How U.S. Military Linguists Learn Languages Fast
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๐บ๐ธ United States Military Linguists are known for being among the fastest language learners in the world. But speed is certainly not the only goal. From gathering critical intelligence to supporting troops on the frontlines, a lot rests on the language skills of linguists in the U.S. Armed Forces.
So how do linguists in the U.S. Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and Navy learn the language skills they need to do their jobs? That is precisely what I wanted to find out, so I reached out to two graduates of the Defense Language Institute (DLI) in Monterey, California: Elle and Jack.
This video details the incredibly intense programmes these service members complete, including interesting techniques like โiso-immersionโ and โscream & scribbleโ. While only a select few can attend DLI, there are some powerful principles in this video that ALL language learners can apply. Hooah!
๐ LEARN A LANGUAGE THROUGH THE POWER OF STORY
If training at DLI isn't in the cards for you, don't despair! You can start learning 12+ languages right from the comfort of home with my story-based courses.
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โ๐ผ BLOG VERSION:
Prefer reading to watching? Learn more about this amazing process here:
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๐บ WATCH NEXT:
How Mormon Missionaries Learn Languages Fast ๐๐ผ
๐ VIDEOS & RESOURCES MENTIONED:
Live Demo! Olly Learns Italian in 90 days [Playlist]
GLOSS (Global Language Online Support System)
DLAB Practice and Skills Test Study Guide: 300 DLAB Practice Questions with Explanations
DLI Accent Libraries:
Spanish Accents ๐๐ผ
Arabic Accents ๐๐ผ
โ๐ผ CORRECTIONS:
DLI trains 3,500 students per year, not 350,000 as stated in the video!
In the language chart, it should read "Hindi", NOT "Hindu". Our apologies for the typo.
โฑ TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 – Intro
00:55 – US Defense
02:47 – The School
04:49 – The Test
07:17 – The Language
10:03 – The Instructor
11:50 – The Class
13:30 – The First Lesson
18:32 – The DLI Method
21:14 – Whatโs the Goal?
24:54 – Immersion
26:41 – Simulations
27:27 – Going Deeper
29:12 – The Schedule
31:06 – Language Day
DLI isn’t the only intensive 3-letter language school. See how Mormon missionaries learn languages fast at the MTC ๐๐ผ https://youtu.be/Ox6MdRTc0yE
DLI Russian grad. ask me anything!
Please make more vids like this. I loved it
In Frankfurt am Main, Germany I met some Americans who belong to Mormon Christianity
Hopefully FSI is another three letter intensive language school future video upcoming also.
@Calitalia Republic Good thing we pulled out like we did. Thats was a good idea, right?
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.
The topics are focused on military and political topics mostly, I’m active duty and I know several people who have gone to the school, they struggle with daily conversation, but can translate classified documents like it’s nothing
Nice assortment. My daughters and I each took Spanish in school. One daughter has studied Russian, the other has an interest in Japanese, and Iโve been dabbling in Korean. From time to time we will all have a โconversationโ in these languages, with a little French and German for good measure.
@Marshingo Yes, I’m at DLI now. There are definitely still areas where one can improve in even after passing the DLPT. You can speak about some high-level stuff by graduation, but you may not be able to flow colloquially like a native speaker.
@Tyun Peters Nice man, what language did they give you?
When learning Russian i found that using the basic methods as language is taught in high school. If you stop to think about it… why it is presented that way you find out that language is just a tool, easy to make use of. Combined with practical experience talking to Russians.. it did miracles. That was a long time ago and i forgot a lot. But it was good to find out that methodic study makes things really easy.
Imagine if we just prioritized teaching foreign languages in school at a young age like other countries lol
That’d be soo cool ๐
We do, it just it’s an item of both time and budget
It’s hard to fill the school hour and find the budget to have the classes
I’d of loved something like that. I never took more than the required amount of German, but if I started younger I’d of probably gotten to a higher level of proficiency. I actually had to wait until high school since German wasn’t offered in my middle school. So ein Mist!
I always thought that foreign language training at school was kind of a joke or a time filler. never learned anything
I think a problem with that is the lack of drive from students. What need is there to learn another language when everyone a student can expect to meet speaks English perfectly fine. It seems to me that that would just be another blowoff class added to the curriculum as opposed to actually teaching a language.
I studied German at DLI in the late Eighties. Here was their secret: daily testing and assessment. Theyโd give you lessons, tons of homework, and a test every morning on the previous dayโs work. For us Air Force troops, anything under an 88 was a failing grade. Imagine a school where a โBโ 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, theyโd 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.
That sounds intense. i don’t think I can memorize 300 words in one day. I’m sure college and grad school were a breeze for you compared to DLI.
@Enrique Vazquez You could do it, but you work up to it gradually. I also served as a Latter-day Saint missionary in the years before I joined the Air Force. I went through the Churchโs language training for French. We were there for eight weeks. It was challenging, but not nearly like DLI.
I could see how you got to have a sense of unity and fun with your teammates, just to make it, to get all that extra reinforcement of the concepts.
This is crazy and insane and whatever other word works ๐ Mad respect to you, learning a language was fun for me cus I took my time, never knew there were courses like this that prioritised speed and results first. Nuff said, the way you learnt was super efficient. Shoulda implemented this strategy or learning style when i was learning German ๐
If you can do that, college should be a walk in the park.
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. Itโs really impressive, not a lot of people expect a Mexican guy to speak more Arabic then Spanish.
My dad was Army and learned Vietnamese at Ft Bliss Texas 71–72. I was surprised to know some of his classmates were Navy.
I am fluent in Arabic, Tagalog, Mandarin, Fench, Italian, Spanish and now I am in the process of learning tongues with your sister.
@PO1CS Fort Bliss woo! I’m a local lol
@Jimmy Johnson ๐ฉ๐คก
@Jimmy Johnson Rolling all sorts of R’s
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.
Hey Crystal
Iโm a flight attendant trying to teach myself French can u give me some key tips? Thx ๐
While it is true that language, math, and music are processed in the same place in the brain and people with one of those aptitudes can easily usually pick up the other two, anyone can learn a foreign language. It is *outstanding* that you are curious enough to embrace other languages. It enriches one’s life by having done so.
You cab watch a lot of Japanese dramas for your learning. That indeed is a fun yet very effective way of learning!
I am 56 hopefully I can learn Spanish in a year
@kingdomprincess I would suggest adapting some of the techniques in this video. Find things that keep you interested. If you enjoy Journaling or singing then listen to French music and sing with it. Find the translation and when you sing it again, hear it also in English (in your head). I would suggest one song at a time. Maybe just the same song for a week to get pronunciation and translation down. You can re-write a poem that you love in French. Make your grocery list in French. I think the easiest way is to adapt the learned language into your daily life so it is simultaneously being absorbed. Also, when you finally visit you’ll be amazed with how your brain has stored the information. The foods you normally eat will be at your verbal fingertips. You’ll know how to ask for the food in French. Lastly, I believe that listening to YouTube videos in the background or even while sleeping allows some programming. I’ve done this with basics such as numbers and the alphabet. During your waking hours you can practice the same information. Great process while driving simply because of how the brain runs on auto-pilot when we drive. Listen and repeat the same videos you are sleeping to. You must practice saying everything because the way the mouth is shaped and tongue lands in the face is different with each language. Haha. Sounds strange because I’m not being technical here. Nonetheless, it’s factual. Good luck!
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!
ะะดัะฐะฒััะฒัะนัะต, ะฒัะฟััะบะฝะธะบ DLI.
ะะตะปะฐั ะฒะฐะผ ัะดะฐัะธ)
Thats good, i suppose you lucky to have experience like that, probably it can not be forgotten in the future?
Very cool! I studied there 89-90 at the top of the hill school. Air Force
We were there at the same time.
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.
ja, sicher. Das stimpft.
The quickest path to learning a language is to first learn all the grammar and THEN the complete immersion.
Otherwise the complete immersion method will take you years and even then with mediocre results.
@Miovic Dina That’s an erroneous claim. Look up Stephen Krashen’s comprehensible input theories for second-language acquisition. Studying grammar is never necessary unless you’d like to teach the language professionally. Immersion is the only way to acquire a language in the same way that you naturally acquire your native language.
@Taylor Candelaria I don’t believe that. I have some friends who speak our native language so poorly, that if a foreigner would “immerse” in their community, he would end up speaking like an uneducated person. This would affect his image and it will take longer for him to relearn in a correct manner.
I am glad that I have studied English long before I have “immersed” in the English society, because I have discovered that many people (native speakers) write and even speak incorrectly (for example, the “famous” apostrophe!).
The Peace Cors do it, but almost none of them ends up speaking the language. And this, considering that they live in families there, in the local culture and linguistic environment. So, it’s a myth.
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.
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.
@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.
@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. ๐ข
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.
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.
I was there in 89.
@Ron Hunt I left in August of 89.
There in 77. Arabic. Unless it’s changed significantly, this video is a mix of hype and nonsense. Unless you live in a country where you can use the language โ Korea, maybe a Middle Eastern nation โ you’re at best a buzz phraser. No one I knew, including NSA guys, were fluent. In my day, the Navy and Air Force guys used their Arabic more than the Army guys. That’s probably changed given the last 20 years in the Middle East. I was actually never stationed at a Navy base after bootcamp. DLI is Army, Goodfellow is Air Force, and we flew from an Air Force base. The vast majority of the Navy guys were 4 and out. Most of us had some or a lot of college before we joined the military. Linguists are an odd bunch โ ex-seminarians, a college grad who majored in French. With college, you started as an E-3, got promoted for staying out of trouble, made E-5 and left.
I can’t imagine anyone I was in school or served with interrogating someone in Arabic. Including the Army guys. Finally, the history of the USS Pueblo is interesting. Navy linguists went to naval headquarters in Japan and told the brass they couldn’t speak Korean. They were told, you passed Korean at DLI, you’re qualified. Later they pulled over a Korean fishing boat. The fisherman warned them that North Korean warships were in the area. The sailors had no idea what they said. Unfortunately the Pueblo was captured.
The chief benefit was learning from native speakers. When I hear Modern Stardard, I recognize words, could probably transcribe it, but had zero idea what they said in real time. After 9/11 I called the FBI when there was a need for Arabic linguists. They never got back to me. I probably would have been useless, but I definitely would have been more motivated.
My advice if you go to DLI? Play golf and learn to sail. Monterey was amazing. I had friends that went to Monterey Pop and saw Hendrix on their first time at DLI. We went to see the Grateful Dead at Winterland. No idea what the curfew stuff is all about. I had friends in all the branches and we were out late and often crashed at off base apartments. Never heard of open door studying.
@Mike M I retired almost 30 years ago and can still read Chinese newspapers, but I was one of those nerds who would sit on watch studying open-source materials. Most linguists wanted nothing to do with the written Chinese language. “Characters? Characters? Are you nuts!”.
@Phil Gainey I hear this and wonder how you all memorized the vocabulary words? Just in pinyin then? Or rather most don’t really want to put even more into learning characters and whatnot
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.
Week 9????!!! Day 1 in Turkish. With many pencils being thrown around and out of windows to explain locative and motion terms.
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 Iโve 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 youโll 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 youโre putting in isnโt worthless. this video was fairly accurate about the schooling structure, more so than any other video Iโve 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 youโre 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.
But it certainly does not sound very encouraging to me, rather instilling fear in me, for my penchant for language learning. These days I am learning French for no set purpose and I am feeling that I am enjoying the process more in this free casual approach!
you don’t even try Thai….
You are amazing!
ะัะตะฝั ะธะฝัะตัะตัะฝะพ!
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.
I can relate, I went to France as a foreign exchange student. I speak Spanish and English already so it was an easy learn since theyโre both Latin. I noticed after coming home how all the pieces just fell together. But the real wow came when I went back 20 years later and just picked it back up again and hearing all the languages from travelers I could kinda understand the gist of so many other languages. Like I could break down the basics. Not sure what it was exactly. Maybe my brain just made sense of it. Iโd love to Arabic, Chinese and Russian next!
Itโs good you got away from the abusive man!
@Pinche Bruha You might be one of those people who has the ability to learn multiple languages easier than most. Something that I found very interesting, when I was learning to speak the French language was this. Words in the English language that end in “tion” or “ion” are derived from the French language. Though, French speakers pronounce them similar, they are often spelled the same, have mostly the same meanings.
Attention
Conversation
Illumination
Vacation
Just to name a few.
Were you a linguist in the Air Force? Who do you get certified in a language through?
@JPD2574 Please clarify. Did you mean to ask “who” or “how”?
@Brenda B Who. In the OP you mention you were certified in an additional language? Who certifies individuals in languages.
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 didnโt 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.
Souns cool (other then the girl getting harassed). Sounds pretty rough.
Yes. I took the German course and after about a month I was dreaming in German.
…SHE was that girl, @FLO Techno !
That sexism/bias still exists, unfortunately
When you start to dream in the other language, you know youโre getting somewhere.
My military son went to the DLI to learn a language straight out of Basic Training. Now, five years later he is back at the DLI learning another language (they needed more linguists and he volunteered). I went to Language Day in 2019 and it was an incredible experience! The DLI opens its doors to the public only one day a year (unfortunately I canโt go this year because itโs on a work day). There is native music and dance, poetry readings in different languages, food trucks with many different cuisines of the worldโฆthe students get to show some of what they are learning and it felt like a celebration all day! If you ever have the opportunity to go, donโt miss it!
One of my highschool teachers was in this program for spanish. The way he described it was insane, it sounded so so rigorous. He learned spanish entirely in like six months
Hey my parents both work at the DLI! One thing thing to note is that they learn these languages because they are completely immersed into the language itโs honestly pretty cool to see them improve at the languages
I learned Spanish quickly by moving to Costa Rica and finding a girlfriend. I moved in with her family and I was fluent in a couple months. Everyone in town was shocked. Now I surprise Spanish speaking people in the states all the time by striking up a conversation in Spanish.
I miss Costa Rica, it’s a beautiful country with lots of awesome people.
Letโs just agree that the Army has ways of teaching things quickly given sufficient motivation.
I remember PT swimming at basic training. The PTI said โraise your hand if you canโt swimโ a couple of people raised their hands. He said โin one hour you will be able to swimโ. And he was right.
In brief:
The video is about the Defense Language Institute (DLI) in Monterey, California, where the US military trains its personnel in foreign languages. The DLI offers an intensive language learning program that lasts between 36 to 64 weeks, depending on the complexity of the language. The video provides an in-depth look at the training process, the daily schedule, and the experiences of the students.
Here’s a summary of the main points:
1. **Admission**: To qualify for the linguist job in the military, candidates must pass the Defense Language Aptitude Battery (DLAB), a test that assesses their ability to learn new languages. The test is based on a made-up language to ensure fairness.
2. **Language Assignment**: After basic training, recruits are assigned a language based on their test scores and the military’s current needs. They don’t necessarily get to choose the language they want to learn.
3. **Training**: The training is extremely intensive. Students spend up to a year and a half immersed in their chosen language. The instruction is initially in English, but as students progress, teachers use less English and eventually switch to teaching entirely in the target language.
4. **Instructors**: The instructors are either civilian native speakers or highly educated military language instructors. They come from over 90 countries.
5. **Classroom Experience**: Classes are held from Monday to Friday, with six hours of language learning each day. The course is divided into three semesters, each focusing on a different theme such as history, geography, or culture. The instruction includes grammar, vocabulary, and comprehension work.
6. **Self-Study**: Students are expected to do a lot of self-study, including memorizing vocabulary words, making recordings of themselves speaking the language, and transcribing recordings.
7. **Immersion**: The DLI has an isolation immersion facility where students can live for up to three days, interacting in an environment where only their new language is understood. They also have simulations to prepare them for real-world situations.
8. **Assessment**: To graduate, students must reach level two, which means being able to understand the gist of a conversation or accurately pick out facts from a news broadcast. Some jobs require a higher level of understanding.
9. **Advice**: The video ends with advice from former students, who emphasize the importance of finding something to love about the language and appreciating the unique opportunity to learn a language intensively.
The video also mentions some resources available to the public, including the Global Language Online Support System (GLOSS) and a practice DLAB test available on Amazon.