By Pte Simone Heyer Specialist Units Reporter

ARMY’S 2003 Language Aptitude Test (LAT) crew is preparing to tour major military areas to assess willing participants in their capacity to study languages by the military method of teaching.

Members sit an aural examination, run by AAPsych, that has various components.

Tests are marked immediately and members receive their results within hours of completion.

Members receive an aptitude category rating between one and four, which determines what languages they are best-suited to studying.

Category one languages offered at ADF Langs include Portuguese, French and Pidgin, category two includes Indonesian and Malay, category three includes Persian, Vietnamese and Thai, category four includes Arabic, Japanese and Chinese.
The ADF School of Languages, based at RAAF Base Williams – Laverton, offers languages that are currently or will be of use to the ADF.

ADF Langs requires a LAT for Japanese, French, Mandarin, Khmer, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Thai, Korean, Malay, Indonesian, Arabic and Persian Farsi.

The itinerary for testing is:
May 19 – Sydney
May 20 – Canberra
May 21 – Melbourne
May 23 – Adelaide
May 26 – Perth
May 28 – Darwin
May 30 – Townsville
June 3 – Enoggera

LAT is open to any rank of any corps and is a prerequisite for year-long ADF Langs courses.
Nominations should be made to Manager Languages – Army, Bob Tyne on (07) 5541 6305 or Cpl Harry Bromage on (07) 5541 6307, at DIntTC, Canungra. Nominations by signal to INTCENTRE CANUNGRA, or by e-mail to harry.bromage@defence.gov.au, or fax (07) 5541 6319.

Nominations close 10 working days before venue’s test date.

.