1. Defense Language Institute The Czech Republic
With books many people can become learned even outside a school.
Without books nobody can be learned nor inside a school.
BILC May 14, 2012

2. Outline
Jan Amos Komenský
Teaching and learning linguistic pitfalls
Chain of Command of Language Centers
Educational and Training Center
Defense Language Institute (DLI)
DLI tasks and responsibilities
Organization
Language Department
Testing department

3. John Amos Comenius
Jan Amos Komenský
( )

4. Comenius occupies a place in education
JOHN AMOS COMENIUS
Comenius occupies a place in education
of commanding importance. He introduces
and dominates the whole modern movement
in the field of elementary and secondary
education.”
Nicholas Butler, Columbia University

5. During the 19th century Czech National Revival, Comenius became idealized as a symbol of the Czech nation.
28 March, the birthday of Comenius, is celebrated as Teachers' Day in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia .
A lot of schools were named after him. For example the Comenius University was founded in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, a primary school in Skopje, etc. Also, many educational programmes are named after him.

6. Some of Comenius works
Orbis Pictus ("The Visible World in Pictures")
Linguae Bohemicae thesaurus (Thesaurus of the Czech
language), 1612–1656
Grammaticae facilioris praecepta, 1614–1616
Janua Linguarum Reserata (The Gate of Tongues Unlocked),
1632
Didactica magna (The Great Didactic), 1633–1638
Didactica opera omnia (Writing on All Learning), 1657
Spicilegium Didacticum, 1680

7. Comenius teaching fundamental ideas
learning foreign languages through the vernacular;
obtaining ideas through objects rather than words;
starting with objects most familiar to the child to introduce
him to both the new language and the more remote world
of objects
giving the child a comprehensive knowledge of his
environment, physical and social, as well as instruction in
religious, moral, and classical subjects;
making this acquisition of a compendium of knowledge a
pleasure rather than a task;
making instruction universal.

8. From „The Great Didactic“
"What has to be done must be learned by practice. Artisans do not detain their apprentices with theories, but set them to do practical work at an early stage; thus they learn to forge by forging, to carve by carving, to paint by painting, and to dance by dancing. In schools, therefore, let the students learn to write by writing, to talk by talking, to sing by singing, and to reason by reasoning. In this way schools will become work-shops humming with work, and students whose efforts prove successful will experience the truth of the proverb: 'We give form to ourselves and to our materials at the same time.' Mechanics do not begin by drumming rules into their apprentices. They take them into the workshop and bid them to look at the work that has been produced, and then, when they wish to imitate this (for man is an imitative animal). They place tools in their hands and show them how they should be held and used. Then, if they make mistakes, they give them advice and correct them, often more by example than by mere words, and, as the facts show, the novices easily succeed in their imitation. No one has ever mastered any language or art by precept alone; while by practice this is possible, even without precept.

10. L I T E R A R Y C O L L O Q U I A L C O M M O N S L A N G J A R G O N
T A B O O
S L A N G

11. Different styles
Officialese The consumption of any nutriments whatsoever is categorically prohibited in this establishment. Official The consumption of nutriments is prohibited. Formal You are requested not to consume food in this establishment. Neutral Eating is not allowed here. Informal Please don´t eat here. Colloquial You can´t feed you face here. Slang Lay off the nosh. Taboo Lay off the fucking nosh.

12. VOCABULARY
What do you fry your eggs in? creeper, fryer, frying pan, fry pan, skillet, or spider
What do you call a soft drink? pop, soda, soda pop, or tonic?
Beg, beseech, entreat, implore, supplicate, importune, obtest…
Beware of the bull!
I think the elephant is a bull.
Well done! You´ve hit the bull´s eye.
Don´t give me all that bull.
You will just have to take the bull by the horns.
Stop acting like a bull in a china shop!
There was a bull market on stock exchange yesterday.

13. RUN A SKIRT
BIT OF SKIRT
SKIRT
NICE SKIRT
PIECE OF SKIRT
SKIRT AN ISSUE
LIGHT SKIRT
Table a Motion
Logistic support
Battle Captain
Round Robin Update
Flag officer
Shipment
Motion

14. Store visibly behind the windows after leaving this object return.
Uložte viditelně za okno. Při odjezdu z objektu vraťte.

15. Store visibly behind the windows after leaving this object return.
Pass must be visible through windshield. On departing the base return the pass to the security personnel at the gate.

16. DIALECTS and VARIETIESUS GB
Aus
In a New York City Park one guy turns to another guy and says, “Look at de boids.”
The other guy says, “Those aren’t ‘boids.’ They’re ‘birds.’”
The first guy says, “Cheez, dat’s funny, dey choip like boids.”
A guy wakes up, finds himself in a British hospital, and says, “Did I come here to die?” The Cokney nurse responds, “No, I think it was yesterdie.”
Why are Australians always happy when their mothers die? They always say “Mothers die” with a smile on their face.

17. HOMOPHONY and HOMONYMY
Mary had a little lamb She also had a bear I´ve often seen her little lamb But never seen her bear
Bridal
Bridle
Callous
Callus
Discreet
Discrete
Bear – animal
Bear – support
Bare - naked
Jet – stream of water
Jet – hard black soil
Jet – type of plane
Flair
Flare
Discreet
Discrete
Fleet – group of ships
Fleet – rapid

18. It would be nice to have a SOFA
ABBREVIATIONS
It would be nice to have a SOFA
Status of
Forces
Agreement OR

19. C3 – Command Control And Communication
C2 – Command And Control
C3 – Command Control And Communication
C3I – Command, Control, Communications, and
Intelligence
C4 – Command Control Communication and
Computers
C4IR – CommandControl Communication Computers
Intelligence And Recognition
C4 - Carrera 4 (Porsche 911 model)
C4 - Channel 4 (UK TV)
C4 –Middle C (piano keyboard)
C4 - Composition 4 (explosive)
C4 - Combat Casualty Care Course
C4 - Colonial Coin Collectors Club
C4 - Center for Clouds, Chemistry and Climate
C4 - Fourth-Generation Corvette (Chevrolet)

21. “Enemy sit. Aggressor forces in div strength holding MLR Hill 820
complex gc AT w/fwd elements est. bn strength junction
at gc AT (See Annex A, COMPHIBPAC intell summary
period ending 25 June)…
Mission: BLT 1/7 seize, hold and defend obj. A gc
Execution: BLT 1/7 land LZ X-RAY
AT at H-Hour …A co. GSF estab. LZ security
LZ X-Ray H minus 10… B co. advance axis BLUE H plus 5 estab.
blocking pos. vic gs AT … A, C, D cos.
Maneuver element commence advance axis Brown H plus 10 …
Bn tacnet freq 52.9 … shackle code
HAZTRCEGBD … div tacair dir. Air spt callsign PLAYBOY …
Mark friendly pos w/air panels or green smoke. Mark tgt. w/WP”
(Caputo, A Rumor of War 1996)

22. Enemy situation. Aggressor forces in division strength are holding the main
line of resistance at the Hill 820 complex located at grid coordinates
with forward elements estimated in battalion strength
at the road junction located at grid coordinates
(See Annex A, Pacific Amphibious Command intelligence summary for
the period ending 25 June).
Mission: Battalion Landing Team 1/7 will seize, hold and defend objective
A at grid coordinates
Execution: Battalion Landing Team 1/7 land at Landing Zone X-RAY at grid
coordinates at H-Hour (which is 06:00 on 31 June).
A company of the ground support force will establish landing zone security
at landing zone X-Ray at 05:50 on 31 June.
B Company will advance along axis Blue at 06:05 on 31 June
to establish blocking positions in the vicinity of grid coordinates
A, C, and D Companies: The maneuver element commence its advance along axis
Brown on 06:10 on 31 June. The battalion tactical network frequency is 52.9.
Radio shackle code will be HAZTRCEGBD. The division tactical air direction
and air support call sign will be PLAYBOY. Mark all friendly position with air
panels or green smoke. Mark targets (enemy positions) with white phosphorus.

23. Chain of command of Language Centers
MoD
General Staff
Personnel Division
Military Academy
Vyskov
Mil. Intel
Zatec
ETC
Chocerady
DLI
Vyskov
N. Defense University
Brno
Mil. High
School

24. Educational and Training Center Chocerady

27. LANGUAGE SECTION Languages Types of courses English French Intensive
Refresher
Combined

28. Crucial Features of Training Program
Six to seven 50-minute training units per day
Eight to ten students in each class
Native speaker 50-minute teaching unit per day (English SLP 3)
One mandatory lesson dedicated to listening practice in the language laboratories per day
Lessons conducted exclusively in the target language

29. Defense Language Institute
“Learning is like rowing upstream:
not to advance is to drop back.”
Chinese Proverb

30. Mission statement of DLI
The Mission of the Defense Language Institute
is to ensure sufficiently trained and ready personnel are available
to meet the foreign language skill requirements
of the Ministry of Defense
and the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic.

31. DLI Tasks Responsibilities and Activities
The Czech DLI is an educational facility, the aim of which is to fulfill, flexibly,
pragmatically and in the needed quality and quantities, the tasks in the field of
language education as required by the Czech Armed Forces in accordance with its biding
standards (STANAG 6001).
Running foreign language courses as ordered by MoD
Testing in accordance with STANAG 6001
Methodological supervision of language centers in the Czech military
Representation in BILC - NATO
Teaching in ad-hoc language courses to prepare personnel for positions
in NATO/EU and the UN
Publishing, standard-setting, methodological, conceptual and other activities
Teaching Czech language for NATO and PfP personnel
Methodological supervision of language centers
Holding language conferences for managers in the field of language education
Organizing special seminars
Accreditation of examiners testing foreign languages
Validation of certificates obtained abroad at language institutes
Keeping the military-wide database of test results

32. Organizational Structure
Office of the Commander
Methodology and Testing Department
Teaching
Department
Organizational Branch
Germanic
Branch
English
Testing Br.
Other Lang.
Branch – Int.
Other Lang.
Testing Br.
Prague, Brno
Vyškov

33. DLI 2003 - 2011: Faculty and Staff
Sedlec - Vícenice
Liberec
Translators
Čáslav
Žatec
85  64
Prague Program
SAC Prague
Vyškov
Brno
Olomouc

34. LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT Languages Types of courses English French German
Russian
Arabic
Czech
Intensive
Refresher
Combined
Terminological
Specialized (NATO)

35. Crucial Features of the DLI Language Training Program
Six to seven 50-minute training units per day
Eight to ten students in each class
Native speaker 50-minute teaching unit per day (English SLP 3)
One mandatory lesson dedicated to listening practice in the language laboratories per day
Use of authentic materials in the target language
Lessons conducted exclusively in the target language
Curriculum input from language training specialists from military language centers abroad (primarily DLIELC, Texas).
Strong emphasis on student participation and motivation
Instructors who apply a highly communicative approach

36. Number of DLI students Jan/Feb 2012 – English language
Type of Course
Level
Number of Courses
No. of students
Intensive
SLP 2 4 35
SLP 3 6 47
Refresher 2 19 14
Terminological - 18
Combined 1 10
TOTAL 25
144 36 36

37. Number of Students

38. Language Training Department activities
A-report: Military English
We are in the Army
On the Battlefield
Modern Military Weapons
Building a Secure and
Peaceful World
Top Stories
High in the Sky

39. 39

42. Testing and Methodology Department
Testing department is responsible for test development and testing military and civilian personnel according to STANAG 6001 and is responsible for the following:
Standardizing test forms for all languages tested
Issuing testing rules
Tests English, French, German, Russian, and Arabic languages
Czech, Italian, Spanish, Hungarian, Albanian, Serbian, Persian, Pashtu, Mandarin Chinese, Polish, and Romanian languages

43. Testing and Methodology Department activities
Introduced bi-level testing
Introduced language skill
levels re-testing
Introduced plus levels
BAT – project
Multilevel tests
Computer assisted testing
Computer adaptive testing

44. 2982 Candidates tested – 2011 Language SLP 1 SLP 2 SLP 3 Total English
608
1276
452
2336
Skills x
196
126
322
Other languages
202 74 34
310 12 2 14
810
1558
614
2982

45. Thank you for your attention

46. Other sources related to Comenius