If you could be instantly multilingual...

[HappyPepper]

which languages would make your job easier?

At the moment, I really wish I knew Farsi. Spanish is perpetually on my wish list but I could never keep the motivation to really learn it. What about you guys?

Also, how do you like your interpreter services?

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

Portugese for sure and then Spanish. I can speak French for all the good it does me..

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

In my area, I've had far more Korean speaking patients than Spanish speaking patients, and we have a couple Spanish speaking nurses on staff. Since my SNF is connected to the hospital, we have access to their interpreter services, but I've never seen them used.

On a related note, has anyone had any luck using Rosetta Stone products for learning a language? Or a private tutor?

We used Rosetta Stone for our home school during high school. HIGHLY recommended- it's excellent.

[Fiona59]

Gujarati, Hindi, Mandarin, Ukranian, Polish, Russian, Arabic.

That's just one shifts worth of patients.

[HappyWife77, BSN, RN]

Swahili and Kishwahili then go to Eastern Africa and work missions.

[thenursemandy]

1 - Spanish & ASL because of the necessity of them for work, but also for general socializing.

2 - Polish & Italian because needed but not as critically as #1

3 -Filipino because I want to know what my co-staff are whispering among themselves. I do have a touch of paranoia.

4 - Japanese because I think it's a beautiful language.

5 - Hungarian because it was the language of my maternal grandparents. As little kids, my sister & I could say 'thank you', 'goodby'

count to 10. My grands were so tickled, but it would have been so much more significant if we could say like "the soup taste good' or 'the roses smelled pretty'. Just a few more words for real simple stuff.

It's called Tagolog not Filipino. Lol

And yes, I'm curious what they're saying too.

[thenursemandy]

Swahili and Kishwahili then go to Eastern Africa and work missions.

Me too! Hubby speaks Swahili.

I've learned a little, but not enough to have a conversation.

[Bortaz, MSN, RN]

It's called Tagolog not Filipino. Lol

And yes, I'm curious what they're saying too.

Tagalog and Filipino are different dialects.

[renardeau, BSN, RN]

In nursing school, I thought I would have a nice range of language covered with French, Spanish, and some Mandarin---the Spanish and Mandarin helped the most, but I also found a lot of my patients spoke Arabic and Hindi. Clinical advantages aside, I've always thought Russian, Japanese, Italian, and Portuguese were beautiful as well.

[emtb2rn, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

While I speak Jive, being fluent in Spanish would make my life easier.

[emtb2rn, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Chinese, Spanish isn't a language of business or money.

Mandarin or Cantonese? They're not really interchangeable. You're aware that "Chinese" isn't actually a language? And that English remains the language of business.

[K+MgSO4, BSN]

Greek and Italian Arabic mandarin. Our interpretation service is overstretched ESP with the massive aging Greek and Italian population who have been in the country since the sixties. Their families are moving out of the working class area and refugees from the middle east and Africa are coming in. Some days I am constantly at the photocopier copying basic translations. The best was a young Irish tourist from co cork. His accent was so thick that my staff came into my office looking for me to translate - he was speaking English not that anyone believed me. I had to explain to the guy that in Australia you need to use full sentences and SLOW DOWN your speech.!

[VampyrSlayer, CNA]

Spanish, ASL and French. I used to be almost fluent in French and well... High school ended. I eventually want to do doctors without borders where they like you to be able to speak French. I also have an adoptive Mexican family that took me under their wing when I moved out to LA at 17 and was the only white person in my neighborhood. I've always found ASL fascinating :)