DLI vs. College major or minor

[blacksmoke]

I am thinking about either majoring or minoring in Arabic. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with college language vs. SOLT or DLI training? Would a college degree in Arabic beat Q course language training plus what can be learned durring deployments? All things equal of course.

[Triman19]

PM in-bound

[f50lrrp]

I attended DLI twice while on active duty. (once for German and the other time for Vietnamese). You get totaly immerced in the DLI classes where you are speaking and learning the culture of the target language as opposed to an hour or two every other day in college classes.

[SkiBumCFO]

Cant speak for Q course language training compared to College but DLI is an amazing program if you can find a way to get there.

[98G]

I took Russian at DLI -- 47 week course and 29 years later, working in Russia, no one can believe I studied it for such a short time. I have not met any non-native Russian who took the language in college to come close in fluency or speed to the DLI program. It is as stated by others on this string, as full immersion as I have seen even compared to programs "in country." They have more time off and less focus on studying for daily exams.

[jackson07]

I am a graduate of the spanish course at DLI. I have friends who majored in spanish in college and I feel the DLI program is a lot better. You get dumped into the language and the culture. Not only can you speak/read/listing you understand on some level why things are the way they are. Another prefered thing about DLI is you have more than one teacher. You get used to different accents and tongues. Most of the students at DLI are able to identify accents/dialects in their target language.

If you have the chance DLI is the way to go.

[Dozer523]

#1 Asset Asks the question
#2 Asset
#3 guerrilla
#4 Quiet Professional
#5 Asset
#6 Asset
#7 Quiet Professional.

# 2,3,5,6 are NOGO's at this station.

My I remind you:

Special Forces Questions
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a forum where civilians can "ask" the Special Forces soldiers past and present "Special Forces" related questions.
Those questions are then answered by Special Forces soldiers, period.
Questions asked by the general public should NOT be answered by the "general" public.
If you do not have the title of "Quiet Professional" you may ask a question, but leave the "answers" to the QP's.

[blacksmoke]

Erased.

[Dozer523]

#8 is a NOGO too.

[ZonieDiver]

So these slots are rare, or do you mean competitive? My Arabic proffesor was an instructor at DLI for one cycle. She told me that she taught in a class where students came with no working knowlege and left with fluency after 4 months. This is realy hard to believe, but if QP's are saying it is so, well then...
Thank you for your responses. The real reason I am asking this is because every time I see Afganistan or Iraq on the news, I feel like I am actualy wasting my time going to college


#8 is a NOGO too.

Exactly, Dozer! Your question was asked and answered, blacksmoke. DLI, like most other military courses - or your college classes, for that matter, IS what one makes of it. I know guys who went to DLI for Spanish and came out with less language capability than I had with 3 years of HS Spanish. As is often the case, it is the how the person approaches the learning.

As for the highlighted portion above, if that is what you think, do something about it! Don't tell us "how you feel"! Quite honestly, I don't care HOW you feel about that. Drop out, join the army, volunteer for infantry, airborne, and Special Forces. Join the fight while it is still going on and your services can be used. Actions, not words, speak loudest.

Just my opinion...

[mark46th]

I didn't attend DLI but I do have some experience with learning languages.

Immersion in language and culture is the operative statement here. I took Spanish for four years in high school and and 2 years of college. I had a great vocabulary and absolutely no understanding of syntax or local idiom. I worked in Mexico for 6 months and learned more than I did in 6 years of school. I am proud to say that I was questioned for 20 minutes by a Federale Lieutenant because she felt that someone born in the U.S. shouldn't speak Spanish colloquially. I was also asked by a lady from the Dominican Republic where I was from in Mexico.
I spent two years in Thailand where I was completely comfortable traveling without an interpreter after about a year, because I made myself listen to the locals.

[Richard]

I took Spanish for 4 years in high school because I had learned it growing up working in the 'fields' of Northern California and could get B's without studying.

I learned Thai and Tagalog fairly well because - as a Medic - I (1) needed to in dealing with the the civic action patient loads we were confronted with in those regions, (2) I was always a bit leery of exactly what any interpreter was actually saying (many stories about that issue), and (3) it gave me > credibility with the populace. Thai was hardest for me because of its multi-tonal qualities, some of my hearing issues, and my normal speaking voice.

I learned German through a formal language program similar to DLI which was in place in Bad Tolz - formal training combined with immersion.

I studied Hebrew at Indiana University because - in conjunction with my German - it allowed me to delve into Yiddish, at that time a commonly used trans-national language among a culture with a strong potential to operate as a guerrilla force throughout the former Soviet empire if the so-called 'balloon had gone up' and we had gone to war.

I agree with Mark's comments - and immersion is how I best learn languages, too.

Richard

[mojaveman]

I studied German in college for a year but have to agree with some of the others that 'immersion' is the best way to learn a foreign language. Sitting in Gasthauses and drinking beer with the natives did more for me than sitting in a college classroom. Watching television and reading newspapers works well too.

[SkiBumCFO]

Agree that immersion is the best but i still think DLI is an excellent program if you can get to it. Its all what you make of it back in the days when a lot of SF went through there was a whole bunch of partying going on and not a lot of studying getting done :) Very found memories of rucksack races on the beach and all night bonfire parties but that didnt help too much on the language front.

[mark46th]

Hey Rich- The walk on water card helped a lot in my travels, also...

[Dozer523]

I studied German in college for a year but have to agree with some of the others that 'immersion' is the best way to learn a foreign language. Sitting in Gasthauses and drinking beer with the natives did more for me than sitting in a college classroom. Watching television and reading newspapers works well too.
#13 is a NOGO too.

[alelks]

I can tell you this. During the cold war I took a 3 month and a 6 month Arabic course at the SWC language school. About the only thing we were doing for a few years was going out the the deserts in the US and support cycle. They couldn't fill the slots to DLI so I put in for a slotand went out there for a year of Arabic. Three months into the course everyone in the class knew just as much as I did.

HaHa! I remember the Bonfire parties too. It was always the SF guys and the Seals that threw the parties.

DLI for the win as far as language goes for sure.

[csquare]

I study Czech in 10th's language training, which was pretty good. But not as good as the year+ I spent out at DLI. We had 2 instructors per student. Then as soon as I returned to Devens, went over to Prague for 7 months working in the military laison team. Complete immersion is the way to go.
In college, my wife took Spanish for a couple of semesters; now, she is lucky to understand the menu at a local Mexican resturant here in San Antonio.

[Cherry]

I took Korean at SWCS language school (SOLT). Very valuable training. I took Japanese in College for 2 years and SOLT was much more effective. I can't speak for DLI however - but the courses are much longer than their SOLT counterparts. I believe the Korean course at DLI is 18 months - 3 times the length of the SOLT course. Right now Arabic is a 6 month course at SWCS as well and everyone that I know who is in or was in Arabic said the course was more valuable than any other language training they received in college or otherwise.

[wet dog]

In college, my wife took Spanish for a couple of semesters; now, she is lucky to understand the menu at a local Mexican resturant here in San Antonio.

Tell her Spanish comes easier with a high level of Tequila in the blood system.

[Surgicalcric]

And now reply #19

It is very simple. If you are not SF qualified DO NOT answer questions in the Special Forces Questions forum.

Questions?

[Dozer523]

And now reply #19

It is very simple. If you are not SF qualified DO NOT answer questions in the Special Forces Questions forum.

Questions? Beat me to it, but thanks.
One more time but in a different color (who knows . . . color blindness?)
Special Forces Questions
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a forum where civilians can "ask" the Special Forces soldiers past and present "Special Forces" related questions.
Those questions are then answered by Special Forces soldiers, period.
Questions asked by the general public should NOT be answered by the "general" public.
If you do not have the title of "Quiet Professional" you may ask a question, but leave the "answers" to the QP's.

[head]

I'm not going to compare them, but took Spanish in college, SOLT in Arabic, and never been to DLI. I can get by in Spanish but it's more due me living in a house full of Spaniards for a while and also living in Tucson. I was pretty good in Arabic, but haven't been to a country that used it... tried picking up Pashto and Dari instead. About halfway through Language School, an MI LT started taking the course with us - she had a degree in Arabic and worked some deal to attend our training so she "could get paid." Man.. with us halfway through, most of our Arabic was at least as good as hers and, I repeat, SHE HAD A DEGREE IN ARABIC. Yeah, she knew all the conjugations and knew some more words, but we could still out loga her arabia [sic]...

If you want to get a college degree before you go SF, you should get it in something useful that can be an added skill to a team... cause when you tell your team you have a degree in Arabic, don't be surprised if there's a few guys that will immediately show you how much that degree was worth. Of course, that could happen with any degree, but my point is that everyone in SF has to go through language training - they don't have to go through computer training, mechanic training, cooking school, whatever.

ETA: Also, I sent my military training transcripts back to my old university - 18 credits in Arabic. Not too bad.

[wet dog]

#8 is a NOGO too.

Unless a mod steps in, we've got to cut Blacksmoke a break for #8, he's the one who started the thread.

I've had no language training since 1991, thinking I'd let Spanish slide awhile, was in Peru in 1996, 3 months worth. Spanish there is a bit different, at least in Cusco it was. Picked up an Arabic cource just this last little while. I visit an Iraqi family 2-3 days a week, short 2 hr visits. Finding myself reading a lot of Children books, and watch streaming Arabic news.

Be careful what you want, if your not careful, you may find yourself in the middle of it.

Making the "gh" sound in the back of the throat, is like hacking up my lung or listening to a Cobra snake defending her nest. Maybe thats how the sound started, "hey Al-bob, Asmaa-joey is making the snake sound again". "Hey Asmaa-joey, are you all right?". "Hey Al-bob, you better get the Iman over here, Asmaa-joey aint looking to good."

[mojaveman]

#13 is a NOGO too.

Ich bin SF! Ich bin SF!

[f50lrrp]

Ich bin SF! Ich bin SF!

Ich auch bin SF!