My Pharm. Calc. teacher can barely speak proper english! help

[caffeineRx]

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[sethmctenn]

Are you good at math? Is self teaching an option so that you don't get behind. Here are some options: take a pharmacy technician class (it'll have all the same calculations but taught in a super easy format), get a really easy calculations book like Calclate with Confidence and get comfortable with that, use the dimensional analysis approach, and get a tutor who is good enough to really teach you the material. I'm just throwing out options. I hope you find one that works for you! Good luck

[Jules A, MSN]

All the commiserating is ok but what I think is worth mentioning is that this is our culture at this time. In health care you will work with Physicians, co-workers and patients that can hardly speak english. It drives me nuts but it is what it is. I'd transfer out of this class because you don't need this kind of challenge but if that isn't possible consider it a necessary learning experience. Good luck.

[caffeineRx]

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[caffeineRx]

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[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

Can someone give me some advice? I just started my Pharm Calc. class this Tuesday evening and I'm a little worried. I was aware that nursing school would be intense, but not prepared to deal with that and the stress of having an instructor whose accent is so thick, I would literally have to ask her to repeat himself every minute or so to make sense of what he is teaching us. I thought A & P was supposed to be the class everyone stressed over. However, I am highly stressing this Pharm Calc. class. The instructor told us we can ask him to repeat himself, but he is sort of intimidating and said he thinks we have an accent just as much as we think he does. He also said he is proud of his accent, not ashamed. So I was thinking...ok- I wonder if he will be offended if we have to keep asking him stuff again and again. I would say about 20 times, in class, he was asked to repeat what he said.

I experienced the same in Physical Assessment. The instructor was a longtime psych nurse in her first semester of teaching. The lab assistant was a West African nurse with a with a very thick accent who talked very quickly. I couldn't understand a word she said. After my first practice med pass, when I had to literally ask her to repeat every phrase, I worked with her as little as possible. Between her and the instructor, who never taught us how to take a blood pressure or hold a stethoscope (she said we would learn in clinical), I barely passed Physical Assessment.

Does your school offer tutoring? Are any of your classmates interested in forming a study group? Maybe you all could help each other out.

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

Most science and math classes in college are taught by foreign teachers (most, not all). How did you cope with your other instructors? Personally, I prefer foreign born teachers to american professors because they'll teach you exactly what you need to know for the exams. They get straight to the point and don't fluff things.

My sister took a Calculus class taught by an Iranian whose English was so bad it was almost funny. He would say one number while writing a totally different number on the board. Halfway through solving a problem, he would say "No, no, no!", erase 1/3 of what he had written, and start again.

How can anyone learn exactly what they need to know for the exam when they can't understand a word the instructor says?

[nursel56]

PS. I can usually understand an accent once I am around it enough..but this instructor has an extremely thick accent and, correct me if I'm wrong, but it's hard enough to understand a new subject, that just seems like another obstacle....and if I'm paying over 20k per year, I would like to think I can count on the basics . (ie. clear speaking English teacher)

Totally agree with that. I don't think any of us intends to be insensitive. New or unfamiliar information combined with inability to understand--- don't think the onus is on you to do all the adapting at this point.

[Baloney Amputation, BSN, LPN, RN]

I would record the lectures on a digital recorder and try to decipher the words later on. As a transcriptionist who has heard many, many ESLs (and sloppy-speaking non-EFLs) who often try to speak as fast as they can, I can often hear things the second time around much better than when I initially hear words spewed out, especially if I listen to the entire dictation first before relistening.

You may miss many words towards the beginning of lectures and then "warm up" to the topic and the accent by the end of the class. When you get back around to listening to the recording of the lectures, preferably later that day, I bet that you'll understand much more of the lecture from start to finish.

Learning to understand accents is a time-consuming skill, but I believe it is worth it.

[Baloney Amputation, BSN, LPN, RN]

I would record the lectures on a digital recorder and try to decipher the words later on. As a transcriptionist who has heard many, many ESLs (and sloppy-speaking non-EFLs) who often try to speak as fast as they can, I can often hear things the second time around much better than when I initially hear words spewed out, especially if I listen to the entire dictation first before relistening.

You may miss many words towards the beginning of lectures and then "warm up" to the topic and the accent by the end of the class. When you get back around to listening to the recording of the lectures, preferably later that day, I bet that you'll understand much more of the lecture from start to finish.

Learning to understand accents is a time-consuming skill, but I believe it is worth it.

Good gravy...I meant sloppy-speaking EFLs. That's what I get for posting in the dead of night.

[caffeineRx]

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