An officer or enlisted member of the Armed Forces of the United States who is entitled to basic pay, that has been certified within the past 12 months (or 12 months plus 180 days when called or recalled to active duty in support of a contingency operation) to be proficient in a foreign language, and meets one of the following conditions:

• Be qualified in a career military linguist specialty (career linguist) as defined by the Secretary of the Military Department concerned.
• Have received training under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Military Department concerned designated to develop such proficiency.
• Be assigned to military duties requiring such proficiency.
• Be proficient in a foreign language for which the Secretary of the Military Department concerned has identified a critical need.

Note that written AND spoken ability must be certified. Also, usually your language must be "critical." Do not expect that just because you took a few years of a language in high school that you will be able to pass the language tests. Members in a non-career linguist MOS may receive FLPP, but at reduced rates.

Reserve members called to active duty, active duty for training, and inactive duty training who are entitled to basic pay and meet the qualifications above, may receive a FLPP. The Secretary of the Military Department shall:

• Annually certify member's level of proficiency, and
• During the 180-day waiver of the proficiency certification requirement, authorize continuing payment of FLPP to eligible members assigned to duty in connection with a contingency operation.

Foreign language proficiency pay may be paid in addition to other pay and allowances to which a member may be entitled.

The maximum monthly pay for active-duty servicemembers who are proficient in another language ranges from $300 to $1,000. FLPP is capped at $500 a month for members of the National Guard and Reserve.

The Department of Defense uses the Defense Language Proficiency Test (DLPT), Defense Language Aptitude Battery (DLAB), and the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) to determine foreign language proficiency.

Defense Language Proficiency Test (DLPT)

Testing is given to soldiers who have received foreign language training at DLI, have knowledge of a foreign language as a result of civilian education, residence in a foreign country, home environment, or whose records indicate previous language study.

Depending on the Language tested on and the score achieved (must be a 2, 2+, or 3), soldiers may receive Foreign Language Proficiency Pay (FLPP) added to their pay check each month. Soldiers receiving FLPP pay must retest annually in order to continue to receive the extra pay.

The following 42 DLPT languages are currently available:
Albanian, Arabic, Bulgarian, Burmese, Cambodian, Chinese-Amoy, Cantonese, Chinese-Mandarin, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch-Flemish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Lao, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese-Brazilian, Portuguese-European, Romanian, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Slovenian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, and Yiddish.

The Defense Language Reading Proficiency Tests (DLRPT) are available in the following languages:
Amharic, Haitian-Creole, Hausa or Hindi.

The Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) is given, by the Defense Foreign Institute, Foreign Language Center (DIFIFLC), for languages not covered by the DLRPTs or the DLPTs.

Defense Language Aptitude Battery (DLAB)

This test evaluates the aptitude of Soldiers for language training to learn a language in one of four levels of difficulty categories. Soldiers who pass the test the first time may not retest. Those who do not pass the first time may retest after the six-month wait period. First and second retests may be given with commander’s approval. A third and final retest must be granted by an exception to policy by the APT program manager.

Minimum passing score: 95
Maximum score: 164

• Category I – 95: French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish
• Category I – 100: German
• Category III – 105: Greek, Hebrew, Moro, Persian-Farsi, Persian-Afghan, Afghan, Russian, Serbian/Croatian, Tagalog, Thai, Turkish, Uzbek, and Vietnamese
• Category IV- 110: Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean

If you pass the DLAB, you are eligible to attend a foreign language at the Defense Language Institute Foreign  Language Center (DLIFLC).
Study Hints:

• Have a very clear understanding of English grammar. You will need to know all parts of speech and how they work. Understand how English sentences are constructed (i.e. Subject-Verb-Object).
• Be able to recognize accentuation and stress patterns in words. Know where syllable breaks are in words.

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