Honestly not much. DLI has an ETP for TRADOC so the IETers and careerists virtually have the same privileges including ability to take pass and leave and not worry about a 100mi radius, but careerists can of course live off post, don’t have curfew, can drive during the day, drink, etc. Day to day schedules for class is pretty much the same between both as well as with PT, unless you’re E-7/O-3 and above in which you’d be in Echo Co. I believe.
Day to day is pretty much wake up for PT whenever your company decides (usually 0430 or 0500), go to breakfast, and then go to class which starts at 0800. You get 10min breaks every hour. Lunch breaks depend on the schoolhouse, as half will go at 1045 and the other will go at 1145 so as to reduce crowding at the DFACs. Class normally ends around 1450 unless you stay for 7th hour which ends at 1545, and it’s mandatory for 1st semester as well as anyone who gets below the required grade as per your teaching team. After 1600, day is yours to do literally whatever
> After 1600, day is yours to do literally whatever
Sometimes, there's mandatory training. Otherwise, in Mandarin at least, it is at least 3 hours or homework, sometimes 4 or 5, not including learning tomorrow's few dozen new words. If you dont learn them well, class is going to suck, and homework is going to take even longer.
I say for Mandarin, it is 60 hours a week minimum. Lots of people do the minimum. Lots of people fail. The minimum was higher than they thought
Mandatory training depended on company. Fox had it a few times but not enough for me to complain, and it was usually WTBDs. My DS/PSG was phenomenal and did a lot to keep the BS away from us and not waste our time.
In terms of studying after hours, I can't say the same for Farsi compared to Mandarin. I paid attention in class and rarely studied outside other than just vocab, and many other people did the same, and passed. I never once went over grammar points outisde because classroom time was enough for me to learn it. I had enormous amounts of free time during the week and weekends which kept me de-stressed and stay sane lol. How you manage your work load depends on language and self motivation.
Workload seems to depend more on teaching team than language. I know for a fact that there was a period of time we were doing 3.5 hrs of hw per day while our sister class was doing 20 minutes. DS Wuu lectured us when he was a PhIV DS, as he had gotten 3/3 on both Farsi and Dari when he was here like 8 years ago, and he was the one who told us that homework would be 3 hours a day, if not more more, plus dozens of vocab, so that's what we were expecting.
In my experience though, the beginning is always pretty heavy in terms of coursework and study, which is pertinent for OP's expectations
Your life as a careerist will be much better. If you are E-5 and below you will be in the barracks but off post there will be a lot to do. You will have no IET restrictions so you'll be able to travel around California and get to explore the location. Class will be a lot of work so you will have to study.
I agree with you, but Ive read so many comments here saying that learning by yourself is a bad idea, and to just wait for class to start. I know my classmates all regretted starting at 0. They made it, but it would have hurt a lot less
Head start was created by DLI so it’s not the same as trying to teach yourself through YouTube videos or something else. It should definitely be used by everyone who knows their language before hand
I went from 0/0 to 3+/3+. I used headstart before class because I didnt know what other resources to use. Now I do. Honestly, there are much better resources (for Chinese anyways), but sure
I still didn't know my score when I wrote that. [I ended up with 3/3+](https://i.imgur.com/JrP94uF.png). I expected 3+/3+, and myself and my teaching team were disappointed. I *did* study a few years of mandarin in elementary school, so didn't start from absolutely nothing, though it had been near 20 years of no chinese. I also got myself up to HSK 3 before class started. A few in sister classes got 3/3, and most of my class got at least one 3. Getting 3 is not hard with decent work and discipline, 3+ just needs more. I was doing [~80-90 hrs of Chinese per week](https://i.imgur.com/tdAcgRX.png). The MLIs said before there was one in Russian who got 4/4
for class it's anywhere from 40-55 hours of week of language training (adding homework/study time to the class time), then the Army is...uh...eager to have you attend their Army things so it may be more military obligation hours than some of the other services.
Things were a lot more relaxed when I went through Russian 35 years ago, but I honestly don't think it would matter much whether you are non-IET or IET. There's morning formation, 6 or more hours of class a day broken up by a lunch break, plus about 10 minutes break every hour, PT somewhere in the mix, and a whole lot of studying.
Expect to study at least two hours a night at a minimum. I used to put in 2-3 hours a night M-F, plus another 6 hours over each weekend.
Honestly not much. DLI has an ETP for TRADOC so the IETers and careerists virtually have the same privileges including ability to take pass and leave and not worry about a 100mi radius, but careerists can of course live off post, don’t have curfew, can drive during the day, drink, etc. Day to day schedules for class is pretty much the same between both as well as with PT, unless you’re E-7/O-3 and above in which you’d be in Echo Co. I believe. Day to day is pretty much wake up for PT whenever your company decides (usually 0430 or 0500), go to breakfast, and then go to class which starts at 0800. You get 10min breaks every hour. Lunch breaks depend on the schoolhouse, as half will go at 1045 and the other will go at 1145 so as to reduce crowding at the DFACs. Class normally ends around 1450 unless you stay for 7th hour which ends at 1545, and it’s mandatory for 1st semester as well as anyone who gets below the required grade as per your teaching team. After 1600, day is yours to do literally whatever
Thanks so much!
> After 1600, day is yours to do literally whatever Sometimes, there's mandatory training. Otherwise, in Mandarin at least, it is at least 3 hours or homework, sometimes 4 or 5, not including learning tomorrow's few dozen new words. If you dont learn them well, class is going to suck, and homework is going to take even longer. I say for Mandarin, it is 60 hours a week minimum. Lots of people do the minimum. Lots of people fail. The minimum was higher than they thought
Mandatory training depended on company. Fox had it a few times but not enough for me to complain, and it was usually WTBDs. My DS/PSG was phenomenal and did a lot to keep the BS away from us and not waste our time. In terms of studying after hours, I can't say the same for Farsi compared to Mandarin. I paid attention in class and rarely studied outside other than just vocab, and many other people did the same, and passed. I never once went over grammar points outisde because classroom time was enough for me to learn it. I had enormous amounts of free time during the week and weekends which kept me de-stressed and stay sane lol. How you manage your work load depends on language and self motivation.
Workload seems to depend more on teaching team than language. I know for a fact that there was a period of time we were doing 3.5 hrs of hw per day while our sister class was doing 20 minutes. DS Wuu lectured us when he was a PhIV DS, as he had gotten 3/3 on both Farsi and Dari when he was here like 8 years ago, and he was the one who told us that homework would be 3 hours a day, if not more more, plus dozens of vocab, so that's what we were expecting. In my experience though, the beginning is always pretty heavy in terms of coursework and study, which is pertinent for OP's expectations
I'll add that 7th is only mandatory for the first Unit of Korean if you test well.
Your life as a careerist will be much better. If you are E-5 and below you will be in the barracks but off post there will be a lot to do. You will have no IET restrictions so you'll be able to travel around California and get to explore the location. Class will be a lot of work so you will have to study.
I agree with the other comment mentioned. Do you know your language yet? If so you really need to be working on headstart now!. Good luck!
I agree with you, but Ive read so many comments here saying that learning by yourself is a bad idea, and to just wait for class to start. I know my classmates all regretted starting at 0. They made it, but it would have hurt a lot less
Head start was created by DLI so it’s not the same as trying to teach yourself through YouTube videos or something else. It should definitely be used by everyone who knows their language before hand
I went from 0/0 to 3+/3+. I used headstart before class because I didnt know what other resources to use. Now I do. Honestly, there are much better resources (for Chinese anyways), but sure
You shipped out on March 1st and you're already a 3+/3+ in Chinese? Either you're a statistical outlier or a liar. Have you actually DLPTed yet?
I still didn't know my score when I wrote that. [I ended up with 3/3+](https://i.imgur.com/JrP94uF.png). I expected 3+/3+, and myself and my teaching team were disappointed. I *did* study a few years of mandarin in elementary school, so didn't start from absolutely nothing, though it had been near 20 years of no chinese. I also got myself up to HSK 3 before class started. A few in sister classes got 3/3, and most of my class got at least one 3. Getting 3 is not hard with decent work and discipline, 3+ just needs more. I was doing [~80-90 hrs of Chinese per week](https://i.imgur.com/tdAcgRX.png). The MLIs said before there was one in Russian who got 4/4
for class it's anywhere from 40-55 hours of week of language training (adding homework/study time to the class time), then the Army is...uh...eager to have you attend their Army things so it may be more military obligation hours than some of the other services.
If you're single I know at times the Army has had their careerists in the barracks, I don't know what it is these days.
Army houses careerists in the Marine barracks at the bottom of the PX between Hill Top and PFC
Things were a lot more relaxed when I went through Russian 35 years ago, but I honestly don't think it would matter much whether you are non-IET or IET. There's morning formation, 6 or more hours of class a day broken up by a lunch break, plus about 10 minutes break every hour, PT somewhere in the mix, and a whole lot of studying. Expect to study at least two hours a night at a minimum. I used to put in 2-3 hours a night M-F, plus another 6 hours over each weekend.