Learning a Second Language Through Nursing

[Vespertinas]

When i was in college, I arrogantly declined taking the elective "Spanish for Healthcare Workers"... I rationalized something, well, arrogant.

Then I moved to another state and boy did I wish I took that class!

[~PedsRN~, BSN, RN]

Oh, I'm kicking myself in the orifice over not taking Spanish more seriously. Now that I am starting my BSN coursework.... I'm seriously thinking about taking some medical spanish classes.

I had a little girl the other night on the floor little SCREAMING "YO QUIERO PARLETA!!!!!!" It took me fifteen minutes, but finally figured out homegirl just wanted a popsicle. Won't be forgetting that one any time soon.

[GitanoRN, BSN, MSN, RN]

needless to say, i only offer the multi-language medical health classes in the facility where i work, and they are free to my colleagues. however, i did looked into what dave do suggested, the 123teachme.com and the courses are pretty good they begin with basic through intermediate 2 conversational, great suggestion for those who want to learn a language, and it's free!. although, one has to remember that just like any other language, my spanish is castilian, and i have to be a little careful on what i say around puerto ricans, mexicans, cubans, etc. having said that, they have different meanings to certain words,and vice-versa but we still can communicate. let me give you an example: the british would say "having a slash" which means "to pee" even though it's english, you'll find a different slang within the language; and the same goes with spanish, italian, and french and this is what i teach in my classes in order for nurses to communicate with their patients.... ciao buono fortuna, au revoir bonne chance... adios buena suerte... bye good luck...aloha pomaikai~

[ericaej]

I took 3 years of French in highschool and am in my second semester of Spanish right now. I supplemented my learning with Mango. I like it better than Rosetta. Just an fyi.

[Patti_RN]

Conversational language is not the same as job specific language. I lived in Argentina for several years and spoke fairly fluent Spanish, but had zero understanding of medical Spanish (think about it... when was the last time you heard the words 'pain scale' or 'hypertension' or 'cardiac markers' in everyday speech?) But, before you can use those medical phrases, you need to be able to form a sentence around them, and understand the person you're talking to. First, take a class in conversational Spanish and practice every time you have an opportunity. After you're fairly comfortable, take a class in medical Spanish.

Gitano mentioned (correctly) that Spanish is spoken somewhat differently in different parts of the world. I'd not be at all concerned with that; Americans, Australians, Brits, and other English speakers use different words and phrases, but we still understand each other. So, we call it a cookie and they call it a biscuit... There are more differences in the words in Spanish, but Spanish speakers know these differences (just like we know biscuit/cookie). The worst thing you can do is be too afraid to speak for fear of amusing your listener.

[MaryAnn_RN]

"having a slash" which means "to pee"

i work in the black country and it has a slang all of it's own, and i've never had a patient ask to have a slash. people have said that they 'need to go to ground' which was totally confusing when i first came here.

we have a large phillipino community and they were offered lessons in the local dialect because it's confusing at first and difficult to understand, even english is your first language.

[Patti_RN]

When speaking to someone who doesn't speak a language as a native, it's really important not to use slang or expressions. To a foreign speaker, 'pulling your leg' makes no sense, nor do expressions like, 'give me a hand' or, 'then it hit me!' Non-native speakers take these things very literally.

The other huge mistake people make when learning another language is using the profanities of that second language. Often, those are the words students of another language learn early, but when used by a foreign speaker it sounds particularly horrible and not the least bit amusing to the native speaker.

[BostonTerrierLover, BSN, RN]

anyone ever pony up the cash for a Rosetta stone course? Was it worth the cost?

Rosetta stone is okay, some swear by it, but the way it works is by:

Example: showing you a "photo" of a child, and it will speak "Nino" and show you spanish spelling (Spanish Version). It's okay to me, because I over analyze the pictures..

Is that spanish for "young girl?" (because a young female child is pictured)

or she was sitting on a stump, does it mean "sit?"

or she was also eating ice cream, does it mean "eat?''

You see what I mean? I need english to spanish (or language of choice), because Rosetta Stone is very costly (around $300 for Level I, and double $$$ for Levels II and III.

But, read more into it, because there are too many who love it, and I don't want to steer you wrong. I might just be "challenged." Lol:jester:

[Patti_RN]

The problem with all those language programs is there is no one to correct your mistakes.... which are many and constant as you learn a new language. You may be able to learn to understand another speaker by listening and reading, but you'll never learn how to speak.

Language acquisition is the same in babies/ children as it is in adults learning a new language. People listen and hear (preferably short sentences or even a word or two) while seeing an object or activity. They see a dog sitting, a person sitting, another person sitting, then it's clear that 'sit' is 'sit' and not 'chair'. We use short phrases, simple verb tenses, and repeat ourselves many times and very slowly when talking to small children. This is also the most effective way to teach or learn another language. Speed and complexity come later.

Unless a teacher or native speaker gives you feedback, you have no idea if you're saying the right word or pronouncing it correctly. An excellent language teacher can hone your language and correct the most glaring mistakes, then work on the less major ones as you improve. The two worst extremes are: not having someone to correct your mistakes, or, having someone correct every single thing you say and frustrating you to the point you want to quit (chances are when you're learning a language, virtually everything you say will be wrong!)

If you want to learn another language, I'd suggest finding a class at a community college where the teacher is a native speaker, rather than using a 'teach yourself' program. Most of us lack the discipline, but even if you do spend hours each week learning via Rosetta Stone or some other program, you'll never know what mistakes you're making.

[Vespertinas]

A nurse who worked with my grandmother in a daycare setting told me about a wonderful language program that worked like this:

It'd read an english sentence to you and you'd repeat it: My brother wears underwear on his head.

Then it'd replace one word at a time with the other language: My xxxxx wears underwear on his head. My xxxxx wears xxxxx on his head. And so on...

You remember because 1) The sentences are ridiculous 2) Repetition 3) Incremental substitution makes it feel so natural