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Nurse wants to learn Spanish quickly! | ||
Tags: Professionals | Spanish | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| smkiya Newbie United States Joined 5572 days ago 5 posts - 5 votes Studies: Spanish | Message 1 of 11 14 January 2010 at 5:52pm | IP Logged | ||
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I would like to learn to speak Spanish fairly quickly. I don't expect to be fluent, however I would like my verbal communication in the language to be good.
Some background: I am a nurse and have noticed an increase in Spanish speaking patients who have a limited ability to communicate in English. We use a translation line to speak with patients whose primary language is not English, but it is frustrating. Communication is both verbal and nonverbal and a lot of what I mean to say gets lost in translation. The translation line just seems too formal and I am not able to establish a personal relationship with my patients. I've found that patients are much more receptive to education and are willing to be honest about their lifestyle when they feel comfortable with their caregiver. Last year I began learning Spanish independently and was able to carry on a basic conversation with my patients. Well, even with my minimal knowledge of the language, I became more approachable to patients. Simple phrases like, "How are you?", "I'm your nurse today.", "Would you like some ice water?", "Do you need anything?", and "I'll be right back.", made a huge difference. A family member actually pulled me aside and thanked me for tending to her mothers needs. She said that when others walked into her room and discovered that she did not speak English, they would shrug their shoulders and walk out. I only spent about a month learning, but I practiced everyday. I used vocabulary and grammar texts & workbooks, vocabulary cards, Pimsleur, watched Destinos and Spanish soaps. I then had a baby, took maternity leave, and set my Spanish learning aside. I'm ready to continue on and learn at a rapid pace. In general, I'm a very fast learner and I've been told by many Spanish speakers that my pronunciation is excellent. I am not able to travel to a Spanish speaking country, but I am not afraid to use what I learn with the Spanish speakers I encounter. What else can I do to speed up the process? Can you think of a realistic time frame to be a good verbal communicator with Spanish speakers? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 meramarina Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5760 days ago 1341 posts - 2303 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Italian, French Personal Language Map | Message 2 of 11 14 January 2010 at 6:09pm | IP Logged | ||
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I can recommend a few good phrasebooks for Spanish/English medical translation. I worked for two years in an acute care emergency room and I understand very well the problems you describe! I was there as an admissions coordinator, not a member of the medical staff, but still, I had a lot of patient contact and did my best to help with Spanish translation when I could. I remember that translation phone service--very inefficient--by the time you get a translator on the phone, the patient is discharged, recovered or dead. We almost never used it. And what happens when no phone is available and you have four or five Spanish-speaking patients at the same time? Pure chaos.
I used to carry these books with me: --English and Spanish Medical Words and Phrases, second edition, Springhouse Corporation, 1999 --Medical Spanish, third edition, Gail L. Bongiovanni, McGraw-Hill, 2000 --Spanish for Health Care Professionals, William C. Harvey, Barron's Educational Series, Inc., 2000 If you already have a basic knowledge of Spanish you should pick up the phrases you need very quickly. I hope this can help you. I admire the work of nurses very much, after seeing it up close! Edited by meramarina on 14 January 2010 at 6:20pm 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 5804 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 3 of 11 14 January 2010 at 6:48pm | IP Logged | ||
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I recommend working through the Michel Thomas Foundation and Advanced courses to pick up the mechanics of the language. Then you can slot in extra information from what you already know and what's in the medical phrasebooks.
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| datsunking1 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5378 days ago 1014 posts - 1533 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Russian, Dutch, French | Message 4 of 11 14 January 2010 at 10:41pm | IP Logged | ||
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Welcome aboard!
First, NEVER be scared to use what you have learned with a native speaker. Natives usually find a foreigner trying to speak their language very thoughtful, kind, and open minded. They will usually correct and help you too, which makes the learning process even faster. Honestly, I learned more in ONE MONTH speaking with a native than I did in a YEAR of classes. The books that meramarina recommended are excellent, I have personally looked at them ( I'm going to be a doctor someday) and they really are great for interacting on a doctor to patient basis. Cainntear recommendation of Michel Thomas is excellent also, they will give you a good foundation to build upon :) Best of luck!! Jordan 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| meramarina Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5760 days ago 1341 posts - 2303 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Italian, French Personal Language Map | Message 5 of 11 14 January 2010 at 10:50pm | IP Logged | ||
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Why don't you try hospital volunteer work, datsunking? There is a HUGE need for medical translation/interpretation. The actual certification process is only a few community college courses, too. Your language skills would be very useful and it's a great way to see if you really enjoy the medical field (it's extremely stressful!) Anyway, excellent ambition--you should do well!
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Muz9 Diglot Groupie Netherlands Joined 5317 days ago 84 posts - 112 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written), Somali | Message 6 of 11 14 January 2010 at 11:13pm | IP Logged | ||
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Platiquemos is one of the few comprehensive Spanish courses that I know of. I use it myself and I am at unit 20 and making strong progress. If you make it up to unit 55 you should be able to understand spoken Spanish on native speed and have the ability to speak Spanish on a basic fluency level. You could supplement it with Assimil, which is in continental European Spanish though, but the accent is very neutral and easily comprehensible by Latinos.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| canada38 Tetraglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5288 days ago 304 posts - 417 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish, French Studies: Portuguese, Japanese | Message 7 of 11 14 January 2010 at 11:17pm | IP Logged | ||
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You said that you have done Pimsleur along with some other resources. Which Pimsleur have
you completed? If you have done all 3 levels of 30 lessons each, then I'm not sure where to direct you as I am still in the beginner stage of learning Spanish myself. However, if you have only done the first ten Pimsleur lessons from the Basic set or however many come in the goPimsleur set, you should continue on with the rest. If you aren't sure which you've done (or anyone else reading this): if you've only spent roughly $30 on the Pimsleur set, it is probably the Basic or goPimsleur series. If you spent over $200, then you have one of the three Pimsleur levels (each costing about $200). While expensive, it really is a good method to learn to speak a language. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| datsunking1 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5378 days ago 1014 posts - 1533 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Russian, Dutch, French | Message 8 of 11 14 January 2010 at 11:20pm | IP Logged | ||
Thank you! I have already, they wouldn't let me see the "fun stuff" I had to work with technicians and it was VERY boring. As for translation, Spanish speakers where I live are rare, :( So I don't use it very often unless I log on to this forum or a Spanish chat room. I plan to study both German and Spanish to the high fluency level possible. I don't think I'll ever stop studying them :D Do you use Spanish often? 1 person has voted this message useful |
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