French vs. Spanish

[anna18]

Hi,

I'm about to start college and I'm hoping to become a nurse. Of course, I've always heard that you should probably take Spanish as a foreign language to become a nurse. However, I've been taking French for five years, including AP French and I even spent a semester abroad in France. I'd love to minor in French, and I love the language, but I know that Spanish would probably help me more. Does anybody have any advice for which language to take in college? Is there any way that speaking French would be able to help me get a job in any sort of situation, or otherwise help me in nursing? Or should I definitely just take Spanish.

Thanks!

[cecile9155, BSN, RN]

You don't need to take Spanish to get a job in nursing. It may help in some areas but not where I live.

[Zibbie]

You can see if your school offers credit by exam so that you do not have to take as many french classes. Then you can still explore spanish.

[shrimp]

It depends on where you live, the school(s) you plan on applying to/attending, and/or where you plan on working. I'm a California native who recently relocated to Florida. I majored in French. Unwise lol. I'm glad that I have a second language under my belt, but Spanish would've been far more helpful as I've encountered maybe two French speakers since graduating college. Some of the nursing programs in California give points to those who speak Spanish or one of the other in-demand languages (French not being one of them). If I could do it over, I'd take Spanish in college. Zibbie gave good advice. You may be able to transfer in most of your courses so that you only have a few for a French minor and can still dabble with Spanish. Best of luck!

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

I'm guessing you're pretty proficient in French -- at least enough to allow you to converse with a French speaking pt. (For important health/nursing/medical conversations, you would still need a certified medical interpreter to translate.)

A minor/major in a foreign language, as I'm sure you know, is not only going to focus on conversational knowledge, but also on culture and literature. (Holy run-on sentence.....sorry!!) My personal opinion is learning Spanish as a 3rd language is going to be more helpful for your nursing career than a minor in French. I live in the upper Midwest, and I can't tell you how many times I wished I'd have stuck with Spanish class in/after high school. There's nothing wrong with minoring in French for the love of it, but if you're asking what would be most beneficial to your nursing career? I think you'd be better off maintaining your French skills and learning Spanish.

[SopranoKris, MSN, RN, NP]

Malheureusement la langue française ne vas pas t'aider si la population des vos patients ne parlent pas le français.

Another consideration: nursing school is EXTREMELY time consuming. I wouldn't suggest doing a minor along with it unless it's related to your degree. Having a minor sounds nice "on paper", but in the real world, hiring managers only care about that RN.

Bon chance :)

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

Malheureusement la langue française ne vas pas t'aider si la population des vos patients ne parlent pas le français.

Je suis d'accord.

Another consideration: nursing school is EXTREMELY time consuming. I wouldn't suggest doing a minor along with it unless it's related to your degree. Having a minor sounds nice "on paper", but in the real world, hiring managers only care about that RN.

Bon chance :)

It depends, actually. I live in Texas. If you are fluent in Spanish, you well may get jobs over other candidates who do not speak Spanish, all other factors being equal. I don't regret studying French, but I really do regret that I didn't also study Spanish.