Precerpt from My 20th Language: L6 German - Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center
DLIFLC Although the Defense Language Institute teaches German, I did not interact with the German faculty while there as a student in the 1970s. I did, however, elect to take the proficiency test, relying on my high school and university coursework (and, of course, German House). Apparently, that study met the gold standard: I scored 3/3, professional level proficiency, and the highest score allotted to non-native speakers at that time. Thirteen years later, I returned to the DLIFLC as Dean of the Slavic School and later served as Dean of the School of Central European Languages, of which German was one. So, I had the chance to revive rusty German through daily interactions with the faculty, as well as on an individual study basis thanks to one of the instructors kind enough to work with me an hour a week (that was actually enough to foster improved skills) on conversation and literary skills. DLIFLC also provided the first opportunity for me to actually plop down in...