Spanish for nurses

Mell Bell · Oct 12, 2009

On iTunes there's Spanish Podcasts (Coffee Break Spanish, Discover Spanish), they don't focus too much on words pertaining to nursing, but I think they're helpful. If you have a Nintendo ds, there's games called "My Spanish Coach", it's fun, and it has a dictionary with thousands of words and a "common phrase" section. Also, if you go to Amazon and do a quick search there are tons of helpful books that focus on Spanish for nurses. Hope this helps!

Hushdawg · Oct 12, 2009

Living Language series of language guides is excellent. I used the book/CDs set and got a major jump start on my Arabic education.

The Spanish set should definitely help you carry on minor conversation and then allow you to be more comfortable in assessing a patient.

If you are in a state/region with a very large Hispanic population, you may want to check out university book stores as I've noted elective courses popping up for medical Spanish in regions like this.

CASTLEGATES · Oct 12, 2009

just pull out a book and start memorizing the words (that's the hardest part) then move to Pimsleur for speaking. Work on the pronunciation later (that's super easy for me but I'm into linguistics). You'll need to learn all of it to get a medical depth. I know maybe 60 percent and can't explain a procedure properly. Spanish is above all my favorite; it's more consistent than English...wish we'd switch to it!

You can also buy used spanish 101 books all over.

rnrosiern · Oct 12, 2009

Learning Spanish is so helpful! It does take a lot of time and practice though. I know you said that you don't want to do Rosetta Stone because it's expensive, but it really is very helpful. You get visual references, correct pronunciation, and conversation practice. You run the risk of spending a lot of money for nothing if you don't go for the best program out there.

But if you are hell bent on other products, here is a cheaper way to learn Spanish:

This is a great website! - http://studyspanish.com/

Learn as much vocabulary as you can.

Buy a used medical Spanish textbook and go through the lessons as you learn the basics. This way, when you are learning the simple vocab words, you will also be learning body parts, procedure names, and more nursing-relevant subject matter.

The book "501 Spanish Verbs" is a bible- The hardest part of learning Spanish is the multitude of verb tenses. If you can understand this, you will be well on your way to speaking. Learning the vocabulary is the easy part, but if you can't put the words together then it's all for nothing.

Read the newspaper in Spanish and look up words you don't know. This can be tedious, but pick one up, read/translate one article per week and I guarantee you will be surprised at how much you learn.

Buena Suerte! (Good Luck!)

PostOpPrincess, BSN, RN · Oct 12, 2009

Working in Miami, I learned Spanish by immersion. It's not always perfect, but I understand more each day. Do you have an area where you can delve deep into a culture? Once you utilize the language, it becomes ingrained--kind of "When in Rome...do as the Romans do..."

Jo

Blackheartednurse · Oct 12, 2009

Get a spanish boyfriend:redbeathe:redbeathe:redbeathe

peachy13rn · Oct 12, 2009

I agree....there are several Podcasts you can get on your Iphone if you have one, that are free or very inexpensive. I purchased rosetta Stone from someone on Craigslist for only $125.00. It was used, but it works just as well as a new one! :)