DLI Lingo

Getting to know our students by DLIFLC

This is your chance to meet some of the Foreign Area Officers attending DLIFLC.

Getting to know your MLIs by DLIFLC

Getting to know your instructors by DLIFLC

There's been a lot of turnover in the front office over the last year. Here is your chance to get to know DLIFLC's newest command group in this conversational podcast that takes you from books vs movies to worst jobs, bell bottoms and floppy disks.

One of the most important aspects of resiliency when you are hit with curveballs in life is being able to get back up and keep moving. It’s not an easy habit to develop in this technologically advanced world, when it seems like the only effort involves a three-minute musical montage in a movie or video and suddenly you’re on the other side of the challenge.

In a world where big ideals like “mission” and “battle buddy” are your career, it is a challenge to take time for yourself. That thought might even be accompanied by guilt, because the core values of your branch simply don’t mention self-care in the list of priorities. But as the saying goes, you have to put your mask on first before you can help someone else with their mask. From hitting golf balls to fixing up cars to better sleep, listen in as several past and present DLIFLC students share how they have learned to take care of themselves. To learn more about Dr. Nita Shattuck and her work, go to https://faculty.nps.edu/nlshattuck/ Sleep is your Super Power: a TedTalk by Matthew Shepherd https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20201123-the-psychology-behind-revenge-bedtime-procrastination Revenge Sleep Procrastination, BBC: https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20201123-the-psychology-behind-revenge-bedtime-procrastination

Science tells us that community, or positive relationships, helps get us through when times are tough. But what does that look like? The Marine Corps Detachment senior enlisted leader, Master Gunnery Sgt. Willy Pascua, has some great insights into how his Marines have weathered the pandemic. He says they make resiliency an everyday practice. Articles referenced in the podcast: NPS research helps Navy build more resilient sailor teams https://nps.edu/-/true-grit-nps-research-helps-navy-build-more-resilient-sailors-teams Pandemic's emotional hammer hits hard https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/09/02/908551297/pandemics-emotional-hammer-hits-hard Four ways social support makes you more resilient https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/four_ways_social_support_makes_you_more_resilient Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance https://www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_grit_the_power_of_passion_and_perseverance?language=en

Coming out of 2020, resiliency is THE buzzword. But what does it mean? And more importantly, how can you apply it when your world has gone crazy? Courage in the Arena, the first in a series of four episodes, explores how one former DLIFLC student developed grit and determination to make it through the Institute as a young Soldier and then used those learned skills later in his career as a SERE instructor.

There's an old Czech proverb that says, “Those who know many languages live as many lives as the languages they know." Our instructors embody that proverb, none more than Persian Farsi faculty Ali Ghassemi. Listen to his story in our final podcast of the series, "A Hero's Journey: Instructor Edition."

Sometimes learning a new language comes down to what motivates you. For Spanish instructor Lucia Artacho, it was, as she describes it, "dancy" music that helped her.

The effects of poverty on education are well-documented. But because education is one of the few ways out of poverty, it leads to a cycle that is difficult to break. For Edward Wang, a Chinese Mandarin instructor at DLIFLC, it was one he knew well, thanks to the extremely poor and rural area where he was born and raised. It was a cycle his mother was determined to break for her children.

Baghdad wasn't always a war-torn city. To hear native-born Atoor Lawandow tell it, the Iraqi city is the center of the world. For more about Baghdad and how Atoor's journey brought her to Monterey, listen to the latest episode in our podcast, DLIFLC Lingo.

Kamola Umarova was born and raised in Uzbekistan, speaking both Uzbek and Russian with her family. A former Army linguist herself, Kamola talks about life before and after the Soviet Union, and what brought her to DLIFLC.

Curtis Powell is part of the 5% of instructors at DLIFLC who aren't native speakers. That means Curtis is so good at his second language that he can teach others to speak it at a high proficiency. From Maryland to Seoul, South Korea to DLIFLC, listen as Curtis tells his story.

In 1985, Lana Al Mudhaffar and her family moved from the peace of northern England to a war zone in Basra, Iraq. Over 30 years later, Lana shares her experiences living in Iraq and the journey that led her to DLIFLC.

30 years ago this December, Ceausescu's brutal regime abruptly ended in a public execution. Two-time DLIFLC graduate Branko Marinovich was a foreign area officer with the embassy at the time of revolution.

When the Navy called for a Persian Farsi linguist to deploy to the Persian Gulf and cover the Iranian revolution in late 1979, the only options Tom Chesno had to offer were three Airmen who had just finished their schooling. This is their story.

On the outset of the Iranian Revolution of 1978/1979, there were only a few Persian Farsi military linguists ready to jump into action. Michael Ruhm, Michael Sherman and Don Huntington, recent graduates of Persian Farsi, were working for Tom Chesno, when the embassy hostage crisis began.

As if it being a military linguist wasn't challenge enough, Sgt. First Class Matthew Peterson took it a step further by becoming an Army Ranger. Now he's back at DLIFLC for a third round, this time as a Military Language Instructor, passing on his Pashto knowledge and experiences in Afghanistan.

John Sullivan served 4 years in the Army as a Russian linguist in the late 70s and early 80s, a time when the Soviet Union was alive and well and very active. Some of the historical events John brushed up against back then still reverberate today.

Jerry Spivey and Vinnie Zinck began their Army careers during the Vietnam era. Back then, the draft was alive and well, their unofficial title was "lingies," and Asian languages were a hot commodity. This is their podumentary.

Henry Klaput didn't start his military career with plans to become a linguist. It wasn't until 1961 that Henry found himself stationed in Berlin, freshly graduated from DLIFLC. Here is one man's account of life as a Russian interpreter at Checkpoint Charlie when the Wall went up.