Are there any bilingual, trilingual, or polygots on here?

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Are you fluent in more than one language? How has it benefited you as a nurse to possess fluency in not only another language but the culture it dictates as well?

I'm fluent, of course, in English as it was my primary language growing up. I've been told I'm gifted in written arts. Because I am deaf, I attended a state deaf school for a couple of years and picked up on signed English. That's not an actual language, but a mixture of American Sign Language with English grammar principles. It's how deaf children learn English in the United States. I'm also fluent in American Sign Language, the actual language of Deaf American and Deaf Canada. ASL has it's own grammar that can be used in writing.

That's two languages for me. But I think I'd like to learn Mexican Spanish as well. Latin American culture seems so fascinating, not to mention I'm Mexican myself. I'm sure all three languages will help me immensely as a perioperative RN/NP.

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In response to your question, I am fluent in 4 languages, English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese and some Spanish (3 yrs of High school + learning on the job). It is a benefit to be able to communicate with a larger group of people because I can speak directly instead of having to go through the help of an interpreter. Being a medical interpreter (on the side) myself, I feel that as much as interpreter is trained to convey the exact messages being sent by the two communicators...the expression will likely be lost through interpretation. As far as financial benefit, no...i have not been rewarded at my work for that..which i personally feel is unfair since my my language ability definitely increase my ability to assist the patients with their medical needs.

By the way, I wish one day to learn sign language as well...it's fascinating to me.

Goofie

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No puedo hablar español con fluidez, but I practice and study all the time with the few native speaker friends that I have, porque quiero poder hablar como una nativa!

I am also fascinated by Latin American cultures, which is one of the reasons I ended up making a lot of friends from those countries, and even had to learn Spanish at one point for another job I had in the past.

Estoy de acuerdo contigo, It would be very helpful to be fluent in Spanish as a nurse in the USA.

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Specializes in Family Practice, Urgent Care, Cardiac Ca.

Yes! Spanish English from New Mexico Here! I wish that the work force valued it more... hehehe, we should charge more.

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You'll see quite a few bilingual people here: many IENs in the US and Canada are bilingual because they come from countries were English is not the official language.

I'm trilingual: English and Spanish :smokin: are my main languages of communication. However, since I live in Ottawa I've being able to learn French, although I hardly ever practised it till two weeks ago when I found a UCP job in a place where most residents and staff speak French. I find it's very useful since most hospitals in the area ask for bilingualism English-French, and I'd like to be ready for whenever I get my pass result in the CRNE :heartbeat

Strange as it may seem, I "lost the ability" to communicate effectively right before CRNE: I asked the bus driver the address and I could hardly understand him, a Spanish-speaking gentleman approached me thinking I was asking for a "language school" OMG, and my answer was like that of an intermediate speaker, not a native. What is even more curious is that, after writing the exam, a French-speaking nurse asked me how to get back to downtown, and I was able to establish a conversation...in French: I surprised myself :coollook:

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Hi! I'm speaking greek, russian,ukrainian as primary languages, and quite good english. Also i'm learning some spanish.

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Specializes in ICU, CM, Geriatrics, Management.
... I wish that the work force valued it more...

Agree.

Speak, read, write Spanish. While a fantastic asset IMHO, it never has seemed to be valued much in the workplace.

Of course, this is ridiculous in light of the tremendous importance of communication in nursing.

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Specializes in NICU.

Hello everyone,

I'm not a nurse yet (I'll be starting NS this January) but I'm trilingual. My first two languages were English and Arabic. We speak Arabic at home...I'm a Lebanese-American 1st generation. Growing up I also really wanted to learn Spanish since I live in Miami, the Cuban culture dominates here. It took 3 years in high school, a lot of Spanish soap operas, and help from friends to learn. I'm hoping that this will be helpful to me in my future nursing career. Its great to see everyone so ambitious to learn more languages! I'd love to improve my Arabic, but there aren't that many people around to practice with besides my family.

MDCupcake

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Specializes in Pulmonology, LTC, Palliative Care.

Since I'm from the Netherlands my primary language is Dutch. I also speak English pretty fluently and I can make myself understandable in German and French! I'm currently doing my Master in Advanced Nursing Practice, so I am really happy that my english is as good as it is. Because I need it almost every day to understand literature, research, articles and studies :)

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English as a first language, but I speak fluent German, too (long story).

I'm slowly trying to pick up enough Spanish to use it at work.

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Specializes in Telemetry/Cardiac Floor.

i am fluent in two languages. however, i am not certified to speak the foreign language, so i don't get the extra .50 an hour. ok so, my hospital has a program where any employee can get free movie tickets for going beyond the "call of duty". needless to say, i almost never pay for my own movies.:nurse: besides that, i like that my patients can actually get a full explanation for what is wrong with them in their native tongue.

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Specializes in Telemetry/Cardiac Floor.
Hello everyone,

I'm not a nurse yet (I'll be starting NS this January) but I'm trilingual. My first two languages were English and Arabic. We speak Arabic at home...I'm a Lebanese-American 1st generation. Growing up I also really wanted to learn Spanish since I live in Miami, the Cuban culture dominates here. It took 3 years in high school, a lot of Spanish soap operas, and help from friends to learn. I'm hoping that this will be helpful to me in my future nursing career. Its great to see everyone so ambitious to learn more languages! I'd love to improve my Arabic, but there aren't that many people around to practice with besides my family.

MDCupcake

I wish I could speak Arabic!

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