Skip to content
View in the app

A better way to browse. Learn more.
allnurses

A full-screen app on your home screen with push notifications, badges and more.

To install this app on iOS and iPadOS
  1. Tap the Share icon in Safari
  2. Scroll the menu and tap Add to Home Screen.
  3. Tap Add in the top-right corner.
To install this app on Android
  1. Tap the 3-dot menu (⋮) in the top-right corner of the browser.
  2. Tap Add to Home screen or Install app.
  3. Confirm by tapping Install.
Discussion

Vietnamese or Spanish

Hello, Everyone!

I am a pre-nursing student in San Diego planning to minor in Anthropology and focus on transcultural and/or public health nursing. My goal is to work in a medically underserved, low-income community and I'm having a hard time deciding which foreign language to study. I don't know for sure, but being in So. CA, I imagine lots of nursing school applicants speak Spanish and that there must be a much greater demand for nurses that speak Vietnamese. Besides the fact that I am particularly interested in SEAsian culture, I am thinking that studying Vietnamese will also be a way to stand out in a sea of very qualified applicants when the time comes to apply to nursing programs... Any thoughts?

Admittedly, I am concerned about how difficult learning Vietnamese will be on top of my pre-requisite coursework. The tonal nature of the language seems much more complex than Latin based Spanish.

What foreign languages are other Californians taking? :nurse:

  • Quote

    • Featured Replies

    How about learning Chinese?i heard that's a good choice,anyone have any idea?BTW I am also in San Diego,if you interested in Chinese,I may can help for practice!:)

  • Quote

    In high school I took Spanish for 2 yrs,so when I entered college I wanted to take Spanish again but I didn't have time because it wasn't a required class and I didn't have time with my pre nursing classes. Now I've been accepted to the BSN program and I really won't have time to take it. Eventually I'd like to take some kind of Spanish refresher course because I live in the Central Valley of California and Spanish is widely spoken here and it would be very beneficial.

  • Quote

    This is extremely biased coming from a Mexican-American whose 1st Bachelor's degree was Spanish but I'd go with Spanish if you plan on living in Southern CA. I was born, raised, and currently work at a hospital in So Cal with a large immigrant population and I use Spanish every single shift I work. I've only run into a few patients who speak Vietnamese or even other SE Asian languages. It all depends of course because there may be a large community of Vietnamese speakers in your city. To me Vietnamese is hit or miss as to how useful it is but you're more likely to run into a Spanish speaker here.

  • Quote

    Nurse2b209: what program r u going into? I live in the central valley, too & will be starting in August at Fresno State. I agree, around here, Spanish is the language to learn.

  • Quote
    Nurse2b209: what program r u going into? I live in the central valley, too & will be starting in August at Fresno State. I agree, around here, Spanish is the language to learn.
    Hello, I live in Merced and I'll be starting the BSN program @ CSU Stanislaus this fall.
  • Quote

    • Join the conversation

    You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

    Guest
    Add a Comment
    Go to topic listing

    Currently Reading 0

    • No registered users viewing this page.

    Account

    Navigation

    Search

    Search

    Configure browser push notifications
    Chrome (Android)
    1. Tap the lock icon next to the address bar.
    2. Tap Permissions → Notifications.
    3. Adjust your preference.
    Chrome (Desktop)
    1. Click the padlock icon in the address bar.
    2. Select Site settings.
    3. Find Notifications and adjust your preference.