Which brand of the military is best for translators and interpreters?
And which foreign languages would be best to learn? I’m thinking about Russian, Arabic, or an Asian language of some sort.
You are asking the wrong question and getting ahead of yourself. Number one question is, are you military material and which service do you think you identify with. next question should be why are you joining. After that, whichever branch you choose, they have to determine if you even have an affinity for languages. All branches of the military use the same school DLI west or east…depending on language THEY give you. your language is determined by the needs of the service you join and whatever score that obtain on the DLAB (Defense Language Aptitude Battery). If you don’t get at least 100 on that test, you can pretty much forget about being a linguist for the military. However, if you are a native speaker of something the military needs at the time, you can by pass DLI. One other thing, if you have a background that will prevent you from getting a top secret security clearance, you can’t be one either. Now if you would still like to be a linguist, the top five languages last I checked were: Arabic, Pashtu, Chinese, Korean and Farsi.
February 18th, 2010 at 6:29 am
Army
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February 18th, 2010 at 6:42 am
You are asking the wrong question and getting ahead of yourself. Number one question is, are you military material and which service do you think you identify with. next question should be why are you joining. After that, whichever branch you choose, they have to determine if you even have an affinity for languages. All branches of the military use the same school DLI west or east…depending on language THEY give you. your language is determined by the needs of the service you join and whatever score that obtain on the DLAB (Defense Language Aptitude Battery). If you don’t get at least 100 on that test, you can pretty much forget about being a linguist for the military. However, if you are a native speaker of something the military needs at the time, you can by pass DLI. One other thing, if you have a background that will prevent you from getting a top secret security clearance, you can’t be one either. Now if you would still like to be a linguist, the top five languages last I checked were: Arabic, Pashtu, Chinese, Korean and Farsi.
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Former air force linguist (24 years recently retired). Current boss former marine linguist and former chief of all Department of Defense Language programs pentagon.
February 18th, 2010 at 7:21 am
i’m sure all branches are the same. you go through the same training and your jobs are all about the same, so i dont think it matters.
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February 18th, 2010 at 8:10 am
The military doesn’t have brands. If you wish to be a linguist, I think mastering your own language first is something you should look into.
Arabic and Chinese are the largest primary language needs right now for military linguists. Low density languages that tend to be secondary languages such as Dari and Pashto are also in high demand right now. Russian – not so much.
What is "best" depends on what you personally desire. If you want to be in a windowless building translating, then Air Force and Navy are good choices. If you want to be more out in the field, then Army is better.
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14+ years active duty – 10+ as a Navy Information Warfare Officer
February 18th, 2010 at 8:26 am
You can use the babylon for this purpose. It’s the best translator in my opinion: http://babylon.gnds.info/?l=us
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