Foreign Language Deficiency

[sockratease]

So I'm currently kicking myself for avoiding foreign language as an undergrad...as I really really struggle with it, I only managed to take one semester course in French in college (with three years of high school French). I'm planning on taking a year long course to try to make up for it this year (my senior year) but I guess I'm just wondering if I should bother applying to grad schools with such a huge blemish on my transcript.

I'm an americanist interested in nineteenth century native american history in the southwest after removal, which to my understanding doesn't deal a whole lot in archival sources written in foreign languages. And I think I'm a strong applicant otherwise. I guess I didn't realize how stiff the competition is for these programs or how foreign language mastery is used to separate the poseurs from those with true academic brawn. Just kidding.

In all seriousness though, I'm freaking out. I really don't want to take a year off just to brush up on language and work in a coffee shop, as my field of interest doesn't even require it, and I'm positive grad school is where I should be.

I'm sure I'm being dramatic, but I feel pretty depressed about this. Any thoughts? Should I apply to grad school still, or move on to a Plan B?

Thanks so much for your help.

[goldielocks]

Look, this isn't the end of the world. I have actually been in a similar position, and I've been working on brushing up/adding to my language skills for a while now. It's been a lot of work on top of my MA coursework/thesis — but this is part of the reason I decided to do an MA. I'm also doing two languages at the same time. Yes, I am insane. But really, if I can catch up, so can you.

I'm a Europeanist (Modern Britain), so I can't really speak to how much this will impact your applications as an Americanist. However, I can say from talking with many (perhaps too many) professors, this will not be an instant deal breaker for you. However, in all honesty, it will probably work against you, especially in comparison to other applicants who have more language preparation. If I were you, I'd work on beginning to build a working knowledge of a language relevant to your research interests as soon as possible. This is not impossible. I know many PhDs who have used Rosetta Stone to help pick up/brush up on another language. I took some non-credit classes at a a local community college, took a few courses at my university, and am now moving on to Rosetta Stone. The public library in my neighborhood also has regular conversation groups — this is very helpful. I've also used LiveMocha (the free versions) to review basics. It's really helpful because you can get feedback from native speakers.

Your lack of language preparation will not make people automatically reject your app, but it will work against you if you're being compared with applicants who have stronger foreign language faculties. The best thing you can do is stop panicking, jump at any opportunity to build a capacity in a relevant language, and be sure to point out in your SOP that you are actively doing this. Instead of pointing out that you don't have several years of experience in your language, just point out what you will have done from now until then.

I hope this helps. I've been there. It isn't easy but it is possible. Feel free to PM me any time with questions. Good luck!

[TMP]

I am not kidding. TAKE A YEAR OFF. You will breathe a lot more easily. You will feel more confident of your application package if you feel that you can give it full attention that it requires. PhD programs are seriously competitive that you just cannot afford to make mistakes on your application. That's including languages. You need to be able to read it well enough to put down "comfortable" or "near fluent" or "advanced" knowledge. If you can take a literature level in French, it'll suffice for US history's foreign language requirement. Languages, publications, conferences, and teaching experiences are all "bonus" points in applications (and can make up for less-than-stellar numbers) because those are all the tools you need to be a successful doctoral candidate preparing for the academic job market. I believe that if you don't have ANY of those, then it's a very, very long shot to being accepted.

I was told, "If you're going to take a year off, take a language course" and "If you want to take a year off, work a little to save up some money and spend some time in Germany and learn German." (German is one of my research languages). Really, I thought I would die if I didn't continue on so I applied straight out of undergraduate. I didn't get into any PhD program but 2 MA programs (w/o funding and took the cheaper program and took out loans).

In retrospective, I wish I had done my language abroad THEN go to my MA program. Right now I'm just out of my MA program with loans and I spent the last winter in Germany to learn more German, and I'm kicking myself for not having done it the other way around. Then I would've had more money to stay in Germany longer and become fluent.

Bottom line:

You will NOT die. You will NOT die. You will NOT die if you just not be a student for a bit. The whole world is really your classroom, not just academia. I have a number of friends in PhD programs who started right after undergrad or one year out and they're all insanely jealous of me for having time off from academia and all the things I'm doing. Before you start filling out those applications, take some time to reflect on the things you've always wanted to do and your life "to-do list." Does any of these things require a lot of youthful energy? Is there something you've always wanted to do but just didn't get to do? If the answer is yes to both or one of them, then take the time to do them! PhD is a long time commitment and that includes the job search, which may take a year or two.

If you are scared of the current US job market, then what are you going to do with yourself when it comes to finding a job in academic market for historians? It's worse. You may end up working in Starbucks with a PhD in your hand. No kidding.

Second bottom line:

Historians' job market is so bad that it's imperative that you start developing other skills as soon as you can so that you can be marketable for anything else. Employers will want to see that you can do other things besides researching and writing academic topics. They want to see you being able to "transfer" your skills to other forms of communication and research and have the ability to interact in a "regular" workplace. I think it is one of the underlying reasons why history departments would like to see some work experience on your application- they want to know if something happens to you, you can find your way back to the "Real World."

Again, breathe.

[StrangeLight]

i think it's still worth applying without the languages. you can acquire the language training during your MA. a lot of programs make americanists learn only one language rather than two or more, and some even allow them to replace languages with other research tools like statistics or demography or oral history. it is possible (although i wouldn't recommend it) for americanists to avoid language training altogether at some programs. as someone that has to learn two foreign languages (and should probably learn three or four) and as someone that struggles with languages, i don't think it's fair that americanists can get off the hook so easily, but... check out each department. they may not actually demand that you learn this stuff.

i will, at the same time, warn you that native americanists are not necessarily considered "americanists." so programs may not let you off the language hook. and they may expect you to pick up indigenous languages. i'd be surprised if your advisors don't expect you to work with oral traditions at some point, which you'll need to be able to read in their original languages. when people hire native americanists, they're looking for experts on those groups and cultures, and if you can't translate an interview from a native language into english, you won't seem like much of an expert to them. further, native americanists tend to get called in as expert witnesses in land tenure cases quite a bit. especially if you're testifying on behalf of the native community, you'll need to actually be able to speak/read their first language. now, it's very hard to find a place to learn a lot of these languages, so most schools won't expect you to have started the training. but they'll (probably) expect you to do it once you're there. so you won't need the language on your application, but you will have to actually learn it at some point.

your sources may also be in languages that you just don't expect. if you work with missionary documents at all, be prepared now that they'll be in seemingly random languages. a friend of mine works on indigenous groups in colombia and costa rica, and many her sources were (to her surprise) in german and italian. she already had spanish, english, portuguese, a bit of french, and a bit of an indigenous language, and then she had to pick up two more, and quickly. that's a reality of the sort of work we do.

[pudewen]

I think that Strangelight's basically right about applying without languages as an Americanist. History departments don't want you to know languages because it proves that you have "academic brain." They want languages because they are necessary for people working in many fields to do their research. But foreign languages are often not necessary for Americanists, and I'd venture to say that a lot of Americanists are little better off in that department than you. ticklemepink may be right about taking a year off for all the other reasons (though I spent my whole year off wishing I was already in grad school), but it's not because you'll be rejected without better languages.

Now, all that said, I think you maybe should reconsider the extent to which you could get value out of knowing an additional language. I fully admit you that you know your own area better than I do, and so I might be completely off base, but I'd be shocked if, working on the US Southwest in the 19th Century (even studying Native Americans) you wouldn't get some use out of Spanish. You should probably talk to people more knowledgeable about the source base for the sorts of topics you're interested in, but if I were you, I'd seriously consider taking first year Spanish as a senior instead of more French. It's more likely to be useful, and you should really be thinking of languages as tools for your research not as barriers you have to clear for admission to a graduate program. Faculty will be more impressed if you tell them you switched to taking Spanish because you realized it would be valuable for your research than if you tell them you kept taking French so you'd already be able to meet their program's language requirement. Obviously, if Spanish isn't useful, this goes out the window, but I have trouble seeing how it could not be. Plus, borderlands are a hot topic in history right now, and being prepared to look at Southwest native peoples from that perspective (or looking at what was happening in Mexico with similar groups of people who simply happened to live across the border) could be valuable for you.

[Gelpfrat the Bold]

I also just want to second what ticklemepink said. Being outside of academia for a year won't kill you. As an undergraduate, I never intended to take any time between college and graduate school, and I was determined to avoid having to do a terminal MA if I could. Whereas most of my friends applied to MA programs because they weren't sure about committing to the PhD route, I knew for sure that I wanted to pursue a doctorate and didn't want to "waste" time in an MA program. I ended up having to do a terminal MA because I didn't get in to the PhD programs I applied to. And I have to say, I think that my relative lack of language experience is probably what killed my PhD applications - although I'm in a subfield that has extremely high language requirements, so I do not mean to suggest that you would never be accepted. Anyways, I didn't go straight to the PhD, and now I'm taking time out of academia to find work, save up money, and rest my brain a little bit before I apply again. I've added another language to my repertoire over the course of my MA, and I hope to begin learning another in the free time I'll have when I'm working as a waitress or barista or whatever. Strangely enough, I'm pretty glad that I didn't get in to a PhD program straight out of college, because I think it would have been too stressful to work so hard for so long without any break, especially since I'd have been trying to improve my language skills at the same time. When you're desperately trying to get in to a program against all odds (I sure was), it's easy to forget that there is a valid reason for these requirements to be there in the first place. They want you to have language experience upon entering because otherwise you could be screwed trying to satisfy all your language requirements while keeping up on all your other work. Taking time to really get to know a language relevant to your field will not only help your applications, it will also add to a better understanding of your subject. It doesn't really matter if you're working with primarily English documents. What if your research leads you in a direction where you have to familiarize yourself with German models of thought? What if there's a group of historians in France working on related themes? I don't know anything about your field so I don't know which languages would be useful, but there has to be at least one that would allow you to widen the scope of your reading. Ask your professors about this, they should be able to help point you in the right direction.

Anyways, my new mantra is "my education is not a race." I think that's an important thing to keep in mind. Especially with the current state of things. I'm not going to be able to find a job whenever I do finish a doctorate, so why should I be rushing to get into a doctoral program? We may as well take our time and make sure we do it right.

[StrangeLight]

Now, all that said, I think you maybe should reconsider the extent to which you could get value out of knowing an additional language. I fully admit you that you know your own area better than I do, and so I might be completely off base, but I'd be shocked if, working on the US Southwest in the 19th Century (even studying Native Americans) you wouldn't get some use out of Spanish. You should probably talk to people more knowledgeable about the source base for the sorts of topics you're interested in, but if I were you, I'd seriously consider taking first year Spanish as a senior instead of more French. It's more likely to be useful, and you should really be thinking of languages as tools for your research not as barriers you have to clear for admission to a graduate program. Faculty will be more impressed if you tell them you switched to taking Spanish because you realized it would be valuable for your research than if you tell them you kept taking French so you'd already be able to meet their program's language requirement. Obviously, if Spanish isn't useful, this goes out the window, but I have trouble seeing how it could not be. Plus, borderlands are a hot topic in history right now, and being prepared to look at Southwest native peoples from that perspective (or looking at what was happening in Mexico with similar groups of people who simply happened to live across the border) could be valuable for you.

more on this: until the mid-19th century, most of the southwest "US" is actually mexico. you might find that your research evolves to a transnational/comparative/borderlands project, which (beyond making you way more hireable than than "an americanist") will require you to know spanish.

[sockratease]

Thanks to all..your advice definitely puts things into perspective. And pudewen- I wasn't suggesting that foreign language isn't critical for MOST fields, just for what I'm interested in - studying the experiences of free and enslaved African-Americans in Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma) - most of the sources I've encountered are written in English. I think I'm feeling sorry for myself and that's maybe being misinterpreted. To clarify, I'm aware that foreign language is an essential tool for historians.

I also agree with you pudewen that being proficient in Spanish would definitely be useful, if only in broadening my geographic scope and allowing me greater flexibility should my research topic change. Moreover, my guess is that to be hired at a university (and especially if my field is Southwest native studies,etc.) departments will want me to be able to teach a range of courses that would require comfortability with Spanish.

I guess my next question is, should I even pay the application fees for Phd programs? I really do not have the $ for an MA. And I guess I want brutal honesty here - do I stand a chance in top programs for my field? Like I said, I think I'm a strong applicant otherwise - 3.9 GPA, Very strong LORs, clear research goals, etc. Or should I just wait a little to beef up the foreign language and not waste application fees on inevitable rejections?

Again, thanks so much!

[pudewen]

I guess my next question is, should I even pay the application fees for Phd programs? I really do not have the $ for an MA. And I guess I want brutal honesty here - do I stand a chance in top programs for my field? Like I said, I think I'm a strong applicant otherwise - 3.9 GPA, Very strong LORs, clear research goals, etc. Or should I just wait a little to beef up the foreign language and not waste application fees on inevitable rejections?

Again, thanks so much!

I think you stand a chance. If you don't get in, I'm guessing it won't really end up being about the foreign languages, as my impression is that what faculty want out of applicants in the languages department is to have the tools to do original research in their field immediately (really, to have already done it) and to have enough language preparation to be able to acquire any language skills they are likely to want by the time they finish the coursework part of the degree. I think you are at that point (particularly if you take Spanish this year), and though your languages won't be winning you bonus points, they won't be keeping you out either.

One caveat. I don't know any of the things about your application that will actually determine whether you'll get in - most notably your writing sample and your statement of purpose. Your GPA is obviously plenty good and if you have good letters, that probably reflects doing good research and being a good writer, but no one here can tell you whether or not that will get you in to the programs you want. But I feel fairly confident that languages won't keep you out. If you're still worried about it, I'd write to prospective advisors at the places you want to apply and ask them if they think your language preparation will be a problem. They'll probably be perfectly willing to give you honest feedback.

[Gelpfrat the Bold]

Emailing to ask is probably a good idea. I've had some helpful email exchanges about language issues in the past, definitely got me much more informed than if I'd just gone off the information available on the department websites. As for MA programs, there are a couple that offer the possibility of funding. Off the top of my head the only one I can think of is Villanova, but there are definitely at least a couple others that would be worth looking into.

[natsteel]

ticklemepink offers good advice (as usual). However, language expectations (at least for Americanists) are somewhat more lax than other fields. I got accepted at very highly-ranked program as an early Americanist and I've only had 3 semesters of Latin and nothing else. So, I would agree with pudewen. At least for strict Americanists, languages won't be the thing that keeps you out. I also struggle with foreign languages. However, while it may not hurt for the application process, you don't want to be stuck like me having to expend significant amounts of time on languages while also coping with coursework.

[TMP]

Really, really listen to your prospective advisers. Do what they tell you. But the final decision is up to you.

Whatever you do, senior year or year off or whatever, just keep taking languages so you can start becoming comfortable hearing and reading something that isn't English. Once you pick up one or two, the rest seem pretty easy. You'll make yourself more competitive in any case with more languages under your belt because you'll be able to expand your research interests and do transnational and comparative work (which will make your work all more interesting).

I would think that you could just make up a list of PhD programs you'd love to be in and one or two MA programs you'd be happy attending.

[maxxtvance]

Nothing is going to change until language training begins at younger ages. It is very rare to see Ameicans begin learning another language before 7th grade. That is well past the prime ages for learning langages. The younger the better. The older the student, the more difficult it is and the worse their accent will (always) be.

[ReallyNiceGuy]

I was accepted to a MA program with full funding and a PhD program with full funding despite the fact that I'll begin graduate school with literally one year of study in the language of the region I want to study.

People on this site told me: RNG, it's ok- what you need to do is own it; mention in your SOP that you know it's an issue but you're taking steps to solve it.

That's exactly what I did.

[uhohlemonster]

Even though I've been speaking my research language for years (Hebrew), I decided to take the year off to do my applications seriously, work and get some "real world experience," and seriously brush up on my academic Hebrew and get more comfortable reading serious sources. I also took Arabic last semester and will spend the summer in Israel studying Advanced Hebrew and more Beginners Arabic. I cannot suggest a year off enough. For my area of study, this is clearly imperative, and many programs would not even look at me twice if I hadn't already had Hebrew under my belt. Surely for Americanists this is different (and I agree with TMP that you should speak to your prospective advisors about it), but I still don't think it's a bad idea to take a year off, travel, and do something different! I've got 5 great non-profit jobs (yes, 5 - it all amounts to something like full time but I have time to take languages!), went on a month long trip to India, and will spend the summer in Israel and hopefully travel elsewhere. So if you can do something like that, I think you'll appreciate the time to think, learn, and write those crazy applications.