Languages Spoken on AMCAS

[kelpy]

deleted

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[MinnyGophers]

On the languages section of AMCAS, I picked German in addition to two other languages. I took German in high school and skipped out of two quarters in college. However, I did not pursue it further and forgot most of it. So, I guess my knowledge of German is probably elementary now. What should I do if this comes up in interviews? Do you guys list languages only if you are fluent in them?

huh....yes. If you don't speak the language, then it's not one of your spoken language.
Besides, you don't want to risk having your interviewer coming at you in German if you can't speak it

 

[Mr. McDuck]

You probably shouldn't list a language you couldn't speak at least well enough to hold an intelligent conversation. You never know who can speak what.

 

[hermit]

This has come up several times before - if you wouldn't be comfortable being interviewed in the language, best not to tell them you know it. Read several horror stories about this.

An extra language is a nice little addition to an app. Having to explain why you misrepresented yourself on an app is catastrophic. Risk/reward here is off the charts in favor of being conservative.

 

[DR. EUGENIC]

On the languages section of AMCAS, I picked German in addition to two other languages. I took German in high school and skipped out of two quarters in college. However, I did not pursue it further and forgot most of it. So, I guess my knowledge of German is probably elementary now. What should I do if this comes up in interviews? Do you guys list languages only if you are fluent in them?

PLUS the amcas instructions specifically state "languages you speak FLUENTLY".......

 

[kelpy]

deleted

 

[Kuba]

I'm from Poland, so I chose POlish and English obviously, but I also included Czech and slovak since they are so close to polish I would be able to hold a conversation in those languages.

 

[DR. EUGENIC]

I'm from Poland, so I chose POlish and English obviously, but I also included Czech and slovak since they are so close to polish I would be able to hold a conversation in those languages.

im trying to learn spanish and chinese before my interviewers.....otherwise it could be really embarrasing for one of us. .....i guess if the interviewer asks me to speak some chinese i coudl make something up like...ching chang walla walla bing bang. ....and hope he doesn speak real chinese ...

 

[deleted106503]

They didn't have the option of Farsi for me so I had to pick "other" in addition to English.

 

[riceman04]

im trying to learn spanish and chinese before my interviewers.....otherwise it could be really embarrasing for one of us. .....i guess if the interviewer asks me to speak some chinese i coudl make something up like...ching chang walla walla bing bang. ....and hope he doesn speak real chinese ...

Senor Odioso...estas cansado?


Baby need a nappy wappy! Pobre sito

Eres latino...por que estas aprendiendo espanol ahora?
Sus padres no te ensenaban espanol?

 

[FullTiltMD]

on a related issue, does primary language refer to your mother tongue (first language learned) or does it refer to the language that you use most often??

 

[DR. EUGENIC]

Senor Odioso...estas cansado?


Baby need a nappy wappy! Pobre sito

Eres latino...por que estas aprendiendo espanol ahora?
Sus padres no te ensenaban espanol?

mi mamá sabe español ...pero, ella uso del didnt él mucho cuando up.....sh creciente e quisiera que fuéramos América .....im que aprende absolutamente rápidamente sin embargo ..

 

[TMP-SMX]

on a related issue, does primary language refer to your mother tongue (first language learned) or does it refer to the language that you use most often??

I'm going to assume it's what you spoke when you first went to school.

For example, my girlfriend first learned Polish when she was at very young, but when she was at school she learned English.

So English as the primary. Essentially it's what you studied in.

 

[DoctorPardi]

I think primary is almost always going to be English, because if you're applying to an American medical school you are statistically 90% or more likely to have been taught in an American English speaking institution. So unless you are an international applicant who lives in Germany and speaks German everyday and you were taught everything in German, your primary language would be English, regardless of where you were born or what was your first language.

 

[kelpy]

deleted

 

[DoctorPardi]

actually, i put in another language for my primary. i learned english when i was 11 but did not speak it much in my native country. my english skills greatly improved, however, when i came to the US for college. i can understand spoken and written english as well as a native speaker, however i have an accent and sometimes struggle when talking about complicated issues in english. but my mcat verbal score is 12, so it's not that bad i guess.

See my point is, when I think of something being primary it means first used, that is the first thing you would try to use to accomplish a goal. Like your primary weapon when hunting might be a gun of some type although the first weapon you may have ever used was a knife.

If you were to go to the grocery store you would use English first, and in most case you are prepared to use English first except in weird situations or family situations.

Anyway I don't think it matters, I am just being silly.