Lol. Honestly, those language requirements for maths haven't changed since I was an undergraduate, and they were ridiculously outdated then. You can tell how vital it is to know any of these languages to be a mathematician from the fact that there isn't a single one of these languages that the schools agree you have to know. It's a hurdle that's useful for filtering doctoral candidates, that's all. [ETA we all like a nice mixed metaphor, right?] By the time you might, very occasionally, have a serious need to read mathematics that hasn't been published in English, you'll be working in a department that has native speakers of the language in question, and you'll ask them nicely to help you. (And they, in turn, will ask you nicely to proofread their papers written in English.)
Last edited by ColinsMum; 04/02/14 10:43 AM.
