Language assignment at DLI

FlyNavy · 12-08-2014, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amberdelane

I know this is from May, but I was hoping to get an idea of what language I may get with a DLAB score of 108. I don't want to be blindsided in basic.

Thank you!

Think of being a CTI like a blank slate.

You tested into a certain range of languages. While you're at boot they'll take a look at what you scored and where you fit, what classes are about to start, and what kind of linguists the Navy needs at the moment.

It's not about you as an individual, its really more about what's going on within the Navy at the time you're coming through the pipeline.

/r
CTT1

chemelle1 · 12-08-2014, 06:56 PM

What languages are available in general?

jzhaun · 12-08-2014, 10:24 PM

Dlab score over 100: Spanish.
Dlab score over 105: Spanish, Russian, Farsi, Hebrew (rarest language)
Dlab score over 110: Spanish, Russian, Farsi, Hebrew, Chinese, Korean, Arabic (variants including Iraqi dialect, levantine dialect, modern standard Arabic)

Waivers do exist, but the one guy I knew who got Chinese with a 109 dropped pretty early.

There are cooler languages like Indonesian, and Hindi available for 2nd tours. I have also heard of people fluent in Spanish taking Portuguese.

chemelle1 · 12-09-2014, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jzhaun

Dlab score over 100: Spanish.
Dlab score over 105: Spanish, Russian, Farsi, Hebrew (rarest language)
Dlab score over 110: Spanish, Russian, Farsi, Hebrew, Chinese, Korean, Arabic (variants including Iraqi dialect, levantine dialect, modern standard Arabic)

Waivers do exist, but the one guy I knew who got Chinese with a 109 dropped pretty early.

There are cooler languages like Indonesian, and Hindi available for 2nd tours. I have also heard of people fluent in Spanish taking Portuguese.

Wait, you have access to other languages after reenlisting?
I scored a 103, so it looks like I'll be doing Spanish. I'm not particularly interested in Spanish, but if there are other languages after the first tour then I guess there is a silver lining.

chemelle1 · 12-19-2014, 09:48 AM

what is housing like for married sailors?

jzhaun · 12-19-2014, 02:36 PM

There's only enough houses for some army officers on base, everyone else lives out in town or over on ft. Ord. Generally you'll get set up in the barracks for a few weeks until you find a place and get the paperwork done.

Living off base can be a hassle for uniform changes and you'll probably have to wake up earlier than everyone else to get on base for stuff like morning pt or quarters.

Memzicle · 05-11-2016, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jzhaun

Dlab score over 100: Spanish.
Dlab score over 105: Spanish, Russian, Farsi, Hebrew (rarest language)
Dlab score over 110: Spanish, Russian, Farsi, Hebrew, Chinese, Korean, Arabic (variants including Iraqi dialect, levantine dialect, modern standard Arabic)

Waivers do exist, but the one guy I knew who got Chinese with a 109 dropped pretty early.

There are cooler languages like Indonesian, and Hindi available for 2nd tours. I have also heard of people fluent in Spanish taking Portuguese.

Curious...
I understand that language assignment is mostly based on what the Navy needs... But I was wondering if there are instances where they assign a language in a higher category than what you scored on the DLAB? For instance, I scored a 102 (I know I could've done better, ugh)... Now, that score places me with Spanish, which I'm content with if that's what I get. But say for example they are in need for Russian or Korean... Is there any possibility they would pair a lower DLAB score with a higher language category, if that is what the Navy needed at the time?

Also, you mentioned waivers... How does one go about getting a language waiver?

jzhaun · 05-12-2016, 09:35 PM

If you have a 102, you are not getting Korean. Full stop. Korean's generally considered the most difficult of the CAT IVs.

There's a possibility for Russian if no Spanish slots are available in your window, but it's a small chance. The guy I mention upthread got Chinese with a 109 because only Chinese and Spanish were available at the time and the Spanish slots went to people who had lower DLAB scores than he did. He wound up taking Spanish in the end though. DLI drop rates are no joke.

As I understand, if the detailers did place you in Russian, they would do a waiver. It's not something you get to decide.

Memzicle · 05-15-2016, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jzhaun

If you have a 102, you are not getting Korean. Full stop. Korean's generally considered the most difficult of the CAT IVs.

There's a possibility for Russian if no Spanish slots are available in your window, but it's a small chance. The guy I mention upthread got Chinese with a 109 because only Chinese and Spanish were available at the time and the Spanish slots went to people who had lower DLAB scores than he did. He wound up taking Spanish in the end though. DLI drop rates are no joke.

As I understand, if the detailers did place you in Russian, they would do a waiver. It's not something you get to decide.

Yeah, I figured there would be a higher chance of the sky falling, than me getting a CAT IV. As mentioned, I'm totally fine with Spanish... But it's nice to know there is a chance, however small, that I could possibly get Russian. I've read somewhere on here or on Reddit that after your 1st tour, some are given the option to study a sort of sub-language? Like for example, some who were initially given Spanish, end up studying Porteguese. Where can I find perhaps a list of other offered languages besides the big 6? I'm just curious as to what else is offered. Also, is someone designated to only one of the big 6? Say, after a coupe years or so, I've accomplished Spanish...with a high profitiency.... Am I given an option to continue with another language among the big 6? Thank you so much for your help btw!

clk128 · 05-18-2016, 06:16 PM

So I scored a 118 and got put into Hebrew, after having studied Russian in school and telling them Russian would be my number one and Hebrew my number two. She said they had 8 spots in Russian but my score was too high (even though Hebrew is also a CAT II??). The others I in my division had a 129 and a 110. She put the 129 in Iraqi Arabic, the 110 in Persian Farsi, and then because they didn't get enough people in Modern Standard Arabic moved me to MSA a couple weeks later. To my knowledge I'm the only one out of the nine CTIs in our training group who didn't get my top choice.

12-08-2014, 06:56 PM	#2
chemelle1 Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 27 Rep Power: 0	What languages are available in general?

12-08-2014, 10:24 PM	#3
jzhaun Active Duty Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 627 Rep Power: 0	Dlab score over 100: Spanish. Dlab score over 105: Spanish, Russian, Farsi, Hebrew (rarest language) Dlab score over 110: Spanish, Russian, Farsi, Hebrew, Chinese, Korean, Arabic (variants including Iraqi dialect, levantine dialect, modern standard Arabic) Waivers do exist, but the one guy I knew who got Chinese with a 109 dropped pretty early. There are cooler languages like Indonesian, and Hindi available for 2nd tours. I have also heard of people fluent in Spanish taking Portuguese.

12-19-2014, 09:48 AM	#5
chemelle1 Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 27 Rep Power: 0	what is housing like for married sailors?

12-19-2014, 02:36 PM	#6
jzhaun Active Duty Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 627 Rep Power: 0	There's only enough houses for some army officers on base, everyone else lives out in town or over on ft. Ord. Generally you'll get set up in the barracks for a few weeks until you find a place and get the paperwork done. Living off base can be a hassle for uniform changes and you'll probably have to wake up earlier than everyone else to get on base for stuff like morning pt or quarters.

05-12-2016, 09:35 PM	#8
jzhaun Active Duty Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 627 Rep Power: 0	If you have a 102, you are not getting Korean. Full stop. Korean's generally considered the most difficult of the CAT IVs. There's a possibility for Russian if no Spanish slots are available in your window, but it's a small chance. The guy I mention upthread got Chinese with a 109 because only Chinese and Spanish were available at the time and the Spanish slots went to people who had lower DLAB scores than he did. He wound up taking Spanish in the end though. DLI drop rates are no joke. As I understand, if the detailers did place you in Russian, they would do a waiver. It's not something you get to decide.

05-18-2016, 06:16 PM	#10
clk128 Newbie Join Date: Jul 2015 Posts: 16 Rep Power: 0	So I scored a 118 and got put into Hebrew, after having studied Russian in school and telling them Russian would be my number one and Hebrew my number two. She said they had 8 spots in Russian but my score was too high (even though Hebrew is also a CAT II??). The others I in my division had a 129 and a 110. She put the 129 in Iraqi Arabic, the 110 in Persian Farsi, and then because they didn't get enough people in Modern Standard Arabic moved me to MSA a couple weeks later. To my knowledge I'm the only one out of the nine CTIs in our training group who didn't get my top choice.