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?

[Kaci82]

I already speak Spanish and I'm so glad I do.

I would love to learn more Polish (I speak a little bit). I'm in Chicago and there is a huge Polish speaking population.

I would also love to learn Arabic and Tagalog.

[Dranger]

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.

Of course I am aware, I would go with Mandarin because most people in Hong Kong speak English that deal with business and that's where Cantonese is widely spoken

[pookyp, LPN]

Spanish and creole. I'm in south Florida.

[Butterfly6890]

Chinese Spanish isn't a language of business or money.[/quote']

Excuse me?

[Butterfly6890]

What's practical is wanting to communicate with one's patients. And other than English most people in the US speak Spanish in the home. There's also such a thing called patient-centered care. And, well, Medicaid and Medicare IS where the business and money are. And no, I disagree that practical people care only about business and money. What a sad way of looking at life.[/quote']

Totally agree with you, klone! I'm a Hispanic nurse and I was a little offended by his/her comment. As if all Hispanics are broke. News flash: In florida, esp. Miami you have HISPANICS! Lol. What ignorance some people have...

[Butterfly6890]

Firstly, Spanish and ASL. I have a great many Spanish-only speaking patients as well as deaf patients. The interpreter service works well, but it would save me a little time if I could just bypass the middle man, lol. Also Vietnamese. I have a lot of Vietnamese patients too. But Spanish is by far the most practical. I understand a great deal of Spanish if the speaker is not Puerto Rican (they speak waaaay too fast), but I can't speak it well enough to articulate my questions or to give medical instruction. It's OK that I won't get rich simply by speaking better Spanish, lol. What a shallow remark.

Try Dominicans. Lol. I'm Puerto Rican and when my stepdad (Dominican) came into the picture he had to LEARN to SLOW DOWN his speaking because we couldn't understand him. :)

[MauraRN]

In my part of the world, south of Boston, I would like to add Portuguese, both Azores and Brazilian and Haitian Creole.

[sapphire18]

I agree with the poster who said lip-reading...understanding it around ET tubes? Not my forte!

I wish I could go back to being fluent in Spanish. You don't use it, ya lose it is for real.

[crynyce]

I live in South Florida (Miami) so of course I would love to be fluent in Spanish. I wouldn't mind learning Vietnamese if it was that easy; because I think it would be very interesting to know what the Vietnamese people in my nail shop are talking about!!!

[Marsha238612]

Chinese Spanish isn't a language of business or money.[/quote']

May I please know where you got this unfounded and quite ridiculous assumption that Spanish is not a language of business or money?

Please read and educate yourself about very prosperous Spanish-speaking countries, such as Spain, Chile, and Mexico, to mention a few.

Unfortunate for you, nearly in every job associated with customers YOU HAVE A GREAT ADVANTAGE IF YOU CAN SPEAK SPANISH

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses.com

[sharpeimom]

I'm already fairly fluent in French. I took 3 semesters of Spanish and can bumble along if needed. Our next door neighbors are from Pakistan and speak Farsi and Urdu. I'm learning a bit slowly. I think I learned a couple of swear words over the weekend! Their 10 year old dropped a plate of some Pakistani cakes his mom had sent us and out they came! From the shade of red he turned, I don't think he said "Oh darn it!"

I had a deaf roommate in college who used ASL and by the end of the year, I had learned a great deal and I'll bet it would come back to me with some review and practice.

[Bruth]

I work in Canada, and we have migrant workers in our area of south-western Ontario. I would want to speak either fluent French or Spanish, since both are commonly used. But, I would also love to know ASL, and am teaching myself from a book I was given, but I long to be fluent enough to carry on a therapeutic conversation with my deaf clients. But we can't have what we want, can we, not all the time.