How Australian Military Linguists Learn Languages Fast

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⏱ TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 - Intro
0:35 - Speaking to the World
2:10 - The School
4:17 - Linguist Jobs
5:49 - The Test
7:55 - The Languages
10:39 - The Classroom
10:55 - Schedule & Method
12:39 - The Year, in Phases
13:09 - Virtual Reality
13:57 - Cultural Training
14:14 - Immersion
15:24 - Extra Learning
15:55 - Exams
16:34 - In the Field
17:21 - Payday!

📜 SOURCES & ATTRIBUTIONS:

Defence Australia - Welcome

Chief of Army visits soldiers in the Torres Strait

T.I. Simulator Tetum Demonstration Scenario: RED - "Conducting Clearance Operations"

Air Force Intelligence Analyst (Operations): Michael

Share Your Heritage | Leading Aircraftman Christopher Timoti

Share Your Heritage | Series introduction by Air Marshal Mel Hupfeld, AO, DSC, Chief of Air Force

Australian Army Band - My Sharona by The Knack

Building together in Timor-Leste - Exercise Hari'i Hamutuk 2021
ADF supports Pacific Islands family in times of crisis

ADF sends disaster relief supplies into Vanua Levu

ADF Language Allowances

[jett]

In the Australian Army I learnt Arabic full time at the defence force school of languages. Very comprehensive full time course where I went from knowing absolutely nothing to fluent in 10 months.

[mozzie]

The moment my mind was opened up to languages was reading a book called 'Fear Drive Your Feet' by Peter Ryan, who was an Australian Soldier who was alone reporting on Japanese troops occupying northern Papua New Guinea during WWII.
He had to work with the local people which meant learning their culture and languages. He wrote about sitting in circles of elders trying to speak Pidgin English, making grammatical mistakes and everyone laughing at him. What hooked me was that he said that a lot of people thought that Pidgin was a baby version of English, but that it had its own grammar vocabulary, pronunciation and rules, and that to earn people's respect, you had to diligently learn those rules.

[roberttufekcic]

I did the test when I was serving. I didn't do so well. They wondered how I even managed to learn English.

[chazlewis]

Great video. I'm an ex-Australian soldier who often worked with recruitment projects and this definitely feels like it was sponsored by the Australian Defence Force. But we need soldiers and its honestly a fun job so I'm all for it! Sign up, people!

[C.Fecteau-AU-MJ]

A relative of mine got his way into the SASR after his officer training and always says that his linguistics expertise was by far his greatest asset whilst being selected and during his tours in the middle east and Africa.

Learnt three languages over time... I believe Arabic, Persian and French. Which surprised me, because he's not that great at speaking English. 😁

[bcooper]

Was selected to do the mlats test back when i first joined my Battalion. No real experience learning languages other than failing french is high school. Ended up scoring in top bracket and off i went to study Thai. By far the most valueable and rewarding thing i ever got out of my service. Speaking a second language not only opened up some amazing opportunties during my time in but also lead to working for the UN and other multinational corporations after i discharged.

[gerrym]

In reagrd to immersion, I lived in Hanoi in 2009 & 2010 and in my apartment was a young Aussie soldier with his family. He was there for 12 months language study, which I thought was a fantastic opportunity for him. From memory he picked it up pretty quickly. With any foreign language, living amongst the locals will speed up your learning to no end

[shanedorival]

I have fond memories of the School of Langs….. just reminds of how important the school is. Australia is very culturally diverse. As such, these community groups were invited so students could immerse themselves in the language and culture.

[kevirish]

I spent a year at the Australian school of languages and learnt Thai in 2005, had a great time

[Goffas_and_gumpys]

Good video, I remember in 1990 the School of langs came to our unit cos we were being deployed to PNG, so we had a crash course in Tok Pisin. Of course when you're on the ground most of which you learnt was not what was heard LOL. Everybody quickly reset to the actual dialect in country. Have been back a few times since and still able to have a good conversation in Pisin.

[jedisaki]

I found this video so enjoyable and interesting. I currently serve in the RAN and when I was applying for the ADF one of my preferences was Cryptologic Linguist in the Navy. I ended up undertaking a different role in the end, but my interest in foreign languages still remains. I come from mixed decent, Thai-Australian. So it always interested me to learn my heritage and become a Thai speaker. What I find very interesting, is even though I'm not serving as a linguist, the Defence Force gives opportunities to members that have bilingual, trilingual or polyglottal abilities to use them. Things such as foreign correspondents or representative roles.

Now my Thai is not nearly at the level to be considered bilingual, but I do plan on continuing my personal study to eventually have it recognized.

[olafweerts]

In the 80's I did the aptitude test. I was RAN in intel. Only 3 out of about 120 of us passed. The actual course was intense.

[kaveebee]

I did some training with The Australian Army back in 72. In my unit, training to acquire proficiency in Weapons, Submarine familiarisation, parachute skills etc and a few other were held to be the the best courses. What excited me however was the radio course, I found it quite interesting. One of the blokes from headquarters platoon was a radio wizard, and he attended the course to help and brush up on his teaching skills. He was pale, slightly built and in no way looked like he had done all the hard yards. One of the platoon sergeants spoke highly of him for lugging a radio set around all day in the bush.

[chrisbrent]

RAAF Williams Point Cook is the second oldest air force base in the world and number 1 for the longest continuously operating base.

[BrassMan]

As a US Navy Linguist this was interesting to see. Very similar training pipeline with DLI.

[MortifiedU]

Witnessed this first hand, prior to deployment we would spend weeks learning customs and language of country, we went in with full respect. In East Timor 1999 first days of conflict we had up to 500 locals walking past us, we asked why..

Answer “ they want to make sure you are Australian and not American 😱” which shocked me. Until I saw how the Americans totally ignored local customs.

[bwv]

四十年まえに豪州空軍語学校で日本語を習いました。40 years ago I learned Japanese at the RAAF School of Languages. Yes, it was intense. I believe determination is as important as aptitude.

[Colyde]

Thanks for all your videos and books! I watched your US military video and found a great path for me with the Army that didn’t even knew existed. I’m taking the ASVAB next week to see if I qualify for even being able to take the DLAB.

[JJO]

My mate Did this he already Spoke English and Vietnamese but they sent him School of Languages and he said it was so chill it was like going to school without the military side and they get heaps of freedom and get paid to have fun. Another cool fact is the Special forces are required to bilingual and One of the SASR guys I met speaks 5 languages.

[christopherwhippy]

The Australian Defence Force School Of Languages at the RAAF base Point Cook Victoria have excellent teachers (like me mum who taught Fijian there...haha)and Australian defence force personnel make excellent students.