Can I mention learning a foreign language?

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Sure, but don't be surprised if you get asked una pregunta acerca de ello en sus entrevistas.


TRPMinus said:
Right now I currently volunteer at a clinic that sees a lot of Spanish-speaking patients. Because of that, I've become more interested in learning Spanish, so that I can at least communicate on a basic social level. I already know a little, but really just enough to be dangerous. Is it ok to mention that I'm studying basic Spanish on my own when secondaries ask my plans for the upcoming year? I have a legitimate reason for doing so, but don't want to look like I'm padding my application. Thanks!
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LizzyM said:
If you are learning Spanish during the coming year, I see no reason not to mention it. However, I'd recommend having a solid plan rather than "I'm learning it on my own."
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Thanks, I'm planning on auditing a Spanish class at my local school this fall. @Goro yo solo hablo un poco de espanol ahora...........
 
Goro said:
Claro que si!
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Well good thing I got my AP Spanish books handy to work on. Need to use something like Rosetta Stone and watch a lot of Spanish shows + volunteer in underserved Hispanic populations to have a better grasp of the language. Seemed to have lost some touch sadly 🙁
 
Related question: I'm (nearly) fluent in Spanish. I speak it all day long every day at work, and many times my coworkers and I just speak Spanish when we don't need to for the heck of it. However, I cannot roll my R's--long story, but I had an accident that resulted in breaking my maxilla and a couple teeth and rolling my R's is really uncomfortable. I'm reasonably fine in my accent aside from that, but am I going to get slammed in an interview for "not being really fluent" if I'm not capable of rolling my R's? I've had a couple people joke about it and it's honestly got me kind of worried.
 
Goro said:
Tener una otra idioma es tener una otra alma!
Click to expand...

Tener otro idioma es tener otro alma.

Una otra is not correct, that's a structure from English.

And idioma is masculine.

Most of the Spanish words ending in -oma are from imported from the Greek, and as such are considered masculine for some reason.
 
Last edited:
mouster said:
Related question: I'm (nearly) fluent in Spanish. I speak it all day long every day at work, and many times my coworkers and I just speak Spanish when we don't need to for the heck of it. However, I cannot roll my R's--long story, but I had an accident that resulted in breaking my maxilla and a couple teeth and rolling my R's is really uncomfortable. I'm reasonably fine in my accent aside from that, but am I going to get slammed in an interview for "not being really fluent" if I'm not capable of rolling my R's? I've had a couple people joke about it and it's honestly got me kind of worried.
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No, I can't roll mine well at all. It's fine. I asked native speakers, and it's like the equivalent of having a lisp in Spanish. In fact, if you can figure out how to say that in Spanish or point that out, no one will hold it against you. It only makes a real difference in meaning for a few words, like pero and perro, but usually context makes it obvious what you meant.

Lol, it's funny because Castilian Spanish came about because the King had a lisp and rather than make him feel the odd man out, everyone else adopted his style of pronunciation. Although I doubt they're gonna do this for all the gringos that can't roll R's. haha.
 
TRPMinus said:
Thanks, I'm planning on auditing a Spanish class at my local school this fall. @Goro yo solo hablo un poco de espanol ahora...........
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You don't need to just audit.. you can take Spanish at a local CC for relatively low cost
 
Crayola227 said:
No, I can't roll mine well at all. It's fine. I asked native speakers, and it's like the equivalent of having a lisp in Spanish. In fact, if you can figure out how to say that in Spanish or point that out, no one will hold it against you. It only makes a real difference in meaning for a few words, like pero and perro, but usually context makes it obvious what you meant.

Lol, it's funny because Castilian Spanish came about because the King had a lisp and rather than make him feel the odd man out, everyone else adopted his style of pronunciation. Although I doubt they're gonna do this for all the gringos that can't roll R's. haha.
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Oh thank goodness...I'll take having a lisp over the shooting pain rolling my R's causes. And haha I know right? I went to Spain with a couple family members and I was amazed at the difference. Especially in Barcelona, omg...my mom was shocked by my total ineptitude, so I had to explain to her that Catalan is basically an entirely different language, and no, I didn't learn a ton of Catalan in the middle of the Midwest. :laugh:
 
Con muchas gracias...se me olvide mucho.

Crayola227 said:
Tener otro idioma es tener otra alma.

Una otra is not correct, that's a structure from English.

And idioma is masculine.

Most of the Spanish words ending in -oma are from imported from the Greek, and as such are considered masculine for some reason.
Click to expand...
 
Crayola227 said:
Tener otro idioma es tener otra alma.

Una otra is not correct, that's a structure from English.

And idioma is masculine.

Most of the Spanish words ending in -oma are from imported from the Greek, and as such are considered masculine for some reason.
Click to expand...


Una consulta. La palabra "alma" también es masculina. Pero cuando busqué la frase "otro alma" en Google, la corrigió a "otra alma". ¿Por qué "otra" y no "otro"?
 
Crayola227 said:
Tener otro idioma es tener otra alma.

Una otra is not correct, that's a structure from English.

And idioma is masculine.

Most of the Spanish words ending in -oma are from imported from the Greek, and as such are considered masculine for some reason.
Click to expand...
Lannister said:
Una consulta. La palabra "alma" también es masculina. Pero cuando busqué la frase "otro alma" en Google, la corrigió a "otra alma". ¿Por qué "otra" y no "otro"?
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No comprendo 🙁
 
Por favor, digame una cosa que los otros applicants are not saying.

FYI OP it is okay to say you are spending time learning spanish, just make sure you say that you understand spanish at only a "very basic" level when asked.
 
Lannister said:
Una consulta. La palabra "alma" también es masculina. Pero cuando busqué la frase "otro alma" en Google, la corrigió a "otra alma". ¿Por qué "otra" y no "otro"?
Click to expand...

Yes, that is an error. But no, alma is NOT masculine. What's funny is I almost corrected that too but I couldn't justify it to myself knowing that alma is feminine.

using feminine articles before feminine nouns starting in "a" where the emphasis is on the starting a, is seen as problematic because of the double a, one must either introduce a glottal stop, which isn't desirable in Spanish because it's seen as hurting the musicality of the language

el alma bonita

vs

el idioma bonito

get it?

in one case, the noun is masculine, so you use the masculine article, and masculine version of the adjective

in the other case, the noun is feminine and is treated as such in all way except the article is compromised to avoid the double a
 
I wish duolingo was around back when my brain was plastic enough to actually learn a language.
 
now, if it starts in "a" and is feminine, but the stress on the word is NOT on the starting a, then you use use feminine articles, por ejemplo

"la abogada" (female attorney)
 
Lannister said:
Una consulta. La palabra "alma" también es masculina. Pero cuando busqué la frase "otro alma" en Google, la corrigió a "otra alma". ¿Por qué "otra" y no "otro"?
Click to expand...

I consulted my literally 4 inch thick Spanish language dictionary, not Google. Google can't teach you grammatical Spanish.
 
Crayola227 said:
Not perfect but I know quite a few words. You could parachute me into Latin America and I could get around on my own. That's my only claim to fame.

To be fair,
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See, this is what I need. Someone just needs to drop me in a foreign country and force me to communicate. The British guys in "Locked Up Abroad" always seemed able speak fluent Spanish after spending 5 years in a Venezuelan prison for drug trafficking.
 
<L> said:
See, this is what I need. Someone just needs to drop me in a foreign country and force me to communicate. The British guys in "Locked Up Abroad" always seemed able speak fluent Spanish after spending 5 years in a Venezuelan prison for drug trafficking.
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You can almost do that in this country in your own home. Watch all your TV in Spanish....news, sports, dramas. Even movies, just turn on the Spanish subtitles on DVD's or choose Netflix Spanish movies to watch. You could easily go days listening to just Spanish. You WILL pick up a lot of Spanish in just a few months.
 
Not to go off the topic, but since we got so in depth in Spanish.

If you are fluent, non-native, will you have your interview (or some part) in Spanish?
I'm wondering if I need to prepare my Spanish interviewing skills as well.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
Crayola227 said:
Yes, that is an error. But no, alma is NOT masculine. What's funny is I almost corrected that too but I couldn't justify it to myself knowing that alma is feminine.

using feminine articles before feminine nouns starting in "a" where the emphasis is on the starting a, is seen as problematic because of the double a, one must either introduce a glottal stop, which isn't desirable in Spanish because it's seen as hurting the musicality of the language

el alma bonita

vs

el idioma bonito

get it?

in one case, the noun is masculine, so you use the masculine article, and masculine version of the adjective

in the other case, the noun is feminine and is treated as such in all way except the article is compromised to avoid the double a
Click to expand...
Ahh, ¿como "el agua"? OK. Gracias.
 
WhittyPsyche said:
Not to go off the topic, but since we got so in depth in Spanish.

If you are fluent, non-native, will you have your interview (or some part) in Spanish?
I'm wondering if I need to prepare my Spanish interviewing skills as well.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
Click to expand...
I majored in Spanish, studied abroad in Chile for six months, centered my app around it, and never spoke a word of Spanish in any of my interviews.
 
Lannister said:
I majored in Spanish, studied abroad in Chile for six months, centered my app around it, and never spoke a word of Spanish in any of my interviews.
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Wow! Was not expecting that. I've been worrying about it as my last interview in complete Spanish was back in January.

Did you apply to schools that focus/value Spanish specifically for their patient populations? Aka CA, DC, NY, FL schools?


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WhittyPsyche said:
Wow! Was not expecting that. I've been worrying about it as my last interview in complete Spanish was back in January.

Did you apply to schools that focus/value Spanish specifically for their patient populations? Aka CA, DC, NY, FL schools?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
Click to expand...

No, I did not.
 
gap year? Maybe see if you can take courses at a community college?

Took 3 semesters as an undergrad but volunteered 4 months abroad at a clinic after, and volunteering now at a hospital with a mostly latino population. I only put down "fair" on the AMCAS for my language proficiency, but I have conversational fluency at this point. It's super rewarding being able to connect with people through their language!! A seemingly timid and reserved person who barely speaks english will open up their emotions, tell you stories, and reveal a personality you would have never seen. I love it 🙂
 
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