PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. -- Language Day celebrates the diversity and accomplishments of the students within the languages they specialize in, and we would like to highlight a few members who took part in this year's Language Day.
Staff Sgt. Sydney Manning, 314th Training Squadron student
1. What is the language that you are studying and what have been some challenges that you have faced?
I am learning Korean, and I have been in the Korean school for just over 14 months of training, leaving only three months left. There have definitely been some challenges along the way, and I would say for me the biggest challenge would be burning out, because we are here for so long and are working so hard. The moments of success when your teacher gives you a thumbs up, or they tell you that you said that exactly like a native speaker would say it makes all of it worth it.
2. What does Language Day mean to you and what does it mean to you to see the participation of the local community?
As a student, when you go out into Monterey and people ask you what you do and you tell them that you are a student at the Defense Language Institute their response is overwhelmingly positive usually. People are so excited and proud of Presidio’s presence here at Monterey. To have Language Day where they can come and not only see it, but be a part of it makes it a great opportunity not only for the community but for us as well.
3. What are you doing for Language Day?
I am part of the fan dance team and we have been practicing for about six to eight weeks now. We practice every Saturday, and several days throughout the week we get together after school to learn the traditional fan dance movements, how to manipulate the fan, and how to make different shapes with our fans and this is all choreographed to music.
4. The style of teaching here is designed to be immersive, how do you feel that that has helped you excel?
The Korean school is actually tailored for the DLI, and I don’t think that I could reach this level on my own. The lessons and the way that they are laid out, from the very first lesson all the way up to the end, are laid out in a manner that builds upon what you learned before. It is absolutely ingeniously designed.
Airman 1st Class Emilee Kemmerer, 311th Training Squadron student
1. What is the language that you are studying and what have been some challenges that you have faced?
I study Levantine Arabic. It is a dialect that is spoken in Levant, mostly Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Israel. It has been quite a challenge coming from being a high school student that didn’t have too solid of a study habit, so coming into such a challenging school has been difficult, but all the helpful programs that are offered have been very beneficial in getting us on the right path for success.
2. What does Language Day mean to you and what does it mean to you to see the participation of the local community?
Language day is an incredible experience of a melting pot before your eyes. You will see 20 different languages being spoken around you and you don’t know who is speaking them or what languages they are. Having the ability for the community to come in and enjoy all of the hard work that goes into Language Day itself is pretty great to see. Getting them to see and get inspired by what we do means a lot, and who knows maybe one day they will want to become a linguist.
3. What are you doing for Language Day?
For language day our schoolhouse will be doing a dabke, which is a Lebanese folk dance, but ours has a bit of a modern twist on it. Hopefully everyone will enjoy it.
4. The style of teaching here is designed to be immersive, how do you feel that that has helped you excel?
I can guarantee that if I had learned from any other method I wouldn’t be at the level I am at today. I have been able to think in Arabic, dream in Arabic and listen to conversations of native speakers of Arabic and be able to understand what they are saying. It is unbelievable to see where we are at now due to that immersive style. It is pretty incredible the science that goes into our learning.