French actually isn't an option for navy, although you can get it if you're army. That person didn't do their research ahead of time.
Generally speaking, there will always be at least two or three of the big six (Arabic, Farsi, Russian, Spanish, Mandarin, and Korean) open at any given time. Occasionally you might get Hebrew. From what I've seen, Farsi, Russian and Spanish are generally open, and the cat iv will vary.
But you'll also be competing against everyone else from your division as to which slot you get. They take not only your preference and your dlab score into account but also your previous experience with language. So if there's someone in your group who already knows x language, they'll be the most likely to get it (Spanish is an exception, if you speak Spanish but have a high dlab, they might still give you a cat iv). Self study isn't really enough to make a difference, I'm talking years of study at the minimum.
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