Good Language to Learn?

Very true cback0220, I want to be SF not a linguist. Although I am very far off from either, but for now I am focusing on my 25m target.
 
Florida173 said:
Maybe he wants to be a cunning linguist... anyway.. last time I checked there were plenty of guys with long tabs and green berets at DLI...
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True, but not straight through the course. They no longer teach it here at SWC, so if he learns it, but doesn't speak it well enough to pass the hell test of the DLPT 5 he will have to learn a new language.
 
Yeah.. I think most of those guys were senior and taking a bit of time off a team.

I can't imagine anyone coming out of either being self or college taught passing the DLPT5.. Even DLI trained I can't come close to DLPT5 for Arabic. I miss the DLPT4
 
Trav,
Dude, think further ahead and how you can help your Teamates!!! German chicks don't shave their pits or legs!!
Spanish: hot chicks AND you can be understood in Italian, where there are also hot chicks.
Russian: No comment needed. Ukrainian chicks... Plus you can easily pick up Polish, Croatian, Bosnian, and Serbian. Hotties one and all.
Arabic: lebanon & Jordan...that's about it.

Leave the Pashto, Urdu, Farsi, and French crap to the MI guys since we're not gettin' any anyways and you don't want it any way!!! ;)
 
Thanks for the input guys. I understand my university has a "decent" Russian program. I guess i'll find out what their definition of decent is on my first day of classes. Any how, how proficient will I have to be in Russian to avoid being sent to the DLI for it should I get selected? Also, I know French will be a lot easer than Russian but I feel that its too common and I will be more valuable if I speak Russian. Do i have the wrong idea?

Eiregobrach, thank you as well for the advise.
 
Rman said:
Thanks for the input guys. I understand my university has a "decent" Russian program. I guess i'll find out what their definition of decent is on my first day of classes. Any how, how proficient will I have to be in Russian to avoid being sent to the DLI for it should I get selected? Also, I know French will be a lot easer than Russian but I feel that its too common and I will be more valuable if I speak Russian. Do i have the wrong idea?

Eiregobrach, thank you as well for the advise.
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My opinion is French is more useful. It covers more of Africa, we at least problem areas Africa, than does any other language. Unless you can learn Tamasheck. I'm not following the usefulness of learning Russian unless you plan on getting yourself a Russian girlfriend.

You wouldn't be sent to DLI, there is an in house language school. There are some resources online through DLIFLC that can help you out and show you where you would want to be in regards to proficiency. Taking any language class in college as two classes a week will not really get you all that proficient quickly. Especially in a class of 30+ students.
 
Florida173 said:
My opinion is French is more useful. It covers more of Africa, we at least problem areas Africa, than does any other language. Unless you can learn Tamasheck. I'm not following the usefulness of learning Russian unless you plan on getting yourself a Russian girlfriend.

You wouldn't be sent to DLI, there is an in house language school. There are some resources online through DLIFLC that can help you out and show you where you would want to be in regards to proficiency. Taking any language class in college as two classes a week will not really get you all that proficient quickly. Especially in a class of 30+ students.
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I see what your saying about French being a business language and widely used in Africa. My though with learning Russian is that less people know it thus making it a more valuable language. But as you said, with all the things happening in Africa I would immagine it would help to be able to talk to the people. I agree that it will take me much more than two days a week to become good at what ever language I decide to study. I have been told taking a semester abroad is the best way to really begin to speak that language so I obviously look into that. I know being in AFG helped me pick up Dari a lot better than flash cards and the miserable class the National Guard offers you. I appreciate the direction to the DLIFLC web sight. It looks very valuable.
 
If you learn French you will prolly go to 3rd group. If it was me and I wanted to go to 10th group I would learn Russian. That will almost guarantee you 10th.

All this other stuff is good if you are looking to get a job, but not to help you get to 10th
 
I was assigned to DLI twice! The first time for 26 weeks in D.C. to leard German and the second time i at Biggs AAF to learn Vietnamese (12 weeks).

Mike
B-36
'68-'69
 
cback0220 said:
If you learn French you will prolly go to 3rd group. If it was me and I wanted to go to 10th group I would learn Russian. That will almost guarantee you 10th.

All this other stuff is good if you are looking to get a job, but not to help you get to 10th
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I will stay my course then with Russian. Thanks for the advise.
 
Some college language advice:

A semester abroad is the way to go, but a year abroad is even better. I would advise having a year of the language under your belt before going abroad. I studied in Egypt for a year and hit the ground with no Arabic experience. If I had the opportunity to take it prior it would have made my experience that much better. I am not one of those natural language studs, so I found really learning Arabic in college difficult. My main goal was to get my BA in international affairs, Arabic was a side project/academic requirement. I often found myself doing just enough to pass Arabic class and I didn't really have time to devote myself to the language. Obviously, if you are that motivated about the language, you can always 'make time.' However, be realistic about what your expectations are for your language ability by the time you graduate. I feel I got a great base knowledge in Arabic grammar and structure, but I would definitely require some post-college immersion experience before I would ever say "I speak Arabic." Also, If you don't want to devote whole academic semesters abroad, look into summer immersion language programs. Many countries have language schools that are not that expensive and offer decent programs. The downside is that most are not accredited, so it wont be useful to you credit-wise. Going abroad can also be pretty cheap if your on the GI Bill. They key is to find a school/country that has an exchange program with your current university. This way, you go overseas, but pay your home tuition with GI bill. Basically, all that is left is a plane ticket, and chances are you will be living in a cheaper economy overseas.

This is just my two cents from my own experiences. Hope it can be of some help.
 
Swamp Honky said:
Some college language advice:

A semester abroad is the way to go, but a year abroad is even better. I would advise having a year of the language under your belt before going abroad. I studied in Egypt for a year and hit the ground with no Arabic experience. If I had the opportunity to take it prior it would have made my experience that much better. I am not one of those natural language studs, so I found really learning Arabic in college difficult. My main goal was to get my BA in international affairs, Arabic was a side project/academic requirement. I often found myself doing just enough to pass Arabic class and I didn't really have time to devote myself to the language. Obviously, if you are that motivated about the language, you can always 'make time.' However, be realistic about what your expectations are for your language ability by the time you graduate. I feel I got a great base knowledge in Arabic grammar and structure, but I would definitely require some post-college immersion experience before I would ever say "I speak Arabic." Also, If you don't want to devote whole academic semesters abroad, look into summer immersion language programs. Many countries have language schools that are not that expensive and offer decent programs. The downside is that most are not accredited, so it wont be useful to you credit-wise. Going abroad can also be pretty cheap if your on the GI Bill. They key is to find a school/country that has an exchange program with your current university. This way, you go overseas, but pay your home tuition with GI bill. Basically, all that is left is a plane ticket, and chances are you will be living in a cheaper economy overseas.

This is just my two cents from my own experiences. Hope it can be of some help.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advise. I had no idea about summer language programs. Even though they may not be accredited it could be worth it. I wondered how it would work with the GI Bill if I traveled abroad, It seems like a good gig. Thanks again.
 
Summer abroad is the sure way to pick up a language! I suggest a summer on the moon of Endor, I here its nice that time of year!
 

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