Top Secret 10 Surprising Facts About the U.S. Militarys DLIFLC GLOSS

Top Secret 10 Surprising Facts About the U.S. Militarys DLIFLC GLOSS 10 Facts  You Didnt  Know About the  DLIFLC  and GLOSS Quick! Take 5  from your books, podcasts  and flashcards.You’re in for a treat today.Because today, we’re gonna be talking about a language learning site that is truly in a class of its own.Unlike so many language learning brands that populate the internet, this one’s not backed by angel investors or venture capitalists. It’s backed by Uncle Sam himself.It’s no freemium site with fancy graphics, but if you truly wanna go deep, and I mean really deep in learning your target language, you cant  afford to skip the site we’re gonna talk about here: the DLIFLC GLOSS.DLIFLC GLOSS huh?Well, the acronym stands for Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC), Global Language Online Support System (GLOSS). Now that’s a mouthful!The DLIFLC  is the institution and  GLOSS  is one of its many programs.The DLIFLC is the language school where the U.S. military trains the interpreters that it sends all over the world (cue patriotic music and the entrance of colors).Okay, so now that weve got our letters straight, let’s dig a little deeper and learn what those acronyms are really all about.We’ll start first with some backgrounders on the DLIFLC itself, and then later in the list, we’ll zero-in on DLIFLC programs like GLOSS. 10 Facts  You Didnt  Know About the  DLIFLC  and GLOSS1. It’s DoD territory.The DLIFLC is under the Department of Defense.It is regarded as one of the finest foreign language learning institutions in America. Located in Monterey, California, this premier language provider considers its mission deadly serious.Exactly how serious?Seven  hours a day serious. That’s the length of time students spend in classes, supplemented by 2-3 hours of nightly homework. This continues  for 5 days a week in a 26 to 64-week basic course.Why the intensive course?Well, because this is where America trains the people who talk to the world. The center churns out military linguists who serve on federal agencies like the Federal Bureau of Inv estigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the U.S. Border Patrolâ€"which means you can’t get in the program unless you’re a member of the Armed Forces or are sponsored by a government agency.So think: James Bond meets FluentU.(And by the way, if thats the  first youre hearing of  FluentU, heres what the excitements all about:  FluentU is an online immersion platform that takes  real-world videosâ€"like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talksâ€"and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.FluentU is designed to get you comfortable  with everyday  language, by combining all the benefits of complete  immersion and native-level conversations with easy-to-read subtitles.)2. The first language it taught was Japanese. (Know why?)The DLIFLC started in 1941, on the eve of America’s entry into World War II. It began as a secret language  school with 60 carefully selected U.S. soldiersâ€"mostly of Japanese ancestry. Why? Because it was a reflection of the realities on the ground. Japan was on a war footing in Asia, and America needed soldiers who understood enemy intelligence.The programs in the center often reflect world affairs. During the Cold War, many programs were geared towards the Slavic languages. Today, in the post 9/11 world, Arabic, Dari and Pashto (Afghanistan) are getting a lot of focus.3. They have their own immersion facility.When you want to immerse yourself in your target language, one of the things you can do is spend a few months abroad and soak in all the learning experiences at your country of choice. Or, if budget and time are not permissive, you get creative and engage in online language immersion  through websites like FluentU.  Others watch foreign TV shows, read foreign books or chat up native speakers through Skype.But do you know how Uncle Sam does immersion?Well he builds a whole simulationâ€"furnishing a whole facility with kitchen and sleeping quarters where students can live for 1- 3 days.So for example, if you’re learning German, the DLIFLC immersion program will isolate you in a world that only understands German. Not a word of English will be spoken while you are in the immersion facility. So you may be on U.S. soil, but it will really feel like you’re in Germany. And you’ll be put in real-world situations like bargaining for food and clothing at a market place.How cool is that? You don’t have to get creative with your imagination. The simulation is so real, it’s like you’re there.4.  The GLOSS is unparalleled anywhere else.So at this point, you may be thinking, “What does all this have to do with me? I’m not a member of the Armed Forces, so I’ll never be in that program anyway.”Well, you stand to benefit more than you think.The DLIFLC has an online component which can be freely accessed  by you and me.This is where the “GLOSS” of “DLIFLC GLOSS” comes in. The Global Language Online Support System was especially designed for indep endent online learning.Since  not everyone can go on campus and attend the classes, DLIFLC has developed online lessons for its students.And like I said, that material is  open to anyone. Which means we can participate in the intensive learning program intended for the select language learners of the armed forces of the United States.If that doesn’t make you rejoice, I don’t know what will.5.  There are 7,000 lessons in GLOSS.There are lessons for 40 different languages, including lesser-known tongues like Balochi, Pashto, Hausa and Dari. The lessons are divided into two modalities (Reading and Listening) and seven learner levels.Each lesson contains 4-6 tasks. So for example, in a listening lesson, one of the tasks would be to match an image with its correct audio. Another task might be to type in an answer to an audio  question.GLOSS lessons cover a rich variety of topics that include: culture, economics, environment, geography, military, politics, science, security, society a nd technology.6.  The lessons are interactive (and come with certificates too).GLOSS’s lessons are interactive. Meaning, you’re very much involved in your learning process and you’ll probably be busy doing something at any point in time.So let me tell you beforehand, the lessons are not for the faint of heart. The tasks in GLOSS might just be some of the most challenging ones you can have online. The “beginner” modules here are considered “advanced” in other websites. (You’ve been warned.)Other sites mark the learners’ progress through a “points” system. More points means the further you are in the lessons. The lessons in GLOSS come with “certificates,” which are given to you after every lesson. Certificates  are proof of the hard work you put into learning your target language. You can print them out and collect as many as you can. It will be a nice pat on the back.7.  The audio recordings and conversation examples will set your ears ablaze.DLIFLC is one o f the few language learning sites that gives a fitting nod to the importance of listening in  language acquisition. A testament to this are the GLOSS’s listening lessons themselves.As mentioned previously, GLOSS lessons can either be about listening comprehension or reading comprehension. (DLIFLC focuses on these two because they are the most important skills on the field.)GLOSS is one of the most comprehensive resources of language audio recordings online. Where can you find, for example, 140 audio recordings of Albanian conversations, 69 for Uzbek and 111 for Hindi?In addition, DLIFLC has an accent library for Arabic and Spanish languages. I ask you again, where can you find the same text read in 11 different Spanish accents (eg. Argentinean, Chilean, Columbian, Honduran, Mexican, Peruvian, Venezuelan) or 10 different Arabic accents (eg. Egyptian, Iraqi, Jordanian, Saudi, Tunisian, Sudanese)? Only at GLOSS.8.  Their Online Diagnostic Assessment can take around 1-2 hours.Think GL OSS lessons aren’t challenging enough? Or do you simply want to know what areas need more  work for you?DLIFLC developed the Online Diagnostic Assessment for that very purpose. It will identify your strengths and give you feedback on sticking points.Create an account and you can take the assessment. There will be two kinds of tests. One is for reading comprehension,  and another for  listening ability.  You will read/listen to sets of passages followed by 4-6 questions. The questions will not only test your comprehension of the passages/recordings, they will also test you on vocabulary, sentence structure and text structure.Sometimes you will be asked to give your answer in a multiple-choice format, but most of the time you will be asked to type in your answer.The tests take 1-2 hours per skill and are available for 13 major languages. So if you’re itching to know where you stand on the issue of comprehension, I challenge you to take the assessment.9.  GLOSS actually teaches bot h language and culture.If you take a look at DLIFLC’s other programs, you’ll quickly notice that the center is as serious in teaching culture as it is in teaching language. One can quickly sense this in programs like “Cultural Orientations,”  â€œFamiliarization Modules,”  â€œCountries in Perspective”  and “Cultural Awareness Assessment.”GLOSS, in its listening and reading lessons, espouses the philosophy that you can never divorce a language from its culture. You can never distill language from the people who speak itâ€"their history, experiences and aspiration as a group.You don’t sense this from the other language learning sites. This is one of the biggest advantages of learning in DLIFLC. You don’t get cultural lessons as interesting asides, instead you get heavy doses of it. Because of this, you acquire not only a new set of vocabulary or grammar rules, but an enduring appreciation for the culture that produced the language that captured your imagination.10.  GLOSS champions the concept of “language maintenance.”DLIFLC believes in the importance of maintaining competency in a language. Just because you have already acquired French, for example, doesn’t mean it’s the end of the road for you. Nope, you need to continually review, practice  and pile on to your skills. Otherwise you’d slowly backslide and lose those language gains.You need to go back in order to move forward. That’s why for 4 hours a week, DLIFLC allows its analysts and linguists to go into independent study.In line with that belief, the DLIFLC created GLOSS not only as a teaching tool for first time learners, but as a refresher course. It was made available online so that former students, assigned and dispersed in the far reaches of earth, won’t have return to campus to get the highly needed language refresher and reviews.DLIFLC GLOSS is quite unique in that it emphasizes the importance of “language maintenance,” regardless of skill level.So, you now know 10 things about the DLIFLC and GLOSS. I’m sure you can’t wait to give those listening and reading lessons a shot. Enjoy! And One More ThingIf youre digging this resource, youll love using FluentU. FluentU makes it possible to learn languages  from music videos, commercials, news and inspiring talks.With FluentU, you learn real languagesâ€"the same way that natives  speak them. FluentU has a wide variety of videos like movie trailers, funny commercials and web series, as you can see here:FluentU App Browse Screen.FluentU has interactive captions that let you tap on any word to see an image, definition, audio and useful examples. Now native language content is within reach with interactive transcripts.Didnt catch something? Go back and listen again. Missed a word? Hover your mouse over the subtitles to instantly view definitions.Interactive transcript for Carlos Baute song.You can learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentUs learn mode. Swipe left or right to see  more e xamples for the word you’re learning.FluentU Has Quizzes for Every VideoAnd FluentU always keeps track of vocabulary that you’re learning. It uses that vocab to give you a 100% personalized experience by recommending videos and examples.Start using FluentU on the website  with your computer or tablet  or, better yet,  download the FluentU app from  the  iTunes  or  Google Play  store.