vita ? - foreign language

[bmedclinic]

Hey All,
I'm updating my vita. I am working on a language, but honestly far from being skilled at that. For reference, Duolingo says I'm 29% "fluent" as of today. That's not good enough, and it doesn't mean I can converse 1/4 or 1/3 of the time. I appreciate them giving me numerical feedback for motivation purposes, but I dont believe that number is accurate. Is it cheap to put this on a the vita? Do I wait until I'm "fluent" (probably years from now, tbh), or do I wait until I have some certification of my skill? I dont want to misrepresent myself, but I'd like it to be clear that I'm working on that skill.

So, if the suggestion it to represent it somewhere, where and how so as to not be misleading?

In anticipation of follow up questions:
Can I get a hotel room/order food in that language? Most likely.
Can I do psychotherapy in that language? Heck no. But I'd like to.
I can listen and understand the majority of the language if spoken at a moderate rate.

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[WisNeuro]

Unless you have/can do clinical work in that language, I say leave it off.

 

[bmedclinic]

I totally get that. I'd like to hear from others as well. Its certainly something that I can address in person, which is much easier if I leave it off a vita. And I'd rather play it safe than have the appearance of touting skills I dont really have.

 

[Ollie123]

I'd leave it off. At this point, its not professionally relevant (yet). Unless you are shifting gears to go into the hospitality industry, no one is going to hire you because you can order dinner/book a hotel. Especially if its a common language, its too easy to get "busted" by listing it. One interviewing starts talking to you in that language and you quickly end up looking like a fraud. At the same time, putting qualifiers on the CV (i.e. "Languages spoken: English and kinda-sorta conversational in Spanish but not really enough to get by and do anything professional but I'm learning and hope to be better in a year or two") is just going to look sad.

If you are applying for positions where knowledge of that language would be highly relevant, I think it would potentially be appropriate to describe this in a cover letter or bring up in an interview. Not appropriate for the CV.

 

[eremitestar]

Agreed. If you can't use it professionally, I wouldn't put it on the CV.

 

[smalltownpsych]

Agreed with posters to not put on CV unless clinically fluent. If having a little skill is relevant to a particular job, then bring it up during the interview. For example, I worked in an inpatient unit in LA where having a better knowledge of Spanish was helpful. My skill was non-existent and another practicum student had about the level you are describing. She could communicate basic logistics with patients whereas I could not. "could you get the nurse?" "I have pain in my cabeza", "what's for lunch?", etc.

 

[experi_mental]

If you put it on expect them to bring a Spanish speaker and test you on the spot, I've seen it happen. Research has suggested that putting that you speak a little Spanish actually makes you look worse than not having it at all.

 

[bmedclinic]

thanks, all!

 

[futureapppsy2]

Tbh, unless it's Spanish or Chinese or you're applying to a location with a large population of [insert language] speakers, it probably won't help you.

I once had an interviewer ask me if I spoke any languages other than English. When I responded that I speak Japanese, they said "...we actually really only care about Spanish and maybe Chinese,"