Immersion Language Office
The ILO works in collaboration with the Undergraduate Schools and the Directorate of Continuing Education to establish and maintain culturally based language training that builds on the high quality classroom instruction already offered by the Institute.
“Iso-immersion” is an abbreviated, government-wide, term used to describe foreign language training conducted in total isolation from the English language. An Iso-immersion event, as conducted at DLIFLC, is a one to three-day language training event, conducted off post exclusively in the target language. This event is intended to simulate real life situations and offer students the opportunity to apply their language skills while also experiencing the target culture.
The goal of the Iso-immersion course is to enhance the students learning experience by allowing them to interact in a more realistic environment than they are likely to encounter in the regular classroom. At the iso-immersion facility, students engage in simulations such as hiring interpreters to help American troops in the field, participate in resolving disputes over a traffic accident, or chose a location for a study-abroad program by calling travel agencies and schools over the telephone. The decision-making and consensus-building required for the successful completion of such tasks require the close cooperation by the students and full understanding of the subject matter, which ultimately causes them to process the target language on a more profound level.
Iso-immersions are now an integral part of the basic program curriculum in Arabic, Korean, Chinese, Persian Farsi, Russian and Spanish. At full implementation, each graduating class goes through three Immersion events during the course of their study: a 1-day, a 2-day and a 3-day event, in Semester I, II and III respectively.
An FTX event, as conducted at the DLIFLC, is a one to three-day language training event, conducted outside the classroom, exclusively in the target language, which simulates real life situations and offers students multiple opportunities to apply their language skills while also experiencing target culture. FTX events are conducted at DLIFLC’s Immersion Center on Ft. Ord, California.
FTXs are intended to enhance the students’ learning experience by providing them with the opportunities to use the 
language in a closer to real life situations than they are likely to do in the regular classroom. In a course of an FTX, the students engage in simulations such as hiring interpreters to help American troops in the field, resolving a traffic accident, choosing a location for a study abroad, or developing fund raising strategies for non-profit organizations in a target country, to name only a few. The decision making and consensus building needed for the successful completion of such tasks require students to interact and negotiate meaning, thus processing target language on a deeper level.
FTXs are an integral part of the Basic Program curriculum in Arabic, Korean, Chinese, Persian/Farsi, Russian and Spanish. At full implementation, each graduating class goes through three FTXs during the course of their study: a 1-day, a 2-day and a 3-day event in Semester I, II and III respectively. Over 2,000 students go through the FTX training each year.
Since 2005, some of the DLIFLC’s best performing students have had an opportunity to travel on three to six week long in-country (OCONUS) immersions. During in-country immersions students attend more than thirty hours per week of classroom language and culture study at the host institute and participate in daily out-of-class activities and weekly field trips and excursions.
So far, DLIFLC has conducted immersions in Egypt, Jordan, Korea, China, Russia, Ukraine, France, Costa Rica, Turkey, and the Philippines. Approximately 700 students go on an in-country immersion each year. Many of those students note that the in-country experience has been irreplaceable, both in terms of the language training and the cultural understanding that it has helped them gain.
The Future
The ILO is continually assessing new ways to enhance the FTX and OCONUS immersion experiences. By building on our successes, ILO is leading the way through innovation and growth within the program as immersion language training is fully incorporated into a central component of the professional military linguist’s training.
Contact
To get in touch with the Immersion Office please e-mail us through our CONTACT US PAGE.