Question on French and German: how much is sufficient for application?

[la sarar]

Certainly I understand their importance and that the more one has, the better.

But will one year (4-8 hours a week) coursework plus language qualifying exams at grad school seem insufficient? I've seen people with 4 semesters or even longer of French or German in the Classics section of this forum. And I'm wondering whether my experience seems not solid enough. I can read papers in these languages with the help of a dictionary, though in the case of German this could be a tiring experience with my current amount of vocabulary.  

 

Actually Hebrew is another problem for me. My undergrad major was Modern Hebrew and I had extensive training in that. Concerning Biblical Hebrew I have the "equivalent" of 6 semesters which in fact is 3 semesters, (1st half of beginning, 1st half of intermediate and 2nd half of advanced. I skipped some because 1. my undergrad institution offered only one semester of BH; 2. my current master program has complicated degree requirements with regard to courses, if I had taken 2nd of Intermediate I would have lost the chance to take a series of other required courses due to schedule conflicts, one triggered by another...). I think I'm quite comfortable reading the bible in the original though now and then I need the BDB and other tools, but I'm just not certain how professors will see this: OK? Not solid? Not serious enough? 

 

 

[sacklunch]

I assume you're speaking about doctoral programs, yes? If so, many of the doctoral students I have met (mostly at BC, HDS, and Duke) had a fairly low amount of French, with slightly more German. In fact many of them, I think, only had the standard "German/French for Reading" course, without any real conversational coursework. I just finished the "German for Reading" course and I don't think it was nearly enough. I'm continuing onward with conversational in order to beef up my competency (though some schools like Yale offer a full year German reading course). In short, I wouldn't worry about it. 

 

Also, I wouldn't worry too much about your BH, since you took the 2nd half of advanced (assuming you did well). Though depending on your interests within HB, programs might want to see some other work in Hebrew (Aramaic, and even Syriac depending on your interests). Still, I imagine you will have more work in Hebrew overall than most of the other applicants. I have only rarely met someone working within HB who had a lot of modern Hebrew (so good job!).

 

cheers

[la sarar]

I assume you're speaking about doctoral programs, yes? If so, many of the doctoral students I have met (mostly at BC, HDS, and Duke) had a fairly low amount of French, with slightly more German. In fact many of them, I think, only had the standard "German/French for Reading" course, without any real conversational coursework. I just finished the "German for Reading" course and I don't think it was nearly enough. I'm continuing onward with conversational in order to beef up my competency (though some schools like Yale offer a full year German reading course). In short, I wouldn't worry about it. 

 

Also, I wouldn't worry too much about your BH, since you took the 2nd half of advanced (assuming you did well). Though depending on your interests within HB, programs might want to see some other work in Hebrew (Aramaic, and even Syriac depending on your interests). Still, I imagine you will have more work in Hebrew overall than most of the other applicants. I have only rarely met someone working within HB who had a lot of modern Hebrew (so good job!).

 

cheers

 

Thank you so much for your answers! I guess it's a good idea to do some spoken German if I can continue to enroll in an academic program.

 

Btw, are you studying HB at Duke? 

[sacklunch]

Same. I'd like to be able to translate without too much trouble. And yeah, I'm doing HB/LXX. Where are you at?

[la sarar]

Same. I'd like to be able to translate without too much trouble. And yeah, I'm doing HB/LXX. Where are you at?

 

I'm doing a master's at HDS...2013 Spring is going to be my last semester here. 

[luciernaga]

I have received different responses from programs, but most seem to want you to come in with a solid foundation in at least 1 modern language, preferably German. It sounds as though your preparation in German, French, and Modern Hebrew are quite competitive - I wouldn't worry about it. For what it's worth, I have no preparation in French or German, but I have done extensive coursework in Modern Hebrew. However, I agree with jdmhotness that a strong background in Modern Hebrew is unusual in HB/OT. This lack of German is one of the bigger weaknesses of my application.

 

Some programs allow you to use Modern Hebrew as a research language in place of French, while others insist on German and French and see Modern Hebrew as an added bonus. Given the heavy ancient language requirements in HB, I hope to get by with Modern Hebrew and German (which I will begin to address this summer) and just not worry about French. Several programs I have spoken with have been receptive to this idea. German, however, is always essential in HB. As the old joke goes, "what's the most important semitic language? German."

 

Another thing - I have heard from some professors that while language preparation is very important in HB, there are many other factors that are just as important, if not more so. Committees want to know that we have good writing skills, familiarity with the field, and originality of thought. They want to know that we can handle a heavy language-based courseload, not that we have necessarily studied x number of languages.

 

I wish both of us luck this application season.

[la sarar]

Thanks, Luciernaga, for sharing all this information. I'm an international student so sometimes I don't quite know how US professors value different things, like, whether coursework is better appreciated than tests/exams. But anyway, I agree that it can only help an applicant if he/she keeps working on German and French. Anyway, thank you for your wishes and I wish you best of luck this season!

[MBIGrad]

Unusual as Modern Hebrew may be, I heard tell that this year during an interview at UT Austin, an HB applicant had his interview conducted in Modern Hebrew, as they wanted him/her to be able to teach a beginner's course at the university. Food for thought.

[la sarar]

Unusual as Modern Hebrew may be, I heard tell that this year during an interview at UT Austin, an HB applicant had his interview conducted in Modern Hebrew, as they wanted him/her to be able to teach a beginner's course at the university. Food for thought.

 

This happened to me in 2011, same program.