Minoring in a language..

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jarvin

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I am planning to minor in arabic at the academy and i was just wondering.. how hard is the placement test? I really want to be able to learn arabic, and i really don't want the placement test holding me back. Is there even a way to prepare for it?
 
Honestly, there really isn't any way to prepare for it. It won't have any Arabic on it, so don't bother studying. Just try to stay awake for it in BCT
 
Yeah, I didn't understand the first half of the test, then fell asleep for the second half and had to randomly bubble in answers. That got me placed in Spanish, which is what I wanted. As Matt said, the key is to stay awake.
 
So, does everyone have to take a placement test during BCT? What weight do the results of this test have one the classes we will take?
Thanks,
Runningman2014
 
Speaking of language, I was just looking at the website and it says under the suggested courses

"•Two years of a modern foreign language including Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian or Spanish if possible all cadets at the Academy must take one of these seven languages"

I took latin freshman year and i'm taking it this year (sophomore). Do I need to take another 2 years of a modern language? I speak Polish fluently by the way..
 
No. The 100 level language courses here are for people who have no experience in that language.
 
Im going to do my best on the placement exam, but in worst case scenario i do bad and I get placed in Spanish (I hate spanish, I can't bring myself to learn it because it just doesn't interest me), is it possible to compromise and still take the language you want regardless?
 
Wait, if you fail the language test then you are placed in Spanish? What is this all about. I understand that Spanish is probably not a prioity language for the military, but why is it relegaded to those that have trouble earning a language?
 
First off, if you get placed in one of the "non-strategic" languages (Spanish, French, German, Portuguese) it is not a bad thing! Yes, the people that do better on the placement test get put in chinese, arabic, russian, etc.

I came into USAFA wanting Russian, but got put in Portuguese. And you know what? I absolutely love it. I loved it so much I'm majoring in Foreign Area Studies with two language minors.

Bottom line is, they put you where they want you. Just don't have a negative attitude about it like some here do...
 
Yeah you're lucky you didn't get Russian... I hate it. Wanted Arabic.
 
Chrissyjean is right about just keeping a positive attitude about whatever the Air Force decides that you will take. My son went in thinking he would like a strategic language like Russian. He had already had Spanish for 4 years in high school and wanted something new. Well, they put him in Spanish at the Academy. He validated high enough that he will graduate with a minor in Spanish with only taking 4 Spanish classes at USAFA. It wasn't what he originally planned, but he used to an advantage when it didn't work out the way that he had thought.

Stealth_81
 
Everyone has to take a language, at least 2 semesters worth. It is alot easier to convince them to move you up then move you down languages. I knew a lot of people that got french and convinced them to give them chinese or russian, but i wanted french and apparently did really well on the test and had to choose strategiv language. They wouldn't budge, since i had the ability to learn it, i had to take it.

If you want to "prepare" for the test, even though you really cant....

http://www.2lti.com/htm/Test_mlat.pdf

follow that link and there will be sample questions, in section 11 i think....
 
the language test is an apptitude test so you really can't study for it.
my son said it's a lot of non-sensical questions

I guess you could purposely blow it if you left blank answers, but I am not sure if that would be frowned upon

generally if you score well, they give you a choice of Russian, chinese or arabic

if you score poorly, then it's a romance language (spanish,french,portugese,etc)
 
The DLAB was hard for me - but if you are assigned to a difference language than one you already know, you can talk to your ac advisor and he/she can help you get into the right language. Just remember the DLAB isn't everything.
 
Besides the language proficiency test, what other tests do you take to determine what your classes will be?
 
Everyone will take the DLAB, which supposedly determines how capable you are of learning a new language, but you also have the option of taking a placement test of a specific language (do it). Score high on the DLAB, which for me was very hard, and you will be more likely to be put into a strategic language. So yes, "strategic" can be replaced with "really challenging". From what I know, getting into Spanish is not easy, because so many people have background in the language. But if you do have background in a language and they put you into something else, there's nothing wrong with trying to change it, especially a strategic language. I know I scored terrible on the DLAB, but since I took the placement test of a strategic language and validated the first year, then I was put into the language. So in summation, if you know a certain language, don't worry too much about the DLAB, and focus on the placement test.

If you want to minor in a language, you need to achieve the third year class of that language. So if you validate the first year of a language, you only need to take one year of language to fulfill your language requirement at USAFA, and two years to minor.
 
so is it a good idea to try to learn some arabic before i get to the academy? (If i wanted to minor in arabic)
 
Latin

For someone who took Latin for 4 years I'm not sure what language would be a good fit. Any suggestions?
 
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