The last class period on Fridays was devoted to learning and singing German folk songs with the other two classes, a skill which had much practical application later on; I still have the 'text book'. Finally, our entire class (the Army E-2's anyway) was treated to two years in Berlin while the ones on either side of us spent their time at Ft. Meade, MD with NSA, poor buggers. Assignments in Berlin appear to have been allocated according to class rank at DLI.