Over sixty years ago, the threat of war highlighted the need in the Armed Forces of the United States for educated and capable linguists to protect American national interests worldwide. The school was founded in 1941 to produce those linguists and continues to operate today as the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) at the Presidio of Monterey, California—the largest and finest foreign language institute in the world. Today the Institute’s student output dwarfs that of any other in the nation and it consistently educates its students to the highest standards of foreign language proficiency. The DLIFLC’s current students follow the trail blazed by the more than 160,000 graduates before them, who have served their country well in critical and often exciting assignments around the globe.
At the heart of the DLIFLC mission is the quality foreign language programs, where striving for excellence never ceases. On most days, the Institute conducts over 15,400 hours of foreign language instruction. The superb instructor force is continually adapting new materials and technologies for use in the classroom. Satellite technology provides current foreign language news programs 24 hours a day, from 20 different countries. These programs are used in the classroom as learning tools and are available in all military living areas in Monterey. DLIFLC instructors are also developing interactive Computer Assisted Study programs to incorporate authentic audio and video materials in learning exercises. The academic library holds over 90,000 foreign language books and subscribes to scores of foreign language newspapers. Although many of the DLIFLC’s classes are held in historic buildings on the Presidio of Monterey, the Institute also has some of the most modern academic, housing, and sports facilities anywhere. The DLIFLC is fully accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and grants an Associate of Arts degree in Foreign Language. If the DLIFLC graduate wishes to pursue a degree from another institution, upon completion of any basic program, DLIFLC graduates earn 45 semester hours of college credit.
The DLIFLC also provides foreign language sustainment to military linguists stationed worldwide. In addition to providing educational materials and advice, the Institute conducts continuing education via a satellite-linked, fully-interactive video teletraining network. The DLIFLC is also the home of the Department of Defense’s foreign language proficiency testing headquarters as well as the military’s
foremost group of researchers in foreign language education.
Over six decades of quality foreign language instruction place the DLIFLC at the forefront of foreign language education in both the nation and the world. But being the best has not bred complacency; the pace of change in world events requires constant evolution on the DLIFLC’s part. The Institute is not standing still; it is changing with the times in the post-Cold War era to provide even more effective foreign language products in support of Department of Defense worldwide requirements. Founded in the shadow of war, the Institute today continues to support the quest for peace through readiness. The DLIFLC’s reputation for excellence is based on its firm commitment to maintaining the highest possible standards of foreign language education.