HOW THE CIA TEACHES SPIES LANGUAGES IN 6 MONTHS (THE HIDDEN PATTERN METHOD)

Operational Language System

In this section, the speaker explains how the CIA trains its officers to become operational in a foreign language.

Becoming Operational

• The CIA teaches its officers something called "operational language," which is essentially conversational fluency in non-alerting topics.

• Officers are not taught to be fluent in a language because it would make them look suspicious. Instead, they learn high-frequency use words and basic grammatical structures in full sentence form.

• Operational fluency can be reached quickly for most languages within six to nine months of training.

• The goal is to become conversational enough to introduce oneself, make friends, and find out if someone speaks English better than the officer speaks their language.

Training Process

• The system used by the CIA involves identifying and learning high-frequency use words and basic grammatical structures in full sentence form.

• Officers learn how to use these words in correct full sentence structure, similar to how a five-year-old learns their native language.