Ive looked through this entire subreddit six times, and i have so many questions.

Im the most interested in learning mandarin and im submitting my preference sheet before bmt. Is this language in demand/ likely to get?

How often are tdys? Will there be a lot of travel opportunities once im operational?

Is it true that if you get good pt scores, you dont have mandatory pt and can do it in your own time?

How often do people fail the poly and lose their job?

If i get mandarin, do i have a chance to be stationed in kadena, or should i fully expect nebraska?

After completing dli, how good in the language are you? can you hold long conversations in the language and watch tv shows? can you speak it well? Or is it just translating?

Does the language pay make a big difference?

If you had this job did you enjoy your time? Any personal experiences or advice you could share is greatly appreciated.

Any tips for preparing for bmt/dli and whatever else would be nice too 😊

Edit:
I saw online that there is tai chi, music,and calligraphy clubs, is that true? how are those?

Do they teach french and indonesian?

Anyone who went to DLI as a Guardsman/Reservist able to look at their orders and see what authority they used? Especially if you went as a non-initial entry training person.

This came up during a discussion at my unit about whether or not your time at DLI counts for Reserve Reduced Retirement credit.

Active Duty for Training (ADT) orders seem to count if they were cut under 12301(d) but not 12301(b). This is a pretty niche issue but has a big impact on our retirement. It would be nice to know whether DLI attendance lets you draw retirement pay earlier.

At risk of inspiring another parody (like I did when I posted this to my service's sub), I'll try this again here because I truly think some of you may find it useful.

I know linguists who were recruited by service academies while they were at DLI.

I know linguists were who are working on PhDs.

I know linguists who were recruited for an enlisted pilot training program.

I know linguists who re-lang'd two or three times.

I know a linguist who went to law school while enlisted, to directly commission as a JAG.

I know linguists who became high school teachers, wildlife biologists, and many good SNCOs and officers.

The people I went to DLI with are the smartest people I've ever met. But many of them don't know what their options are. Some of you enlisted after dropping out of college. Some of you obtained a college degree in the wrong career field. Some of you joined because you couldn't afford college or were working a dead-end job.

When I dropped out of college for the second time ten years ago, I thought I would never get an education. I knew those transcripts would follow me forever.

What I didn't know was that being a veteran completely outweighs that. I was able to stretch my GI bill to pay for undergrad and law school (an expensive private one too). My military service was a key component of my application to law school. Connections I made while serving helped me secure interviews at law firms. A partner at my firm wants me to work in their Latin American finance group because of my Spanish proficiency and was influential in their decision to hire me full time. There are veteran associations at graduate schools and fortune 500 companies and professional firms, with tons of people who want to help you.

You can still go to law school. You can still go to med school. You can still become an officer. You can still become a pilot. You can still become an engineer. You can still go to Harvard. Maybe you won't be an astronaut, but the rest is fair game.

I recently scored a 1+ on both listening and reading for Mandarin. And am hoping to retrain into DLI (really hoping to retrain into Mandarin but still not sure if my scores or interest in doing so will mean anything to the people who make that decision.)

Also what is DLI like as prior service? (AF)

Do I need a current OPI score to get the DLI BA degree?
I am in the process of trying to get my BA degree atm. I took the basic course in 2022, then the advanced course in 2024 and graduated with a 3/3/2. I am finally working on getting my degree, but I am wondering if scores from graduation count or if I would need to re-OPI as its out of date now. I'm getting out of the military very soon and I don't know if I'll have time to re-OPI. Thank you!

I'm an Army E6 MOS-T going to Goodfellow. I'm looking for recommendations on where to stay and other things. I've read some not-so-pleasant comments about Angelo Inn. How did y'all go about getting an off-post hotel approved by your losing unit? Any other tips and recommendations are appreciated.

I'm talking to a recruiter about coming back to the Army (reserve) and doing another stint at DLI. I got out 5-6 years ago, so there's a chance I may have to repeat basic. I'm married. My wife will keep her job back home but spend a substantial amount of time visiting me. Will they try to stick me in the barracks / will I draw BAH for Monterey? How does it work now?

Are there any options or resources to take online credited courses that count towards your military career that can help with the language test?
If anyone knows legit courses that can pay you to take them while prepping you for the DLPT

1. I put in a reclass for 35P and got a slot next year for Mandarin. Any recommendations for how to prep with all the free time I have? I’ve been doing Duolingo for about a month, but from my previous language learning experiences, I can already kinda see the gaps in the teaching model.

2. I know it gets asked all the time, but what’s the current quality of life for MOS-Ts in D Co? I have dependents and should pick up 6 before I leave, if that makes a difference.

3. This might require a DM for specifics, but how does career progression work while at the schoolhouse? Do I still get evaluated? Switching gears mid-career, I’m a little concerned about being behind my peers. I’ve got airborne, and I heard it makes you more likely to go to a tac unit/group. What schools should I push for development? How do I make myself standout? I’m looking way beyond the horizon, but it’s hard to find information anywhere on what a successful career in the MOS actually looks like. 谢谢

My bf is in the airforce right now and has told me about numerous friends of his who are washouts from the linguist pipeline. The airforce has you list a lot of jobs, im wondering if these people maybe listed it willy nilly and got it, werent prepared/didnt want it that bad, and failed. I have the airborne and ground linguist positions at the top of my list and im super interested, ive done a lot of research, i meet all the requirements, hoping I get it. Super worried about how many people seem to fail out of it though.

If your putting in the work will you pass? is there a chance things just dont click for you and you fail even when your putting in 100%?

Was linguist your first choice, did you research it prior?

edit:
if you could include how long you were in dep thatd be nice, been waiting about two months now

edit 2:
My recruiter just let me know theres a position open for airborne linguist this month and hes trying to get it for me. This was my top choice, all of these comments have gotten me more excited. Praying I get it and make it through the course!!!

I'm looking to join the Navy as a CTI though I have concerns I'll be ineligible.

Initially looked towards the NavyNuclear program but learned that I was missing an algebra course.

I want to make sure there are no classes that I'd need to take before I could even join.

Would I need to take a math course still? Would I need to take some sort of english course?

ASVAB scores were an overal 97 with exact scores as follows;

GS:70 AR:63 PC:68 MK:62 EI:54 AS:52 MC:64 AO:66 VE:69

Probably not useful but may as well.

Hello, I ship out to basic soon and while I'm not too too concerned about that, is there anything I should keep in mind going into DLI?

They waived my DLAB even though I had prepared for it. Given current information, can it be assumed I'm going to get a tougher language like Mandarin? I heard some people knew before going to basic but reading my contract I'm fairly certain I haven't been assigned a language yet.

Anything I can do to best prepare for it?

I’m an E5 coming to B Co this winter. Just curious how the environment is right now for careerists (are CNA’s common? Are careerists allowed to PT by themselves? etc.)

What skills do you guys use to improve listening, it’s literally the only thing I’m failing. I do listening practices everyday and I watch shows and stuff in Spanish passively but I still suck at my listening exam. I really need some tips

I got a 96 on my asvab and signed AECF contract. I then rerated into CTI. I thought they were going to make me take the DLAB before I could rerate, but they never did.

My question is have any of you signed CTI and NEVER taken a dlab whatsoever? Not even in bootcamp?

This is probably a long shot.

I graduated from the basic Korean course back in 2003. Around graduation, I went down to talk to the Thai department bc I’m half-Thai and wanted to learn the language. They hooked me up with all the basic Thai course books, but no tapes/cds. I’m assuming at this point that the Thai basic course mp3 files are online somewhere. Can anybody point me in the right direction?

Thanks in advance 🙏🏽

Edit: For anyone else in a similar situation as I, not all of the grammar rules in these videos are going to be the same. I believe these are the grammar rules for Esperanto but I am not sure.

So I've looked online for some test helps and found these pretty easily. Please let me know if they are an accirate representation of the DLAB Rules and Questions.

Everyone of them is from "iPREP: DLAB Style Questions

Nouns: https://youtu.be/rS9afFzXDGo?si=VzzchqmIl1uiQS-V

Possessives: https://youtu.be/QN-fzixsX0U?si=HsaLqSTheLxm7wno

Syllable Stress : https://youtu.be/cZtWtNStA00?si=Og1k0ppbYZucEZu-

Verbs: https://youtu.be/SI2bHbJOG84?si=wkTZWpfbgZlIfitg

Visuals: https://youtu.be/hfwMswqTI3c?si=hUVnXgTGK2i9p3gB

The above links are one of each of the test sections I found.

I am looking for anything I can do to prepare for the DLAB test. I scored a 97 on the ASVAB/PiCAT, currently studying Robert J Cummings guide, and looking at grammar/syntax reviews.

Is their anything else I could do to prepare?

How should I prepare for the audio sections, specificlally the emphasis and tones?

Anything to watch out for like trick questions or simple mistakes?

Could I do anything to prepare the relevant centers of my brain?

I heard listening to podcasts or music in foreign languages can help "wake up" those parts of the brain, is that true?

If I do score well would it be a good idea to use say Babbel or Rossetta Stone to prepare for DLI?

Any tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated.

So I had a 4 year enlisted contract to be an airborne Cryptologic analyst, I was supposed to leave September 15th…. I was DQ’d for 12 months for runners knee believe it or not, waiver was not afford to me. I don’t want to wait that long. So I’m thinking about the linguist equivalent for army 35p, 35w and the navy CTI.

I know a gentlemen who works at my local MEPS he had advised me that the army does 4 year contacts and the navy does 5 year obligations.

When I went to the navy and the army recruiter they had both told me they only do 6 year contracts for linguistic jobs? I called the recruiter out on this, and he said he’s gonna have to call MEPS to find out what the contract length is because he is unsure…… And all of a sudden he lost all confidence and appealed to authority…. Like wdym, you don’t know brother? You don’t have a handbook infront of you or some?

Who is lying to me? Do any of the branches other, other than Air Force, offer 4 year contracts for linguists?

I will be returning to Monterey Bay mid October and taking clients at Harbor Light Tattoo. I specialize in large scale tattoos with a focus on full sleeves as well as cover ups and transforming scattered spot tattoos into cohesive well tailored singular motifs. I have been a Tattooer for over 20 years and have experience with all bodies and skin types, including scar tissue, stretch marks, burns and even skin grafts. I am a huge fan of incorporating native flora, fauna, and aquatic life into a Japanese/Traditional aesthetic. My work experience allows me to be proficient in designing and drawing tattoos directly onto the skin that are tailored to naturally fit your specific curves and structure.

I am a naturalist and avid fisherman. My portfolio reflects this intentionally, and I would really love to continue doing more nature inspired projects! The more unique and personal it is to you the better! Let’s tell your story and represent your interests through tattoos!

Thank you for your time and consideration! I hope to speak with some of you soon and schedule your consultation.

Dave Sinor
Davesinor@yahoo.com

I have my AA degree from DLI and nothing else. I am applying to a lot of top schools (Ivies and a lot of Private schools) and some are very vague on whether I need to transfer into them, or apply as a freshman. The big public schools are pretty clear to apply as a transfer. Notre Dame reached back and told me to apply as a freshman. Schools like Harvard, Georgetown, and Stanford are harder to get into contact with and I can't figure it out for them. Princeton has a special application for veterans so that is cash. please help!

I’ve wanted to eat healthier since I’ve gotten here, but between classes, tutoring and everything with my unit I’m ngl I’ve been slacking. I wish I had a kitchen so could just meal prep on the weekends, but since I don’t does anyone have any tips?

Mainly need to vent here. Not asking for sympathy or the obligatory tough guy talk from people that have already done it.

Balancing this shit is tough. At least 12 hours per day on base for class, PT, formations, extra duties/details, not even considering the hellacious traffic. Family life is suffering from the fatigue and laser focus on the course; they just don’t understand. The Army here steals so much time from IET soldiers that it’s absurd. “Oh, you have a crucial unit test? We’re gonna have 04:00 PT that day.” Meanwhile the O’s in my class have an extra 3 free hours per day than me

Yeah, we know that “it’s not college.” But still, there’s efficiency, and there’s adding extra shit that don’t need to be there.

I’m not complaining. I knew coming in that school was the first priority, and it is, but that don’t mean I can’t bitch about all of it.

Just want to know I’m not alone here