Is the DLI really as hard as everyone says?

Question

I'm in the DEP and will be going into the USAF in January. Tedious story made short, a customer of mine is in the USAF and went in initially as a linguist and said that the DLI was super hard and that a lot of people don't make it and end up switching their job. I mean, it's what I want to do and I don't mind a challenge. I'm just curious.

Answer 1

Yes and no.

It depends on what language you get, and in what school (large languages have multiple schools at DLI). Some languages have pass rates around 90 percent (Chinese, surprisingly), others are under 50 (Korean), and some languages have different rates in different schools (Russian). Some language courses are much shorter than others, too, which gives you less opportunity to screw up with the military bullshit or otherwise get into trouble along the way.

Classes are about 6 hours a day, and you can expect to have about 1-2 hours of homework per day. But remember that if you're non-prior service (this is your first enlistment) you will have formations, PT, and other crap to worry about. So your day will generally average about 8-9 hours.

6 hours doesn't sound like a lot, but consider that's 30 hours a week. For Korean, that's 30 hours a week for the equivalent of about 3 semesters. A college language course will be about 4-5 hours a week for 6 semesters, to get you to roughly the same spot, skill-wise. You're spending over 3 times as much time to get the same result you would in college. DLI is FAST, but it is NOT time-efficient. You eventually reach the point where you just can't cram more of one subject into someone's head by spending a greater proportion of time on it within the same time period.

A lot of people burn out. I saw quite a few people enter DLI sane, and leave NOT sane. A friend of mine, who I lost touch with after he had some sort of break down, might not have even left under his own power. (He literally could not take care of himself beyond basic stuff like dressing himself...and even that was starting to go. He was normal when he got to DLI.) There's a lot of pressure regarding the final tests. There's a lot of (total BULLSHIT) pressure from the tech-school atmosphere (for the first few months, particularly for the army, it's like basic training-light). And this goes on for YEARS. There's a lot of resentment towards people in finance and stuff with 9 week tech schools...that they get BAH and BAS and no curfew or distance restrictions (you'll probably have a curfew for at least 6 months, and distance restrictions and other bullshit your whole time there) after being in the military for 4 months, while some people have been at DLI for 2-3 YEARS and are still being treated like crap.

And what's the reward for all that effort and time and endurance? You get to go to Goodfellow and possibly drop back even further for another 6 months (depending on which way the pendulum has swung) because some colonel and a few MTLs decided that you'd been away from the REAL Air Force for too long. They're too LAX at DLI, right? (First of all, no they aren't, second, it's hard to get one of the most educated groups in the military...a LOT of linguists have degrees, to respect you when it takes you five damn months to figure out how to measure a running course that's actually a mile and a half.) "Re-blueing" she called it. I swear, every hair on my body stood up in rage.

Oh, and if you decide you don't like being a linguist later, just get out of the military and don't look back. You cannot retrain into something else and be done with the Linguist field. You can retrain into something else stressed and end up right back at whatever unit you hated, as a linguist. It happened in Korea when I was there. This had better be a decision you're absolutely sure of.

Oh, and if you want to work as a linguist as a civilian, with a military contractor, stay in long enough to be sure that you get stationed someplace that will give you a polygraph. The polygraph is utter BULLSHIT, modern-day phrenology, but for most languages, you won't get hired without it.

Oh, and unless you get Arabic or Farsi or one of the other important middle eastern languages, there aren't a lot of job opportunities for linguists. If they told you anything contrary, you were lied to.



If you still want to do it, I'd suggest changing your career field NOW. Change it to something with a short tech school...don't let the tech school bullshit make your mind up about the military (it basically did for me, but because I got stationed at a spectacularly shitty unit afterwards, nothing came along to change my mind). Then when your first re-training opportunity comes up, cross-train as a linguist. I don't mean RECLASS as a linguist...that'll be the same as going there for your first tech school. Finish tech school, work at that job for a year or two, THEN retrain as a linguist.

You may have more administrative responsibilities, especially if you're SRA or higher by the time you get to DLI, but you will have a lot more freedom, and a lot less stupid bullshit to do. Trust me, you want to be prior-service if you go to DLI. (Either that or in the Marine Corps, because they actually get treated like adults there.)

Answer 2

Yes it is hard, but there are some languages that are harder than others - Korean is the hardest. You are in a classroom 8-10 hours a day and then about 2-3 hours of home work per night. Towards the end it gets harder. But it is worth it. If you are the type that is able to study well and pick up on things then it could be for you. What did you get on your DLAB? There are many that rock out and get reclassed, but weither you rock out or roll back to another class if up to your teachers and comand. So if you are trying really hard they will probably just roll you back. Monterey is great too.
Edit: I get to see my husband about 3 hours a day, but that doesn't mean that I get to talk to him since he has his I-pod in his ears or he is at the computer, or doing some sort of homework - we just do stuff in the same room to spend time together - weekends are the most we have and those are short due to homework

Edit - Ian F - I am sorry that you had a horrible time at the DLI - we are really enjoying it and are hoping that we can come back for another language - to then be my husbands 4th - yes things are tuff - we don't know anyone that has gone crazy - yes getting stresses out - not not crazy - not all people go to Goodfellow, depends on what your MOS is, but most do. Things are more lax, and that helps alot, but then AIT is not so much - it kicks you back into place. Having the languages under your belts opens up a lot of doors later on and we are grateful for that.

Answer 3

If your ready to take a crash course in a language, learn it, speak it, read it, and write it fluently in only a few months, then DLI is for you.

I know many who couldn't make it...If you do, many opportunities lie ahead...

Translators for embassies, or VIP's...this is if your fluent...
Just get by the test, you end up in some area listening to airwaves translating whats being said...
And if you don't, you end up in the infantry....

So don't screw around, it's a crash course and I mean it's a crash course, your learning a language that takes many a lifetime to learn in a year or less....and testing out on it...fail your done..and get a sh.t job for your work...

Answer 4

yes, it is that hard, and yes, many people end up reclassing because they cannot keep up. your entire life will be devoted to learning your language. there will be a minimum of 4 hours per day of homework/extra studying required.

Answer 5

One word....YES, but totally worth it.