The need for communication between the army in question and members of foreign communities who may not speak the same language as the army members led to the creation of the position of army linguist. People who serve in a military unit are usually drawn from the local community where they were born, and the majority of them may only speak the local languages. The army must be able to communicate with people who speak other languages, which is especially important when they are on missions in other countries. This is where an army linguist comes in handy, as they can help with communication through interpretation and other tasks such as translating from one language to another.
When it comes to interpretation, the army linguist will be able to help the army by translating communication from people who speak a different language into the army’s mother tongue. For example, the army might hire a linguist to translate a recorded speech into the target language; the speech could be a radio broadcast or any other type of speech that the army wants to comprehend. This ability of the army linguist may also be required in the case of a recorded interview in which the person being interviewed speaks a foreign language that other army members are unable to correctly interpret.
An army linguist’s other duty is to serve as an interpreter, a more immediate skill that requires the army linguist to listen to one party’s speech and translate it into the other party’s language so that they can communicate with each other. This ability of the army linguist is also required for missions in foreign countries where the army may not understand the local language or dialect, or where the locals may not understand the language spoken by the army members. People who are already enlisted in the army as well as civilians who are not enlisted may serve in this capacity. The process for becoming an army linguist is determined by the requirements of the country in question, and includes formal training as well as other types of additional orientation that will be in accordance with army rules.