Posted on Apr 16, 2015
SSG Civil Affairs Nco
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Does a low DLAB score mean an individual is not qualified/smart enough to learn a language like Russian, or Arabic?
Posted in these groups: Foreign language Languages2769f19a DLAB
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MAJ Dima Intelligence Analyst
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It measures aptitude, not intelligence or being "smart enough." If that is a goal of yours go for it, don't let DLAB stop you. It is an indicator on the difficulty one might have in picking up level 4 languages but not a show stopper.
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SSG Thomas Brousseau
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Could be. Some individuals have the natural ability to discern the subtle nuances and fluctuations of a foriegn dialic and others do not.
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SFC Shakira Browne
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It's a very good indicator. It is based on your grasp of basic English grammar rules applied to a made up language. If you can't make the logical leaps to fill in the blanks, you are likely to struggle with category 4 languages. Russian is a category 2 language meaning it's among the easier languages to learn. Arabic and Pashto are Category 4...
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SFC Shakira Browne
SFC Shakira Browne
10 y
SGT Fouquier, while I can respect your personal experience that doesn't mean that The DLAB has nothing to do with English grammar rules. It is actually based on grammar rules, because lets face it a majority of the languages have WONKY grammar rules.
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SFC Shakira Browne
SFC Shakira Browne
10 y
SSG SMall, I AGREE with you Russian looks like a headache to me and I am a Korean, Pashto, and spanish Linguist... I was just stating that the ARMY labels it as a category 2 language. The lower the lang. category the " easier" in theory it is to learn. Again as many people have stated before me, IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE PERSON!
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CPL Combat Medic
CPL (Join to see)
5 y
Russian has now been upgraded to a Cat 3 language. I tried studying in country and it wasn’t easy.
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SSG Paul Panek
SSG Paul Panek
>1 y
CPL (Join to see) - Yes, you are correct. Russian is a CAT 3 language.
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Does a DLAB score really justify/decide ones ability to learn a language?
CPL Combat Medic
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The DLAB is not an iq test and it's not the language ability test. It simply attempts to gauge your ability to learn new languages. The army isn't going to send you to school for a language it doesn't think you'll ever learn.
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CPL Combat Medic
CPL (Join to see)
4 y
Correction I meant language retention test.
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