Do Interviewers test your ability to speak Spanish at the interview?

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p9142

p9142

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If you marked down that you spoke spanish on the primary, did your interviewers make you demonstrate it? I have Miami coming up really soon, and I am worried that they will make me speak lots of espanol. I am really rusty and it will sound like broken gobbledy gook.
 
yeah they do at some schools...they warned us about this at tufts that if u marked down a language u speak, they tried to get you an interviewer who conversate wit u in that language
 
I'm doomed.:scared:
 
Can any UMiami interviewees confirm or deny this.
 
I've only heard of this happening at Tufts.

Does the check box on the AMCAS mean that you claim to be fluent?
 
when i was interviewed earlier this summer, it was strictly in english. just try to RELAX and enjoy the interview as much as possible. 👍
 
DrAverageJoe said:
I've only heard of this happening at Tufts.

Does the check box on the AMCAS mean that you claim to be fluent?
Click to expand...

Yes, if you read the instructions on AMCAS regarding languages, it clearly states that you should check languages in which you are fluent.

Frogs
 
if you get called out...you get called out!
Lesson learned...but you'll probably be fine b/c once you start talking again it will all come back.

Buena suerte
 
ahora estoy practicando mi espanol cada dia con una mujer en mi laboratorio. creo que necesitas practicar con cualquier oportunidad que tienes!

(how's that for a non-native speaker, anyone? si hay errores, corrige la gramatica por favor!)
 
if any of you listened to that SDN podcast about interviewing, the MD who headed that podcast specifically mentioned that as one of the big no-no's of interviewing. Saying you speak a language and then not actually being able to do it was on par with being rude to people, coming in late, or having body odor -- almost a guaranteed rejection.

I imagine at a place like Miami, they'll be more likely than other places to test that ability, because being able to speak Spanish would be a greater advantage in that community.

If I were you, I would anticipate being called on it, and I would practice some really good phrases, such as "Unfortunately, in the past year I haven't had the opportunity to converse in Spanish as much as I would like, but I trust that as I begin to interact with a Spanish-speaking population on a more regular basis, I will quickly regain my abilities. Of course I would be more than happy to conduct the rest of this interview in Spanish, if you prefer, though I do believe I can express myself better in my native tongue ..." (except, say all of that in Spanish, of course.) That would likely convince them that you do, indeed, speak Spanish, but also shut them up at the same time.
 
stoppushingit said:
gracias. pero siempre creo que estoy haciendo errores, especialmente cuando hablo.
Click to expand...

No importa, por lo menos se puede hablar. Cuando hago errores la mayoria de la gente no sabe, pero si dices algo como "yo eres", va a ser obvio.
 
durante la entrevista, puedo decir "no me hablando en mucho tiempo, y necesito practicar"? (with hopes of not having to carry out a full-fledged convo with the interviewer)
 
stoppushingit said:
durante la entrevista, puedo decir "no me hablando en mucho tiempo, y necesito practicar"? (with hopes of not having to carry out a full-fledged convo with the interviewer)
Click to expand...

????????????????????

Espa'ol por favor.
 
Great...I majored in Spanish but unfortunately never travelled abroad and rarely speak it now...if I get called out it's gonna be ugly.
 
My coworkers always yell RAPIDO at me. What does it mean? 😕








(/sarcasm)
 
stoppushingit said:
ahora estoy practicando mi espanol cada dia con una mujer en mi laboratorio. creo que necesitas practicar con cualquier oportunidad que tienes!

(how's that for a non-native speaker, anyone? si hay errores, corrige la gramatica por favor!)
Click to expand...

Cuando usa "creer", esta sugiriendo dudo...En cambio de "necesitas", usa "necesites" (la forma subjuntivo).
 
HOLA. Me llamo Raul. Donde esta el bano?
 
riceman04 said:
if you get called out...you get called out!
Lesson learned...but you'll probably be fine b/c once you start talking again it will all come back.

Buena suerte
Click to expand...

I think consequences could be a little more serious than that if they perceive that you weren't completely honest on your application. Think about it, why would they want to let someon into their school who they know is a liar?
 
At one interview, they did the whole thing in Spanish. Here's the thing...I don't speak spanish. I kept telling them "I have no idea what you are talking about." They just got louder and faster. After twenty minutes of me staring into space, the interviewer stood up, pointed to the door and said something about "estupido," "loco," and "gordo." Not really sure what they mean but I think it is something like "welcome to the class of 2007."
 
DblHelix said:
At one interview, they did the whole thing in Spanish. Here's the thing...I don't speak spanish. I kept telling them "I have no idea what you are talking about." They just got louder and faster. After twenty minutes of me staring into space, the interviewer stood up, pointed to the door and said something about "estupido," "loco," and "gordo." Not really sure what they mean but I think it is something like "welcome to the class of 2007."
Click to expand...

HAHAHAHA... :laugh: These are the posts that make SDN worth reading...
 
rápido:
Definición | Sinónimos | Conjugator
En Francés | En Portugués
in context | images
NEW! España

rápido,-a
I adjetivo quick, fast, rapid
comida rápida, fast food
nos dio una rápida contestación, he gave us a speedy response ➣ Ver nota en fast

II adverbio quickly, fast: caminas demasiado rápido, you're walking too fast
¡rápido!, hurry up!

III m 1 rápidos, (de un río) rapids pl
2 (tren) fast train, express
 
riceman04 said:
Cuando usa "creer", estas sugiriendo dudo...En cambio de "necesitas", usa "necesites" (la forma subjuntivo).
Click to expand...

No se si el verbo "creer" sin "no" puede significar duda. Si se dice "no creo que" entonces se puede usar subjuntivo.

"creo que" o "yo se que" o "no hay duda que" requeren indicitivo.

Pero subjuntivo a veces puede ser dificil y nadie va a importar si se hace un error de vez en cuando
 
TexasFool said:
No se si el verbo "creer" sin "no" puede significar duda. Si se dice "no creo que" entonces se puede usar subjuntivo.

"creo que" o "yo se que" o "no hay duda que" requeren indicitivo.
Click to expand...

You're right. You only use the subjunctive with creer if it's preceded by "no".
 
Rafa said:
You're right. You only use the subjunctive with creer if it's preceded by "no".
Click to expand...

Por fin estamos de acuerdo con un tema!!

estudias espanol, rafa?
 
Teerawit said:
A mi tambien.
Click to expand...

I used to really worry about my spoken spanish. Something that really helped was to hear native speakers, to reinforce my own grammar or to learn how to use tenses better. Another thing that helped was the Mana Unplugged cd. They sing in a very clear accent, but at a good enough pace that you get used to hearing it in a conversational manner. Just a thought.

Try and work yourself up to watching Al Rojo Vivo. If you can watch that, or any other national news in spanish, and know what they're saying, you'll be fine.
 
Ahhhhhh. This is freaking me out. I checked Spanish, but I must have skimmed through and missed the "fluent" part of the direction. I took Spanish in high school and a summer session at a CC. But I haven't spoken it for four years... I hope it's not an automatic rejection if I told them I goofed on the AMCAS. :scared:
 
BunnyMonkey said:
Ahhhhhh. This is freaking me out. I checked Spanish, but I must have skimmed through and missed the "fluent" part of the direction. I took Spanish in high school and a summer session at a CC. But I haven't spoken it for four years... I hope it's not an automatic rejection if I told them I goofed on the AMCAS. :scared:
Click to expand...

i haven't been to any interviews, but from what i gather, most places won't call you on it. if they do, that's undeniably bad, but if you present it like you just did -- like an honest mistake -- that would probably be better than you trying to actually speak spanish and showing that you're not even remotely fluent.
 
TexasFool said:
Por fin estamos de acuerdo con un tema!!

estudias espanol, rafa?
Click to expand...

si, podemos estar de acuerdo. 🙂 y si, lo estudia en escuela superior, pero ahora, lo estudio conmigo mismo, porque solamente aprende como leer & escribirlo en colegio (o en escuela superior tambien).
 
BunnyMonkey said:
Ahhhhhh. This is freaking me out. I checked Spanish, but I must have skimmed through and missed the "fluent" part of the direction. I took Spanish in high school and a summer session at a CC. But I haven't spoken it for four years... I hope it's not an automatic rejection if I told them I goofed on the AMCAS. :scared:
Click to expand...

They didn't speak to me in spanish at my Vanderbilt interview and I also brought it up in the interview and nothing became of it. :/

I love to speak it any chance I get 🙂
 
Rafa said:
si, podemos estar de acuerdo. 🙂 y si, lo estudia en escuela superior, pero ahora, lo estudio conmigo mismo, porque solamente aprende como leer & escribirlo en colegio (o en escuela superior tambien).
Click to expand...

que bien amigo! De caul estado eres? Mi madre me enseno espanol y tambien estudio solo y hoy dia leo libros y estudio gramatica solo. Un libro bien escrito es "1001 pitfalls of the spanish language" y es un libro fantastico para aprender gramatica y ademas mirar television de mexico y hablar con amigos por msn chat son buenos tambien para practicar el idioma.
 
stoppushingit said:
ahora estoy practicando mi espanol cada dia con una mujer en mi laboratorio. creo que necesitas practicar con cualquier oportunidad que tienes!

(how's that for a non-native speaker, anyone? si hay errores, corrige la gramatica por favor!)
Click to expand...

Wouldn't it be "creo que necesitas practicar con cualquier oportunidad que tengas?"

ie it is unclear if or how many opportunities one might have, so that would trigger the subjunctive?

I may be wrong...but I'm certainly curious.🙂
 
wow, it looks like you all can write and conjugate verbs wonderfully, but can you speak it. I think it is more beneficial to learn conversational spanish. I took 4 years of spanish in high school in LA and had many spanish speaking friends so I practiced all the time, still do. The other kids in my class though, even ones who scored like 5's on the AP test cannot speak it. I think this is a waste of time and only looks good on paper. I find myself looking for words in every day conversations in hospitals as this will be most beneficial, like "sir can you pee in this cup for me?" came across that one last week. Couldn't for the life of me figure out that to pee is Orinar(sp?), I know now. Fortunately for me I am in Oakland where there are many spanish speaking patients=more practice.
Also, I find that most spanish speakers will not conjugate verbs that often if don't have to, like "ya me voy" for I am leaving, not "Yo so saliendo" etc...
And don't say "tu" or conjugate verbs using "tu", use the 'usted' version=more respect.

just my .02
 
Mine didn't. My AMCAS says "Other Language(s): Spanish." Doesn't say anything about fluency, and my transcript shows how much Spanish I took in college. If somebody had hassled me about not speaking it well enough, I would've just told them that there were no pretenses or false claims.
 
I have been to 6 interviews so far...and no one has questioned my ability to speak spanish...perhaps because I got an A in Advanced Spanish grammar they assume I can speak fluently like I say...I even mentioned that I was bilingual but no one has questioned it...I would think that they would only question you about it if they had reason to suspect that you might not speak spanish.
 
p9142 said:
If you marked down that you spoke spanish on the primary, did your interviewers make you demonstrate it? I have Miami coming up really soon, and I am worried that they will make me speak lots of espanol. I am really rusty and it will sound like broken gobbledy gook.
Click to expand...

You are worring needlessly. I can bet they will not speak in spanish unless you initiate it.
 
TexasFool said:
que bien amigo! De caul estado eres? Mi madre me enseno espanol y tambien estudio solo y hoy dia leo libros y estudio gramatica solo. Un libro bien escrito es "1001 pitfalls of the spanish language" y es un libro fantastico para aprender gramatica y ademas mirar television de mexico y hablar con amigos por msn chat son buenos tambien para practicar el idioma.
Click to expand...

Understanding written spanish is easy for me, but writing in spanish, speaking in spanish, and understanding spoken spanish I am pretty bad at. Any tips for getting better?
 
puedo escribir en espanol, pero cuando miro univision, no entiendo nada.
 
TexasFool said:
que bien amigo! De caul estado eres? Mi madre me enseno espanol y tambien estudio solo y hoy dia leo libros y estudio gramatica solo. Un libro bien escrito es "1001 pitfalls of the spanish language" y es un libro fantastico para aprender gramatica y ademas mirar television de mexico y hablar con amigos por msn chat son buenos tambien para practicar el idioma.
Click to expand...

soy de massachussetts - y estoy seguro que eres de texas, jeje :^) ay, es bueno que tienes una madre quien habla una otra idioma, y que usas la lengua con amigos - eso es como aprender rapidamente; con practica!

somedaymaybedoc said:
Understanding written spanish is easy for me, but writing in spanish, speaking in spanish, and understanding spoken spanish I am pretty bad at. Any tips for getting better?
Click to expand...

Practice! For speaking, practice talking to yourself. Learn how to conjugate verbs and make simple sentences, so you can say things like "I am me; I speak Spanish", etc. From there, go on to try to use the language orally as much as possible. If you can't find people who speak it around you, use audio tapes - the Michel Thomas programs are brilliant for learning to express yourself, and they thoroughly teach you how to speak in all the tenses. For listening comprehension, listen to online Spanish radio - but news or talk, not music (because you want to be able to understand conversational Spanish first). But yeah - the most important thing for learning to speak is to practice speaking. Don't just read that sentence - say it aloud. Figure out how to make the verbs do what you want them to do. And then start expressing your own thoughts. :^)
 
jstuds_66 said:
I think consequences could be a little more serious than that if they perceive that you weren't completely honest on your application. Think about it, why would they want to let someon into their school who they know is a liar?
Click to expand...

by that initial statement I was in no way attempting to imply that someone who gets called out on their inability to speak in a language, to which he/she designated fluency, will still be ok. Of course there will be severe reprucussions (I thinks spelled incorrectly but too tired to change it) for anyone who LIES.
 
somemaybedoc said:
Understanding written spanish is easy for me, but writing in spanish, speaking in spanish, and understanding spoken spanish I am pretty bad at. Any tips for getting better?
Click to expand...

Mira univision o telemundo cada dia
 
west nile said:
wow, it looks like you all can write and conjugate verbs wonderfully, but can you speak it. I think it is more beneficial to learn conversational spanish. I took 4 years of spanish in high school in LA and had many spanish speaking friends so I practiced all the time, still do. The other kids in my class though, even ones who scored like 5's on the AP test cannot speak it. I think this is a waste of time and only looks good on paper. I find myself looking for words in every day conversations in hospitals as this will be most beneficial, like "sir can you pee in this cup for me?" came across that one last week. Couldn't for the life of me figure out that to pee is Orinar(sp?), I know now. Fortunately for me I am in Oakland where there are many spanish speaking patients=more practice.
Also, I find that most spanish speakers will not conjugate verbs that often if don't have to, like "ya me voy" for I am leaving, not "Yo so saliendo" etc...
And don't say "tu" or conjugate verbs using "tu", use the 'usted' version=more respect.

just my .02
Click to expand...


ya me voy is an accepted sentence...to my knowledge that is not slang...neither is using el verbo orinar.
 
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