This paper describes a task-based activity used at the United States Military Academy, in their first- through third-semester Portuguese language sequence "Proficiencies" (Proficiências). The stand-alone task-based activity can be an effective tool in gaining foreign-language proficiency at even the lowest levels of classroom instruction by limiting the scope of the task to a more attainable level. It can also encourage incidental vocabulary acquisition, increased student engagement in the classroom, and greater student responsibility in their language-learning process. The "Proficiencies" were designed to be a set of tasks, divided into units, with the objectives of filling in vocabulary and other gaps of knowledge in the language learned in previous semesters. Each unit contains ten tasks. These tasks are varied with the objective of preparing students to encounter a real-life situation where various tasks may occur in one single social session (such as a conversation at a social gathering). The tasks are limited to ten per unit, so as not to overwhelm the language-learner before they reach the checkpoint. The process of completing the tasks allows the students to take ownership of their learning, while allowing for incidental language learning to occur. The repetitive nature of the task-based "Proficiencies" activity allows for focusing on the five-year mark, when many of the students leave active service in the United States Army and enter the civilian workforce, hopefully sufficiently prepared to meet the needs of the future global economy.