Non-Credit Language Courses?

[Epaphroditus]

I have heard repeatedly on these forums that it's important to have a "paper trail" of language courses before applying for PhD programs. I'm interested in taking a German language course offered by the graduate studies center of a nearby university, but it's a "non-credit" course and they don't provide a transcript, although they do provide official documentation of a student's performance upon request.

My question is this - is a non-credit course like this worth taking before applying to PhD programs? Since it's non-credit, will schools view this course as no different than my studying German independently? If the latter is the case, I figure I'd rather save myself the tuition cost. I'm not sure how I'd indicate to a prospective program that I took this course, besides mentioning it on my CV or SoP. Or maybe sending them the documentation, though I don't know what the procedure is for sending additional materials not requested by a school. For those who have already applied to programs, what are your thoughts on these kinds of non-credit language courses?

[Rabbit Run]

You sure they won't give you a certificate? Where I did it I didn't have anything on a transcript, but I got a certificate of completion.

[Epaphroditus]

29 minutes ago, Rabbit Run said:

You sure they won't give you a certificate? Where I did it I didn't have anything on a transcript, but I got a certificate of completion.

I think they do provide something like a certificate. If not a certificate, they at least provide some kind of official documentation of your performance.

[marXian]

If you're applying to do anything theology-related 19th century or beyond, language is not going to be as important as those folks talking about the "paper trails" on here. Most of the people concerned with that are applying to study things that require a significant amount of ancient language work (e.g. Hebrew Bible, New Testament, reception history, etc.) People doing historical theology 18th century or earlier need Latin. Having some language training isn't going to hurt if all you need is one or two modern languages (like German), but being able to talk about it in your statement is probably fine. As long as you can pass a proficiency exam in German (usually by some point in your third year), that's all a department is going to care about.

[menge]

FWIW, I recently had a conversation with my Dept. Chair about language prep for PhD, and his advice was basically the same as @marXian. I was going to do French for graduate reading, but found out the French dept. was going to put me in FREN1000 and just change the designation to FREN5020 on my transcript. His take was that I wouldn't get what I wanted out of the course, and that most PhD programs wouldn't require proficiency for admission (he was a Princeton PhD). The caveat was for those working on fields needing ancient languages, or for traditions or geographic regions where another language is needed (Japanese for example, if working in Japan). 

[Epaphroditus]

4 hours ago, menge said:

FWIW, I recently had a conversation with my Dept. Chair about language prep for PhD, and his advice was basically the same as @marXian. I was going to do French for graduate reading, but found out the French dept. was going to put me in FREN1000 and just change the designation to FREN5020 on my transcript. His take was that I wouldn't get what I wanted out of the course, and that most PhD programs wouldn't require proficiency for admission (he was a Princeton PhD). The caveat was for those working on fields needing ancient languages, or for traditions or geographic regions where another language is needed (Japanese for example, if working in Japan). 

Thanks @menge. My field is NT. Greek and Hebrew are usually the prerequisite languages, though of course German and French are also important. I know that at least some programs seem to indicate that they strongly suggest applicants have some preparation in German or French before applying.

[marXian]

On 4/9/2016 at 2:38 PM, y00nsk said:

Thanks @menge. My field is NT. Greek and Hebrew are usually the prerequisite languages, though of course German and French are also important. I know that at least some programs seem to indicate that they strongly suggest applicants have some preparation in German or French before applying.

If your field is NT, then yes, the more language training you have the better, including modern languages. But the "paper trail" I think still mostly applies to the ancient languages in this case. In other words, it's the ancient languages that will matter much more for admission; having modern languages under your belt, whether through "official" means or not, is going to benefit you more once you're already in. If you're confident that you can pass a modern language proficiency exam in either French or German in your first year, then you're going to be helping yourself out a lot. People who have to take a lot of modern language courses to meet proficiency deadlines on top of their first and second year seminars are creating a lot of extra work for themselves. It's possible though. I was admitted to study German theology/phil of religion with only one semester of German that I took four years before my application. I decided to jump straight into the intermediate German sequence when I got to my program (which was super hard at first, but I managed) and I took an intensive beginning French sequence the summer between my first and second years that my university offered. I then attempted both proficiency tests in the Fall term, passing only German. I retook French in the Spring and passed. I cannot imagine having to do more language training on top of those, which is why departments want to see that students interested in textual studies are already expertly proficient in the required ancient languages.

All that to say--people who come into their programs being able to demonstrate language proficiency (however your program does it) have much more time to dedicate to their seminars. So whatever modern language work you're doing now--whether or not a prospective department "counts it" as official training--is probably going to benefit you once you start somewhere if you can pass a proficiency exam without needing an extra coursework.

[sacklunch]

If you're applying to NT programs, then, yes, you need to show some exposure to academic German. I won't go so far as to say having none will keep you out; but it certainly will not look good when your CV sits alongside a slew of other candidates with Greek, Hebrew, German, and French (among others). Though your mileage will vary depending on the program (e.g. how competitive it is and whether it emphasizes philology). Quite surprisingly (and to your benefit in the case of the course under question), however, I don't know how much having an official paper trail (with grades in this case) will matter. I have heard that often professors look at your CV and only lastly (if at all) verify your claims with your transcripts. When I applied to programs (in biblical studies/reception history), I listed the relevant language courses on my CV under 'languages'. So, rather than leaving the professor with merely 'German - intermediate proficiency' (as you often see on CV's of established academics), I listed exactly the courses relevant for each language (I did this for my ancient languages, too). Since in (many?) cases the last step in assessing your application is recourse to your transcripts, I didn't want to leave anything to the imagination just in case my transcripts didn't get a glance. I remember (and I suspect this is still the case) that Harvard had applicants upload a listing of their relevant coursework; I assume they did/do this for similar reasons as I mention here (faculty don't have the time or care to mule over various transcripts, each with their formatting particularities). 

[inprogress]

Would most of you agree that it is at least acceptable to acquire required languages through independent study? I need to pick up Latin (and maybe Syriac) in the future. Language acquisition is one of my greatest strengths, and I'd like to avoid paying tuition if possible.  

[Auctor]

For what it's worth I can share my experience. I was admitted to a decent PhD in NT this round of applications. While I have formal training in the ancient languages, I'm self-taught in German. I put that on my CV, and in the interview explained what I did and how I intended to sharpen my modern languages in the time between now and the beginning of the program. 

In short, I'd imagine that most would be reasonable, and care more about the fact that you can read the language than that you have credits to prove it. A certificate or some sort of documentation never hurts, though