Interview question about why take german?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

byeh2004

Senior Member
10+ Year Member
5+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2005
Messages
604
Reaction score
0
I am about to take German as a language course for this year.

I know maybe not all interviewers would be that anal.. but if they were to ask why we german takers in undergrad took german, how would we answer that?

I mean with spanish there would be a logical reason for taking spanish because you could say it would benefit me in medicine if I was to take care of spanish speaking patients because in urban cities especially the ones right by the border or close to it have a good amount of latinos and hispanics.


But what would we say about german? Not many people speak german here and i dont think it would be useful to use in medicine except if you live in europe or germany.

Basically reason why I chose german over spanish is because german has always been an interesting language to learn since high school. But in hs, I took spanish which didnt allow me to have time to take german. But now that I am out of hs and in college, I have the opportunity to take german and I wanted to pursue that interest.
 
byeh2004 said:
Basically reason why I chose german over spanish is because german has always been an interesting language to learn since high school... now that I am in college, I have the opportunity to take german and I wanted to pursue that interest.

Why don't you just tell them that? It's honest and real, and shows you're intellectually curious. Why try to think of a fake reason?
 
byeh2004 said:
I am about to take German as a language course for this year.

I know maybe not all interviewers would be that anal.. but if they were to ask why we german takers in undergrad took german, how would we answer that?

I mean with spanish there would be a logical reason for taking spanish because you could say it would benefit me in medicine if I was to take care of spanish speaking patients because in urban cities especially the ones right by the border or close to it have a good amount of latinos and hispanics.


But what would we say about german? Not many people speak german here and i dont think it would be useful to use in medicine except if you live in europe or germany.

Basically reason why I chose german over spanish is because german has always been an interesting language to learn since high school. But in hs, I took spanish which didnt allow me to have time to take german. But now that I am out of hs and in college, I have the opportunity to take german and I wanted to pursue that interest.

Diversity is a good thing, and schools won't have a problem with people taking courses that are different than the norm. Just go with the truth of why you chose it - there are no wrong answers here.
 
One of my majors is in German. I count on getting the same question and my response will be that it is something that interested me -given my family heritage and my interest in history- and will have practical uses as I travel to Germany and Austria far more often than I encountered Spanish speakers while working in hospitals in the area where I live now (and where I intend to come back to practice at). I will point out that if I learned German, then I will have no problem learning Spanish if the need arises.
 
byeh2004 said:
I am about to take German as a language course for this year.

I know maybe not all interviewers would be that anal.. but if they were to ask why we german takers in undergrad took german, how would we answer that?

I mean with spanish there would be a logical reason for taking spanish because you could say it would benefit me in medicine if I was to take care of spanish speaking patients because in urban cities especially the ones right by the border or close to it have a good amount of latinos and hispanics.


But what would we say about german? Not many people speak german here and i dont think it would be useful to use in medicine except if you live in europe or germany.

Basically reason why I chose german over spanish is because german has always been an interesting language to learn since high school. But in hs, I took spanish which didnt allow me to have time to take german. But now that I am out of hs and in college, I have the opportunity to take german and I wanted to pursue that interest.
tell them you want to travel to germany to explore healthcare and other differences between wealthy nations
 
why are there 2 threads on this, it must be very pressing
 
Shredder said:
why are there 2 threads on this, it must be very pressing

I second that notion!!!
 
I've got one better- I'm doing an internship for my undergraduate degree working on ambulances in a town in Germany for a month and a half. How's that for tying it in to health care?

That and (one of) my backup plans is to go to medical school in Germany if I don't get in over here.
 
Well since nobody else has said this just don't tell them you took German because you love David Hasselhoff 😀
 
Hey, ich habe auch Deutsch in der Uni studiert! (I also studied German in college!) I minored in it, it's just something fun and slightly original to do. I mean, how cliche is Spanish? (Even though it's muy useful) German's my third language actually, I speak Chinese as my first language, and took it in high school to learn how to write it. Be proud of having learned German!
 
Top