Hey guys had a question...has anyone on interviews thus far been asked to speak any of the languages that they may have listed they were fluent in?? Just curious--if this is the case i may have to brush up a little on them.
doesn't "fluent" cover "doesn't need a touch up"? Go with "working knowledge"...much more wiggle room implied by that term. dc
Yes and I was engaged in full conversation on one interview. Never came up in any other interviews. Be prepared for the possiblity
As long as you didn't put Swahili. Even if you did, just rent "The Gods Must Be Crazy" and then repeat what you've heard. They'll never know. Plus speaking like that is a more powerful chick magnet than those faded $200 jeans I've been checking out. Oops did I just say that out loud.
like MAC10, one interviewer asked me a question (in mandarin) and we started a small random conversation until he switched back to english.
Surprisingly yes for my fellowship interview, My guide for the tour was a native speaker, and they gradual switched until we were speaking completely in another language. I guess I passed, they offered me admission.
yes. the PD just looked up from my cv and asked "entoces, se puede hablar espagnol?" we went on to have a little conversation in spanish. just goes to show you that anything you put in your cv can be turned on you. now, about those jeans. kinda makes me feel better about spending 500 bucks on new ski boots.
got asked a question in Russian out of nowhere during one interview. mind you, i did not list that as a second language, but had a work experience from Russia on my CV. i quietly soiled myself, answered appropriately in English, then went on to describe my time there, and how i don't remember much of what i learned there for survival. i was honestly surprised that i understood the question, and I think he was equally surprised that i answered, even if it was in English. fortunately, we had an overall interesting conversation so it did not give me a bad impression of the place in general.
I am wondering about this too. I can hold my own in Spanish and am learning Amharic. I'm hoping by the time interviews come up, I'll be in better shape, because right now I can *maybe* handle a basic polite conversation. But if the interviewer went off in Amharic, I'd be betam telek screwed lol.....
During residency interviewing, I got a question in what must have been German. After a very uncomfortable moment, I asked if perhaps there was a different applicant's paperwork on the table. We were able to laugh about it. So to answer the OP's question, it might be Rosetta Stone time for you. -Pam
Out of the blue at an interview I was asked a question in German. I was able to answer it since I am fluent in German. It happens.
