Spanish in the Hospital

So many adult schools and community colleges offer Spanish. Some are geared towards Spanish for the health care provider. The only certification I know about is when whatever hospital you work in tests you on your language fluency and certifies you.

Unless you are super at learning new languages (which I am not). It is a several years, long process, to learn a new language. I never tried to get certification but I made an effort, took classes, etc., so I could take care of the basic needs of Spanish speaking clients.

This was before computers were so common and easily accessed. I have heard there are good apps for learning Spanish. Some nurses have mentioned them on Allnurses.

I learned Spanish at a young age and yes it's been very helpful in many aspects of my life. I have heard some people having good success with Rosetta Stone

Make sure you take CONVERSATIONAL Spanish. NOT traditional. You want to learn how to talk, and quickly.

There are great flip books like: MEDICAL SPANISH MADE INCREDIBLY EASY. They are awesome

I speak fairly fluently but sometimes get stuck on a word or phrase. I learned it WAY back in highschool. I retained quite a bit however.

I was fluent in high school, having grown up around the language and taking four years of it in addition. That was a VERY long time ago and I got rusty, not having used Spanish much where I live now. I was still good enough to talk a woman through labor once, and I translated for the ER docs every now and again when I worked in the hospital. That was before we had translation services. I can still speak enough to get by, but I miss my old fluency. Does being able to cuss in Mexican Spanish count? Haha!

I can swear in Iriquois -learned at my late mother's knee.