Foreign language proficiency

[ixitixl]

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Do you think is more impressive to the adcoms if you are proficient in a widely spoken language such as French or Spanish or something more obscure and difficult like Mandarin or Hindi?

 

[dr.doolittle]

Being proficient in any second language is impressive. I don't think the ease/difficulty factor is important. If you're interested in learning Mandarin or Swahili, go for it. You'll probably field a lot of questions about why you chose to learn a more obscure language rather than one that might be more useful in the mainstream healthcare system though. There are certainly people in the U.S. that speak obscure languages, but how often will you be in contact with these people? Are you planning on working abroad where you will have an opportunity to use these languages?

 

[ixitixl]

I agree with you for the most part. What prompted me to post this thread is that during one of my interviews asked me why I didn't choose to learn Spanish or French. The interviewer commented that some languages are more useful than others. On one hand, if you speak French or Spanish, is might be useful because there are lot of those speakers in the US. On the other hand, you might be more useful speaking an obscure language since there is a somewhat large population of Chinese and Russian population here and there aren't too many people who speak these language fluently. I wonder which way adcoms would lean.

 

[dr.doolittle]

As long as you can justify your choice to adcoms, I think any language would be fine. Where you choose to practice should influence your choice of languages.

 

[twinklz]

Frankly, I don't think which language you would choose would factor into the adcom's decision. I mean either way they are positive aspects to your application. Now if you chose to learn attic Greek or some other dead language which you'll never use to talk with a patient, then the adcoms might think different (i.e. a academic language that will help you understand the roots of medical words vs. a language that will help you interact with patients)

Now when you're applying for residency or even when you're a full fledged doc, what language you speak might play a larger role depending on where you choose to practice.

 

[ixitixl]

Originally posted by twinklz
Now when you're applying for residency or even when you're a full fledged doc, what language you speak might play a larger role depending on where you choose to practice.

Should've learned Spanish...

 

[smartreader]

Hmm, I find this thread very Intriguiging. I speak, with relative fluency, French and Hindi, along with English of course. I never considered my linguistic abilites as an asset when applying to medical school, perhaps because I was brought speaking all three languages. Did you explicitly write in your autobiography that you spent X amount of years learning a language or was it part of the AAMC application form?

 

[ixitixl]

Originally posted by smartreader
Hmm, I find this thread very Intriguiging. I speak, with relative fluency, French and Hindi, along with English of course. I never considered my linguistic abilites as an asset when applying to medical school, perhaps because I was brought speaking all three languages. Did you explicitly write in your autobiography that you spent X amount of years learning a language or was it part of the AAMC application form?

Yes, it is part of the AMCAS (AAMC application). ADCOMs won't hesitate to tell you that it is a definitely PLUS on your application, especially if you are fluent.

 

[jlee9531]

at least here in California...

Spanish would be huge and I think is considered a strong asset especially if you are applying to schools that have a large Hispanic population nearby.

 

[bigdan]

OP-
Good question. It's one I wonder myself. I speak Portuguese, which isn't the most popular, but, yeah, it's one more than the monolinguals speak.
And, umm, I think that Mandarin is pretty widely spoken - definitely an asset in NYC and parts of Cali...although I assume Spanish is the number one, I believe Mandarin would serve you well, depending on your location.
Good luck in any event.

dc

 

[Chet Rogers]

If you play to practice in Florida, I think Spanish or German would be a great bonus.

 

[hnbui]

i know that this is a bit off topic.... but would knowing 4 languages- reading, speaking, listening, writing- be impressive to the adcom?
I know vietnamese, english, french, and german. German i am still rusty on and need a few seconds to think about the sentence before i reply.

 

[ixitixl]

Originally posted by hnbui
i know that this is a bit off topic.... but would knowing 4 languages- reading, speaking, listening, writing- be impressive to the adcom?
I know vietnamese, english, french, and german. German i am still rusty on and need a few seconds to think about the sentence before i reply.

I would think that if you are FLUENT, the more the better.

 

[hnbui]

would taking 1-5 seconds to think about a sentence still mean that i am fluent? or no?

 

[ixitixl]

Originally posted by hnbui
would taking 1-5 seconds to think about a sentence still mean that i am fluent? or no?

I take 1-5 seconds to think of a response when I'm speaking my native language. If it's really 1-5 seconds and you can formulate complex sentences, my guess would be "yes." If you can read and understand a newspaper in that language, then that's another indicator that you are proficient.

 

[musiclink213]

does not being able to write, but being able to come up with a response right away spoken, and being able to read with somewhat of ease still count as being proficient? because i can speak and read Russian no problem, but writing is a different story.

 

[greenie8]

I definitely did NOT put German on my Amcas application for several reasons. Although I was a German major, I haven't been to Germany for 6 years and have rarely spoken with a native speaker outside of class.

Yeah I could go off on the ins and outs of expressionist poetry in German, but having a colloquial conversation is a different story.

If you can't write in the language, you're not fluent. If you have to carry around a dictionary with you, you're not fluent...same as if you have to ask a native speaker to slow down, etc.

Fluency means that you can fool an American tourist when giving them directions in the native country.

I could only imagine if some ancient German dude came into my interview and conducting the interview in German. I avoided this by not filling out the Amcas question.

German was brought up in all of my interviews though...they can see the classes I took and the grades I got, and that's impressivie enough without making me look like a fool if they expected a smooth, error-free speaker.

For me, if you grew up learning two (or however many) languages in the house, then you're probably fluent and most likely even bilingual. Those types of skills should be noted.

greenie

 

[ewing]

Originally posted by ixitixl
Do you think is more impressive to the adcoms if you are proficient in a widely spoken language such as French or Spanish or something more obscure and difficult like Mandarin or Hindi?

Umm. Hundreds of millions of people speak Mandarin and Hindi...not exactly obscure and esoteric. Now Akkadian, on the other hand...

 

[mh2002ny]

I took intermediate hebrew and became proficient in it. Since it is not spoken too widely in most areas of the US, would it still be looked upon favorably that I learned it, since it is my only second language? In other words, would it be a good idea to list it on my application as something extra?

 

[ixitixl]

Originally posted by ewing
Umm. Hundreds of millions of people speak Mandarin and Hindi...not exactly obscure and esoteric. Now Akkadian, on the other hand...

You have a point. What I meant by "obscure and esoteric" is that Mandarin and Hindi are not as popular among US citizens as Spanish or French. My university didn't even teach Hindi or Cantonese but they did teach Akkadian, come to think of it.

 

[bor0101]

What if you can read,write,understand, but have a terrible accent? Should you still say you're fluent?

 

[hnbui]

Originally posted by greenie8
I definitely did NOT put German on my Amcas application for several reasons. Although I was a German major, I haven't been to Germany for 6 years and have rarely spoken with a native speaker outside of class.

Yeah I could go off on the ins and outs of expressionist poetry in German, but having a colloquial conversation is a different story.

If you can't write in the language, you're not fluent. If you have to carry around a dictionary with you, you're not fluent...same as if you have to ask a native speaker to slow down, etc.

Fluency means that you can fool an American tourist when giving them directions in the native country.

I could only imagine if some ancient German dude came into my interview and conducting the interview in German. I avoided this by not filling out the Amcas question.

German was brought up in all of my interviews though...they can see the classes I took and the grades I got, and that's impressivie enough without making me look like a fool if they expected a smooth, error-free speaker.

For me, if you grew up learning two (or however many) languages in the house, then you're probably fluent and most likely even bilingual. Those types of skills should be noted.

greenie

I can't read or write vietnamese, but i can speak people to death with it. I guess i'm not fluent according to you.

 

[supersunny]

Originally posted by greenie8
I definitely did NOT put German on my Amcas application for several reasons. Although I was a German major, I haven't been to Germany for 6 years and have rarely spoken with a native speaker outside of class.

Yeah I could go off on the ins and outs of expressionist poetry in German, but having a colloquial conversation is a different story.

If you can't write in the language, you're not fluent. If you have to carry around a dictionary with you, you're not fluent...same as if you have to ask a native speaker to slow down, etc.

Fluency means that you can fool an American tourist when giving them directions in the native country.

I could only imagine if some ancient German dude came into my interview and conducting the interview in German. I avoided this by not filling out the Amcas question.

German was brought up in all of my interviews though...they can see the classes I took and the grades I got, and that's impressivie enough without making me look like a fool if they expected a smooth, error-free speaker.

For me, if you grew up learning two (or however many) languages in the house, then you're probably fluent and most likely even bilingual. Those types of skills should be noted.

greenie

i guess some homeless people in this country aren't fluent in english.

 

[CH3CH2OH]

Originally posted by musiclink213
does not being able to write, but being able to come up with a response right away spoken, and being able to read with somewhat of ease still count as being proficient? because i can speak and read Russian no problem, but writing is a different story.

i'm pretty much in the same situation with russian. i speak fluently and can read with no problems. writing, however, is a whole other story 😳 (yes, it is THAT difficult to be able to write in russian). but i don't think that as a doctor in the US, you will find yourself in many situation where you have to write in russian (when dealing with russian-speaking patients, that is). in case you have to write a note or something, just forget about grammar and spelling, it should still be readable (and i'm sure quite entertaining for those who will have to readi it 😉 )

 

[hnbui]

i think that if you can converse with a native speaker by means of writing(reading), or speaking, then you are fluent.

Don't listen to the condesending things that that one poster said. I am vietnamese, my first language too, and according to him i'm not fluent because i can not read or write. so what? I can still carry on a conversation with a vietnamese person by means of talking and listening.

I think that you are fluent in a language if you can talk, read, or write it. If it takes you a few seconds to think about what was said, so what?

 

[hnbui]

Originally posted by greenie8
I definitely did NOT put German on my Amcas application for several reasons. Although I was a German major, I haven't been to Germany for 6 years and have rarely spoken with a native speaker outside of class.

Yeah I could go off on the ins and outs of expressionist poetry in German, but having a colloquial conversation is a different story.

If you can't write in the language, you're not fluent. If you have to carry around a dictionary with you, you're not fluent...same as if you have to ask a native speaker to slow down, etc.

Fluency means that you can fool an American tourist when giving them directions in the native country.

I could only imagine if some ancient German dude came into my interview and conducting the interview in German. I avoided this by not filling out the Amcas question.

German was brought up in all of my interviews though...they can see the classes I took and the grades I got, and that's impressivie enough without making me look like a fool if they expected a smooth, error-free speaker.

For me, if you grew up learning two (or however many) languages in the house, then you're probably fluent and most likely even bilingual. Those types of skills should be noted.

greenie

if you are a german major, you must have studied hard for it. Why would you be afraid that they send a german person to interview you. You should be able to speak, write, etc german if you are a german major.

 

[JohnHolmes]

Originally posted by ixitixl
Do you think is more impressive to the adcoms if you are proficient in a widely spoken language such as French or Spanish or something more obscure and difficult like Mandarin or Hindi?

I heard if you are fluent in Swahili you are a Shoe-in at most Sudanese institutions.

Coops