Posted on Nov 29, 2015
How does one enter the DLI, can he or she pick their language, and would you recommend it? (Looking for answers from those who took Spanish)
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I'm a USMC vet and I might go into the NG as a 2LT. If I do I might have the opportunity to attend the DLI. I'm already a Spanish a speaker, but not fluent and even if I didn't take Spanish, learning another language is something I'd love to do. That said, how are people selected to attend the DLI? Do you generally get the chance to choose your own language or is it usually chosen for you? Do available slots fill up pretty fast? What language would you take if you could do it again and were able to choose?
Any other information would be greatly appreciated.
Any other information would be greatly appreciated.
Posted in these groups: 
Defense Language Institute (DLI) - Spanish
Defense Language Institute (DLI)
Defense Language Institute
Defense Language Institute (DLI) - Spanish Defense Language Institute (DLI) Defense Language Institute
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 4
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Well, my experience is quite dated (graduated DLI in 1974). i and one other airman in my flight entered with guaranteed jobs as linguists. One other guy in our flight was offered the Defense Language Apptitude Test (DLAT) and passed it. Sometime near the end of Basic, the three of us were called to complete "dream sheets." These were, essentially, a list of languages and the locations where they'd be taught (there were two DLI locations back then).
So, back then Step 1 was passing the DLAT & Step 2 was selecting the language from those currently needed by DOD. Of course, the process may have changed.
Oh, and it should be noted that the guy who opted into the career field got the language he chose from the list. The other guaranteed linguist and I did not.
So, back then Step 1 was passing the DLAT & Step 2 was selecting the language from those currently needed by DOD. Of course, the process may have changed.
Oh, and it should be noted that the guy who opted into the career field got the language he chose from the list. The other guaranteed linguist and I did not.
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LCpl Brian Toop
Thank you for your response. Do you happen to remember why the third guy was offered the DLAT?
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SSgt M. B. Ingersoll
LCpl Brian Toop - Sorry for the delay. All three of us were required to take the DLAT. The two of us who enlisted as linguists passed the DLAT prior to being guaranteed the job and enlisting. The other guy had no guaranteed job but was offered the opportunity to take the DLAT while we were in basic.
As for why he got the language of his choice while we did not - this is most likely attributable to the fact that he had never left CONUS and, thus, got his security clearance sooner than either of us who had both lived overseas prior to enlisting.
As for why he got the language of his choice while we did not - this is most likely attributable to the fact that he had never left CONUS and, thus, got his security clearance sooner than either of us who had both lived overseas prior to enlisting.
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SSgt M. B. Ingersoll
LCpl Brian Toop - As for WHY the other guy was given the option to take the test - I can't say, but I'd assume it was due to high ASVAB scores, or some other factor(s) that indicated he could be a viable candidate for a DLI assignment.
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I'm cadre at DLI. The likelihood of an ARNG 2LT attending DLI is very low, unless your CMF is Psyops or CA. In any case, you've got to take the DLAB. Your DLAB score determines what languages you are eligible to take. One benefit of the ARNG is your unit can send you to whatever language for which they have open billets.
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My experience is very dated back to 1965. I was in the Army Security Agency which has a number of language-related MOSs. At the start of basic I took the language aptitude test and passed; have no idea what my scores were. I was originally given orders for German language classes at DLIWC; don't remember having a list to choose from Events intervened, so my language was changed to Chinese Mandarin. I wasn't given my final MOS until after training at joint services training facility at Goodfellow AFB. At that time, one had to be in a type of unit which had MOSs requiring language training. I think I would have chosen Vietnamese if had the opportunity to choose. If today, I would want to go back to Chinese Mandarin or Russian. I would not want to learn any of the ME languages, but that might be "wishing" into the wind. Best of luck to you. Monterey was/is beautiful.
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