Foreign Language at West Point

jps7892

5-Year Member
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Jan 4, 2010
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I have looked through the catalog but couldn't necessarily find any concrete information on this (or probably looked it over). Do cadets not majoring in a foreign language still take many foreign language classes? I will most likely major in an engineering field if that changes things. I've taken Spanish 1-3 at my high school and am not very interested in it for some reason and already have a decent understanding of it. Would it be more helpful to know another language such as Arabic, Russian, Korean, etc. than Spanish? I would want my choice to be the best for my military career. Any info/suggestions?

Thanks everyone
 
Spanish could be very useful as a platoon leader, but many cadets take Arabic to prepare for where we are fighting. I believe that our officers also get additional language instruction after commissioning.
 
Every cadet takes a foreign language while at West Point. You will be tested during Beast. Engineering majors must take two semesters and all other majors must take at least 4 semesters.
After they test you - they will tell you what language you will take and when you will take it.
Here is the link to the foreign language dept:
http://www.dean.usma.edu/departments/dfl/
 
You get to rank your preferences and then they let you know which language you get.
 
Engineering majors must take two semesters and all other majors must take at least 4 semesters.
After they test you - they will tell you what language you will take and when you will take it.

Dang it...:thumbdown:
 
Yes, you rank your preferences. What you get all depends on your FL experience and talent.
 
You get to rank your preferences and then they let you know which language you get.
Or to put it another way:

You get to rank your preferences and then they let you know which language you actually wanted.:wink:
 
Would it be possible to take two foreign languages in lieu of a different elective?
 
Are cadets put in the language they are most proficient in, or instead are they put in a different language to diversify skills?
 
You will take a test in the language you took in HS...if you score high enough, you will be allowed to continue in it...if not, you will be selected for another language, based on the needs of the Army. You will be able to submit choices.
 
So if I took classical Greek and Latin I'm basically going to have to take a new language because they (maybe not so much Greek) are useless now?
 
The languages offered at West Point are:
Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Persian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish
 
BAJohnson: that would be a yes...but you obviously have a knack for language study...so pick something you are interested in and hope for the best.
 
My Plebe took 4 years of Latin in HS. When they took the language test during Beast his was more of a language aptitude test. He had to figure out parts of speech of an obscure language. Now, I don't know if that was because he had Latin or if everyone was given that test no matter what language they took in HS.
 
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My plebe said the language test he took during Beast was also a made up language.................sounds like they are looking for aptitude. He says he is scheduled for Persian.
 
Here's a link to a sample test/study program someone posted on the AF boards. My guess would be that it's the same test. Apparently the way it works at AF is if you do well enough on the test you get placed into the harder languages (Chinese, Russian, Arabic). If you don't, you get placed into the easier languages (French, Spanish). Since my son hates languages and struggles in them, we looked over the practice questions to see where his strengths and weaknesses would be (hint - he really doesn't want to do well on the test! :wink: ).

http://www.2lti.com/htm/Test_mlat.pdf
 
i looked at some of the sample Q's from that test and, HOLY CRAP!!! that thing is confusing as all get out! :yllol:
 
My Plebe took 4 years of Latin in HS. When they took the language test during Beast his was more of a language aptitude test. He had to figure out parts of speech of an obscure language. Now, I don't know if that was because he had Latin or if everyone was given that test no matter what language they took in HS.

I'm the president of my school's Latin Honors Society. While Latin may not be useful for a language placement test, I can certainly vouch that knowing it helps you master other languages.
 
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