trouble pronoucing some medical words

[aflac381]

I am having trouble pronouncing some medical words. I want to be able to hear how they are pronounced and then I can go ahead and sound them out. Can anyone help on where I can go to listen recordings of how medical words are pronounced? thanks

[tinkytahiliani]

Thats always been my biggest weakness. I either miss a sillable or two or twist the sounds around to where I say one word but mean another (ex. "infraction" instead of "infarction") Spelling them is even harder. Thats where I always bomb out.

Try spelling, "cerebalspinal" I dont think I will ever get over that.

I think a nurse can lose its job if he or she cant spell or pronounce medical terms.

Hey,

try breaking the word for better pronounciation/spelling. Like for "cerebalspinal"...it should be broken into 2 words "cerebal" and "spinal".

[MunkeyLuv]

if you have an ipod or iphone, the app "Anatomy Pronunciations" has been quite helpful to me. It sounds out tons of words.

[BigTuna]

Hey,

try breaking the word for better pronounciation/spelling. Like for "cerebalspinal"...it should be broken into 2 words "cerebal" and "spinal".

Too ironic and funny for this thread - the words are actually correctly spelled "pronunciation", "cerebral" and "cerebrospinal". Correct spelling will help with correct pronunciation. :)

[BrynnLeann]

No one gets fired for pronouncing a word wrong, that's ridiculous. I always have to think the word "tachypnea" over and over before I say it - I always get tripped up! The worst thing that could happen is someone will look at you funny and correct you.

If they fired people for saying words funny, a lot of fantastic ESL nurses would be pretty annoyed.

I agree with whoever said dictionary.com! I have it on my Blackberry and it teaches me how to pronounce regular words (as well as medical terms). My biggest advice is - don't be scared to be wrong and just learn as you go. I've never met a nursing student who never looks like an idiot once in a while - me included

[SV RN 2010]

I have Tabers on my iTouch and it allows me to type in medical words and press an icon to hear the words. Tabers is available through skyscape and costs aroudn $50, but it is great!

[missmoone]

It doesn't help that some words are pronounced differently depending on where a person goes to school! I had an instructor in Indiana who was from Georgia....she pronounced alveoli to rhyme with ravioli!

I know I shouldn't be laughing.. but that was kinda funny

[RivetheadGirl]

The word I hate the most is diarrhea

[Jonathank]

Medical terms are taken from Latin. The pronunciation could be causes some of the issues. Another problem is the length of some medical words. What I have found helpful is hearing the words over and over. There are audio sets available :smokin:which provide the medical word, its definition, and then an audio pronunciation of the medical term.

I haven't read all the replies in the thread, but yours sets up my point perfectly: often disagreements over pronunciation amount to arguments over two different ways to mispronounce ancient Latin or Greek words. To the OP: The important part is being able to communicate, so just work on always striving to improve your vocabulary and realize that many words can be pronounced in a number of ways.

[chorkle]

If it helps any . . my experience as a paramedic student was that many--shall we say--paramedic instructors seemed unable to pronounce any words of more than three syllables.

Since paramedicine is chock-full of multisyllabic words--medical terminology, and all that--this apparent inability was sometimes amusing, and sometimes disabling; and, I suspect, sometimes dangerous.

The instructor unprepared for the day's lecture was instantly exposed upon opening his/her mouth, & uttering sounds.

Not a confidence-builder for the students.

[laurenv0217]

I recently found this really cool website called Quizlet.com This site has any category you can possibly think of! People upload there own flashcards on to the site and you can search them. Terms and definitions GALORE! And beside each term and definition there is a little sound button, you click it and a woman speaks the word for you. The site automatically generates a test for you after you have studied the words. It's really cool, I think this will help you! Please check it out.

[katy89]

I'm have a hard time saying, "anesthetist". So, when I talk about my long term aspirations, I sound like an idiot. I've gone as fas as putting a pronunciation link on my desktop for practice. No such Luck.

[katy89]

It's like the word Millennium. It took me years to say that.