Chile Forum

Fugger wrote: even in the late 80's at most universities in natural sciences in the US a good command of German was a must.

Chamullo. I did MS long ago at USC in the US, previously attended Univ of Calif, and not a single natural science instructor nor student knew enough German to ask for a Blaubuch. Y además los norteamericanos son monolingües por naturaleza.

BTW, it's "quantum" and not Quantim.

A while ago I did my MSc at the Museum of Natural History at UC Santa Barbara and only a few of the embryologist used a bit of German as it was a hotbed of discovery in that science once long ago. I do lecture in Chile in Aquaculture Science in English and my lectures are well attended, I hope some of them speak english

patagoniax wrote:I did MS long ago at USC in the US, previously attended Univ of Calif, and not a single natural science instructor nor student knew enough German to ask for a Blaubuch. Y además los norteamericanos son monolingües por naturaleza.

As implied, it sounded like USC did not require any foreign language for its graduate students before granting their admission like many other reputable universities in the US . If that is the case, I am very surprised!
TP

T_ROBO wrote:

patagoniax wrote:I did MS long ago at USC in the US, previously attended Univ of Calif, and not a single natural science instructor nor student knew enough German to ask for a Blaubuch. Y además los norteamericanos son monolingües por naturaleza.

As implied, it sounded like USC did not require any foreign language for its graduate students before granting their admission like many other reputable universities in the US . If that is the case, I am very surprised!
TP

No, the question was about German being nearly obligatory in US undergrad science programs prior to the 80s, which is rubbish. My undergrad degree program was Spanish/Portuguese/LatinAmerican Studies at Univ of Calif but the grad program at USC did not require additional language. I was already a translator when I applied for the grad program.

patagoniax wrote:the grad program at USC did not require additional language

When I entered graduate school (in Texas), it was almost universal that a student (in natural sciences or engineering) must be fluent in either French, German, or Russian. The language requirement was specifically listed in the admission procedure.
TP

T_ROBO wrote:When I entered graduate school (in Texas), it was almost universal that a student (in natural sciences or engineering) must be fluent in either French, German, or Russian. The language requirement was specifically listed in the admission procedure.
TP

Interesting. In the 1980s I worked with a bunch of graduate engineers from Texas A&M who didn't speak anything foreign other than a version of English that very few could understand.

patagoniax wrote:Interesting. In the 1980s I worked with a bunch of graduate engineers from Texas A&M who didn't speak anything foreign other than a version of English that very few could understand.

Very funny aggie joke Yes, we like to make fun of them, but deep down I had respect for Texas A&M University, as a few of my former classmates are teaching there.
TP

T_ROBO wrote:

patagoniax wrote:Interesting. In the 1980s I worked with a bunch of graduate engineers from Texas A&M who didn't speak anything foreign other than a version of English that very few could understand.

Very funny aggie joke Yes, we like to make fun of them, but deep down I had respect for Texas A&M University, as a few of my former classmates are teaching there.
TP

What surprised me most about their undergrad curriculum was the number of required courses in the first semester: 3 semester credit-hours for each of the following: Aggie Traditions 101, Venomous Snakes of Texas for non-majors, Aggie-English/English-Aggie (language lab), Introduction to Stinging Insects of Order Hymenoptera 01A, and Parades and Marching 100.

Ah, leave the Aggies alone......
But you -forgot clapping in unison during halftime at football games.

nwdiver wrote:Ah, leave the Aggies alone......
But you -forgot clapping in unison during halftime at football games.

Most of them don't get the hang of it until the 4th year.

patagoniax wrote:
Chamullo. I did MS long ago at USC in the US, previously attended Univ of Calif, and not a single natural science instructor nor student knew enough German to ask for a Blaubuch. Y además los norteamericanos son monolingües por naturaleza.

BTW, it's "quantum" and not Quantim.

Well my experience (consisting of more than just one data point) has definitely been different regarding German language requirements for hard natural sciences (chemistry, physics), but I guess it is pointless to argue this further.

Separately just google quantum physics or look it up on Wikipedia (as a Newbie I can't post links) and you will note that quantum physics is the right term.

When I was an undergrad at UC Berkeley in the 80's, I was taking German because I chose to, but there were a number of unhappy undergrad science majors taking it because they had to. My father is a physicist who was attached to the University, and there were always a number of German physicists about, who had come to visit/ work at the Lawrence Radiation Lab, and I think the perception then was that to get ahead in physics as an undergrad, you had to know German.