This makes me so frustrated for OP.

From the post, I wondered if OP isn’t in a field similar to mine (social work adjacent, I think), in a similar demographic (I’m not in CA but nearby, and some of our offices have like 90% predominantly Spanish speaking clients).

Because Spanish is a necessity for so much of our client base, my job is SO specific in job postings and interviews that if it was a bilingual position, it was absolutely clear and you wouldn’t get in the door without a decent fluency. And if they do hire you, there’s a pretty intensive written and verbal test you have to do to make sure you’re actually able to communicate well.

My sympathy comes from the fact that I SUCK at learning languages. 4 years of high school Spanish, Duolingo, a semester of university Spanish, and while I can understand the written language okay enough to get the gist, it’s a painful process to respond back or converse real time. My brain is just not wired that way.

I confirmed that by taking 3 years of Arabic - I passed tests, but it was in one ear and out the other. Couldn’t speak it, could barely read it, despite trying hard and doing supplementary things on top of my actual lessons.

That being said, my company allows non-bilingual people like me as long as the role isn’t client facing. And when you do need to, there’s a translation service.

4 months isn’t a long time unless you’re good at language already. Certainly not enough to be able to communicate effectively for the heavy matters you need to explain well and carefully.

I hope OP finds something else, and that the employer pays well enough to get OP on their feet if this truly was their error. I would 100% fail in that situation, no matter how many tutoring sessions or immersion I did.