Korean Headstart language program released

By DLIApril 21, 2009

MONTEREY, Calif. (Army News Service, April 22, 2009) - The Defense Language Institute has released a new computer-based Headstart language program in Korean.

The Korean Headstart program -- along with programs for five other languages: Chinese, Dari, Farsi, Iraqi and Pashtu -- can be downloaded by the public from the Institute's Web site at <a href="http://fieldsupport.lingnet.org/products/headstart/korean/index.html"target=_blank>Korean Headstart</a>. The materials are also available for download in the iPod version.

The DLI Foreign Language Center's Headstart programs are learning tools which incorporate 750 of the most commonly needed phrases by troops on the ground.

This 80-hour computer-based program uses human-to-avatar interaction, games, word scrambles, and other interactive exercises to draw the user into the learning program.

After completing the course, servicemembers should be able to hit the ground in a new country with enough survival language skills to communicate with the locals on familiar topics, according to DLI officials.

The DLI Foreign Language Center is the Department of Defense's premier language instruction facility and trains an average of 3,000 military linguists each year in 24 different languages, making it the largest language institute in the world.