I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but one of the coolest things out of the Defense Language Institute (DLI), the organization that trains US military members in languages, is Headstart2. It's a program that provides 75 hours of content and around 1000 words in a variety of languages, from the common to the uncommon. It's used as a Headstart2 -- About I've decided to start the Headstart course in Arabic to give me a foundation in the language, since Devanagari has proven a harder nut to crack than I expected. In the last week I've completed Module 1 (which refamiliarized me with the script) and I'm half way through Module 2 which includes lessons on the Eastern Arabic digits (٠,١,٢,٣...) and telling time. So far I've been introduced to some key grammar points and lots of vocab, but it obviously is all military-based. Edit: Also finishing a module gets you this neato certificate (as a PDF).
Thanks for the Headstart2 reminder! I'd stumbled upon that site a couple years back, lost the link, and couldn't continue with the course I'd been experimenting with. Time to knock out a few languages now!
Also, I forgot to finish my thought above. It's used as a prerequisite course for National Guard and Army Reserve members before they complete a full course at DLI, as well as for promotion points for service members who need professional development.
