DLAB also tests your ability to decipher grammatical structures and then use them to construct sentences. It examines how quickly you can remember patterns and recognise words when they appear a second or third time.

Instead, the DLAB is designed to see if your brain's wired to learn a new language quickly and efficiently. The Proficiency Testīefore students can begin their linguistic careers, they undergo a rigorous course of 35 to 64 weeks of language training.Īnd before they even step into the classroom, they have to pass the dreaded DLAB.Īs the name suggests, the Defense Language Aptitude Battery doesn't test your proficiency in speaking, reading or writing - not even in your native language. One day someone's gonna be relying on you and the intelligence you provide to shape their operations.” In a relatively short time, these students will be admitted, trained, and sent out to work as linguists, translators, investigators, or soldiers deployed to fight or become peacekeepers in many countries worldwide. Some students may come from the Coastguard, where it’s handy to know a second language when communicating with foreign vessels who’ve entered US waters.Īnd, finally, a select few may be elite soldiers Green Berets who’ll be going into some highly-charged situations overseas, where knowing the language really is the difference between living or not. Most of the students at the institute are already members of the US armed forces, probably with an army background.Ī smaller percentage are federal employees, sponsored by their agencies who need interpreters or intelligence gatherers. So, when army, navy or airforce personnel apply for a position that requires them to be fluent in another language, the odds are they’ll wind up in Monterey. There’s a smaller DLI campus in Washington DC that specialises in teaching 65 uncommon languages and there’s an English Training Centre at an airforce base in Texas, too.īut most of the action takes place in California. Now it’s not the only military language school in the US. In fact, more than 3500 students pass through its classrooms every year. The military’s Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center- DLIFLC or DLI for short – is the biggest and most effective foreign language school in the USA.

Korean linguist intelligence career