What is your take of having every soldier bilingual or taught a second language while on active duty?

MSG Louis Alexander — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 01:27:58 -0400

Regardless where you may go throughout your military career, to have a working knowledge of a language other then English could be an advantage militarily and once you leave military service.

Response by SPC Margaret Higgins made Apr 12 at 2018 1:45 AM

SPC Margaret Higgins — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 01:45:03 -0400

I am all for this!

Response by PVT Mark Brown made Apr 12 at 2018 9:38 AM

PVT Mark Brown — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 09:38:18 -0400

While an altruistic vision I fear one that might never seen the light of day. The military calculates, as on a balance beam scale, the net worth of every training dollar spent. If a reward beneficial to the overall mission of the military is not cost efficient then it will never see implementation. I know that a military person fluent in any language other than english has an automatic value added benefit. But, at what cost does the military provide that training to everyone? Learning a new language is difficult, at best. Never everyone has the aptitude to successfully learn a new language. I don't know if language courses are till required in highschool. I took latin for 4 years and when I got to Korea I did not find a single Korean that spoke latin on a daily basis. While in Korea I did learn the language but that was only because I wanted to learn the language. In fact I taught english at the local elementary school in Pyongteak, Korea. So, bilingual soldiers would be fantastic, perfect in fact but in today's world I don't see that happening.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 12 at 2018 10:04 AM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 10:04:43 -0400

Working knowledge is key. If I went anywhere, I would study enough of the language to get by. "Hi." "Thank you." "Where is the bathroom?" Just enough to endear myself to the local populace and not be completely lost in a foreign country.

Response by SGT Joseph Gunderson made Apr 12 at 2018 2:46 PM

SGT Joseph Gunderson — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 14:46:57 -0400

Impossible. Plain and simple. Some people can't learn a foreign language regardless of how smart they are. I am no idiot but I cannot learn a foreign language... To make it a requirement would be depriving many of people of being great soldiers and leaders.

Response by SGM Bill Frazer made Apr 12 at 2018 5:07 PM

SGM Bill Frazer — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 17:07:37 -0400

Yes it would be, but where is the money going to come from?

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 12 at 2018 5:55 PM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 17:55:17 -0400

It would be nice but would never happen. For one thing, languages take time to learn. For another, which would we learn? By the time they taught us Korean, we'd be deployed to Syria.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 12 at 2018 10:40 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 22:40:19 -0400

Insanely expensive.
It would be fought to even require it of officers

Response by MAJ Raúl Rovira made Apr 12 at 2018 11:54 PM

MAJ Raúl Rovira — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 23:54:33 -0400

Individual time, go for it! Duolingo, Rosetta Stone, the dude next to your house who is from X country. Drink with him!

I had 5 languages listed on my ORB and the Army never sent me to language school nor to a place where I could use it.

Regardless, my assignments and languages build Cultural intelligence(CE) to prep me with my only Diplomatic assignment years later.

Yes, go for a second language.

Response by PO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 15 at 2018 9:27 AM

PO3 Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 09:27:12 -0400

I’m completely for the idea, but I also see some difficulties in executing a project of such a grandeur. What language(s) are taught? How do we work on retention of the language (in other words, how do we make sure that servicemen don’t forget the language the military spent so much money for them to learn)? Will it affect where they are stationed? Will it help them out with their job at all?

The above questions are why I don’t think it would be very practical.