Question for foreign language speakers who have interviewed

[LizzyM]

There are stories of applicants being spoken to in a language other than English during an interview. But is this common or mostly urban legend? Please respond only if you have been interviewed for MD school between 2019 and 2021. If you listed proficiency in a foreign language on your AMCAS application, did your interviewer engage with you in that language?

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[Orims]

Spanish is my first language, I wrote about it extensively, and it was a prominent part of my application and future goals(serving hispanic/Latino populations). None if my interviewers, of which a few spoke Spanish fluently (knew through Google searches and then telling me during the interview), spoke to me in Spanish.

Anecdotally, a friend whose first language is Portuguese got to speak it for quite a bit with one of their interviewers.

 

[KnightDoc]

Spanish is my first language, I wrote about it extensively, and it was a prominent part of my application and future goals(serving hispanic/Latino populations). None if my interviewers, of which a few spoke Spanish fluently (knew through Google searches and then telling me during the interview), spoke to me in Spanish.

Anecdotally, a friend whose first language is Portuguese got to speak it for quite a bit with one of their interviewers.

Okay, but you are an international applicant, and it sounds like you are talking about another international applicant. @LizzyM, please correct me if I am wrong, but I was under the impression that the post and the poll are directed at Americans, to see whether claimed language skills are probed during interviews. Obviously, that would be unnecessary for a foreign applicant from a non-English speaking country.

 

[LizzyM]

Well, Foreign language would suggest a language other than your mother tongue so being spoken to at an interview in one's first language is not exactly the same as being spoken to in a foreign language.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

What if the language is Ancient Greek? Chances of being asked to do a scansion mid interview?

 

[traddart]

What if the language is Ancient Greek? Chances of being asked to do a scansion mid interview?

I believe you would have to recite some Homeric hymns in this case!

 

[GreenDuck12]

Interviewer? No. Student liaisons for the admissions team? Yes.

 

[14_karat]

It was not an interviewer but it was the dean of admissions during an introductory session in front of other faculty and applicants. He was not as proficient in the language (not Spanish, another language) as me though, so it was a quick exchange.

 

[deleted50541]

Way back when, I had a brief opening conversation in Japanese with a medical school interviewer when I was much more proficient in the language.

When I was tag teaming an interview for new residents, my co-interviewer and the medical student both knew Swedish and proceeded to have about a minute long conversation. I patiently smiled and nodded.

 

[Lifeblood_20]

Well, Foreign language would suggest a language other than your mother tongue so being spoken to at an interview in one's first language is not exactly the same as being spoken to in a foreign language.

OMG, by that logic, all my interviewers spoke to me in a foreign language (English)....

 

[lumya]

I had panic nightmares about an interviewer asking me questions in Chinese so much so I bought a book on medical terminology in Chinese (I'm mainly more conversational - most of my practice is mainly family and trashy TV dramas).

No one even mentioned it. I was kind of sad because it took me awhile to memorize the organs.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I had panic nightmares about an interviewer asking me questions in Chinese so much so I bought a book on medical terminology in Chinese (I'm mainly more conversational - most of my practice is mainly family and trashy TV dramas).

No one even mentioned it. I was kind of sad because it took me awhile to memorize the organs.

That’s why I didn’t mention the languages I speak. I’m very casual with them and don’t get to speak them very often, so i was super paranoid about having to interview in Yiddish or German and having to bumble through it looking like an idiot.

 

[cryovials]

I know this thread is old, but I had a quick follow-up question to this thread! how is it viewed by adcoms when an applicant can speak another language? Is it so common among applicants now that it doesn't really help an application?