Should I be scared of a full Spanish interview?

[Cornfed101]

I used to be fluent in Spanish. I am still pretty competent, but a little out of practice. In a number of my secondaries, I talked about being able to speak the language (diversity, why our school, etc.). While I could definitely do an interview in Spanish, I would prefer not to (at least not the entire thing). Do interviewers ever make you do the entire interview in a second language, or is it usually just a small part to make sure you aren't BSing?

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[and 99 others]

I used to be fluent in Spanish. I am still pretty competent, but a little out of practice. In a number of my secondaries, I talked about being able to speak the language (diversity, why our school, etc.). While I could definitely do an interview in Spanish, I would prefer not to (at least not the entire thing). Do interviewers ever make you do the entire interview in a second language, or is it usually just a small part to make sure you aren't BSing?

I have heard of interviewers doing this. Though I think it would depend more on how you posed it in your secondaries and especially what level of proficiency you marked down on your primary. If you marked Advanced or Native, I think it is possible that they would probe that, though not necessarily probable.

 

[Engrailed]

I dont remember everything but back in undergrad admissions, the interviewer looked through my resume and then suddenly started speaking in spanish as I had listed it on my resume. #Rejected #ByeFelicia heh

 

[907914]

*immediately checks primary to ensure I only checked basic proficiency*

 

[Cornfed101]

I have heard of interviewers doing this. Though I think it would depend more on how you posed it in your secondaries and especially what level of proficiency you marked down on your primary. If you marked Advanced or Native, I think it is possible that they would probe that, though not necessarily probable.

I put good as my level... so we will see 🤔

At the very least I can say "yo prefiero hablar en inglais" and sound like a native haha

 

[thatguyoverthere]

Yeah I just realized that I put down a certain language as "good," but now that I think about it, "fair" is probably a better assessment. Wasn't trying to overstretch my abilities - I just had a different definition of what fair/good meant and didn't realize AMCAS had it's own designations. Would an interviewer likely interview someone in the "good" language?

 

[Engrailed]

Yeah I put down a certain language as "good," but now that I think about it, "fair" is probably a better assessment. Would an interviewer likely interview someone in the "good" language?

Start studying your foreign languages guys! Or better yet, write the entire secondary in your language of choice. That way, they won't even question your proficiency during the interview haha

 

[Cornfed101]

Yeah I just realized that I put down a certain language as "good," but now that I think about it, "fair" is probably a better assessment. Wasn't trying to overstretch my abilities - I just had a different definition of what fair/good meant and didn't realize AMCAS had it's own designations. Would an interviewer likely interview someone in the "good" language?

I would be prepared for at least a little conversing. I am planning on hitting the books for the next couple of weeks. I can understand probably 90% of what I hear, I have just lost a lot of my vocab in the last 10 years (when I was last fluent)

 

[Seihai]

I really hope an interviewer doesn't come up to me and start speaking in Java, or worse, Javascript.

 

[thatguyoverthere]

I would be prepared for at least a little conversing. I am planning on hitting the books for the next couple of weeks. I can understand probably 90% of what I hear, I have just lost a lot of my vocab in the last 10 years (when I was last fluent)

Good thing I'm taking another language class next semester that will hopefully help me get back into things

 

[Dr panda]

I really hope an interviewer doesn't come up to me and start speaking in Java, or worse, Javascript.

system.out.println("please accept me");

 

[Cornfed101]

I really hope an interviewer doesn't come up to me and start speaking in Java, or worse, Javascript.

Well that depends, did you put that you were fluent on AMCAS? 😉

 

[HomeSkool]

I'm fluent in Portuguese, said so in my app, no one probed that even a little bit. Not exactly the same since Portuguese is less common than Spanish around these parts, but I think you're fine as long as you're honest on your proficiency level.

 

[honeybee87]

Would an interviewer likely interview someone in the "good" language?

Probably. Especially since the amcas description of each level was right below the selection

 

[paimei42]

I wouldnt worry about it; I was a free clinic interpreter and talked alot about that but no one tried grilling me about my spanish ability in any interview and i intervviewed at plenty of schools in CA.

 

[Cornfed101]

I'm fluent in Portuguese, said so in my app, no one probed that even a little bit. Not exactly the same since Portuguese is less common than Spanish around these parts, but I think you're fine as long as you're honest on your proficiency level.

Yeah, that's kind of what I figured. Did you serve in Brazil or Portugal?

 

[Goro]

I used to be fluent in Spanish. I am still pretty competent, but a little out of practice. In a number of my secondaries, I talked about being able to speak the language (diversity, why our school, etc.). While I could definitely do an interview in Spanish, I would prefer not to (at least not the entire thing). Do interviewers ever make you do the entire interview in a second language, or is it usually just a small part to make sure you aren't BSing?

the Entire interview? Of course not, unless you're at the Puerto Rican schools.

But my Spanish speaking colleagues have asked one question in Spanish at times.