The Defense Language Aptitude Battery (DLAB) is a test used by the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...

to test an individual's potential for learning a foreign language and thus determine who may pursue training as a military linguist. It consists of 126 multiple-choice questions, and the test is scored out of a possible 164 points. The test is composed of five audio sections and one visual section. As of 2009, the test is completely web-based. The test does not attempt to gauge a person's fluency in a given language but rather to determine their ability to learn a language. The test will give the service member examples of what a selection of words or a portion of a word means, then ask the test taker to create a specific word from the samples given. Preparation for the DLAB includes a number of study guides and practice tests. These resources give one the appropriate means by which to prepare for the test and gauge a possible outcome. However, a study guide for the DLAB is not like traditional studying - one will not learn content that will be on the DLAB, but rather the style of the DLAB. Someone who fails the test or gets a low score can always retake the DLAB, but only after a wait of 6 months. For most service members, this is too long and will cause them to miss the deadline for submitting their scores. Adequate preparation is thus a near-necessity. The languages are broken into tiers based on their difficulty level for a native English speaker as determined by the

Defense Language Institute The Defense Language Institute (DLI) is a United States Department of Defense (DoD) educational and research institution consisting of two separate entities which provide linguistic and cultural instruction to the Department of Defense, other f ...

. The category into which a language is placed also determines the length of its basic course as taught at DLI. To qualify to pursue training in a language, one needs a minimum score of 95. The

Marines Marines (or naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included Raid (military), raiding ashor ...

will waive it to 90 for Cat I and Cat II languages, and the

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

will waive it to 85 for Cat I languages, 90 for Cat II languages, and 95 for Cat III languages. The

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

does not currently offer a waiver and requires all applicants to qualify for Cat IV languages, requiring a 110 or better. The Army National Guard is able to waive a score of 90 into a Cat. IV language. The DLAB is typically administered to new and prospective recruits at the

United States Military Entrance Processing Command The United States Military Entrance Processing Command (USMEPCOM) is a Major Command of the United States Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Defense. The organization screens and processes Enlisted rank, enlisted recruits into the Unit ...

sometime after the

Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) is a multiple choice test, administered by the United States Military Entrance Processing Command, used to determine qualification for enlistment in the United States Armed Forces. It is ...

(ASVAB) is taken but before a final job category (NEC, MOS, AFSC) is determined. Individuals may usually take the DLAB if they score high enough on the ASVAB for linguist training and are interested in doing so. The DLAB is also administered to ROTC cadets while they still attend college. The DLAB was also used for the

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the Armed forces, military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia and its national interests. It consists of three branches: the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army and the Royal Aus ...

from 1998 to 2013. The DLAB is a required test for officers looking to either join the Foreign Area Officer program or

the Olmsted Scholar Program The Olmsted Scholar Program, named after George H. Olmsted, awards scholarships to highly qualified, active duty junior officers in the United States military in order to pursue language studies and overseas graduate-level education. Created in con ...

. The required grade for these programs is 105, but the recommended grade is at least 122 or above. Military personnel interested in retraining into a linguist field typically also must pass the DLAB. In a few select cases, the DLAB requirement may be waived if proficiency in a foreign language is already demonstrated via the DLPT.

Language categories

*Category I language: 95 or higher ( Dutch, French,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, Norwegian, Portuguese,

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

) *Category II language: 100 or higher (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, Indonesian, Malay, Romanian) *Category III language: 105 or higher (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

, Kurdish nowiki/>Kurmanji, Sorani">Kurmanji.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Kurmanji">nowiki/>Kurmanji, Sorani], Persian Farsi, Persian [Dari language, Dari, Iranian Persian, Iranian], Punjabi language, Punjabi, Russian language, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Tagalog language, Tagalog, Thai language, Thai, Turkish,

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

, Uzbek) *Category IV language: 110 or higher (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

Modern Standard,

Iraqi, Levantine Arabic">Levantine, Egyptian Arabic">Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...

], Chinese [Standard Mandarin, Mandarin], Japanese language, Japanese, Korean language, Korean, Pashto language, Pashto) While these scores are required to enter a language program of that category, often placement is based upon ''need'' rather than ''score''. For example, a

service member Military personnel or military service members are members of the state's armed forces. Their roles, pay, and obligations differ according to their military branch (army, navy, marines, coast guard, air force, and space force), rank ( office ...

who receives a score of 115 (good enough for Category IV) may be placed in Russian (Category III). Previously, the maximum score on the DLAB was 176, but as of 2016 has been lowered to 164. As of 2010, Category I languages had 26 weeks of study, Cat II had 35 weeks, Cat III had 48 weeks, and Cat IV had 64 weeks. By 2022, Cat I and II had 36 weeks of courses, Cat III had 48 weeks, and Cat IV had 64 weeks.

Language categories

See also

References

Further reading