Language barriers,

Okay let's start off this thread by saying I'm not racist. Take this rant however you want it, but if you take racism from it, you went full tard. Anyways! I'm a frequent flyer of my hospital due to a lung disease and just recently a lung transplant. I've been here almost two weeks and I've had a NUMBER of IVs and whatever else but that's not at all what this rant is about. This is about the fact that I simply can't understand a damn thing my nurses assistant says or means, don't get me wrong thank god for people who want this profession but at the same time having to repeat I HAVE A HEADACHE five times doesn't really help. I don't mind broken English but goddamn it please it would be so much easier if I could understand you, maybe it's me I don't know but the fact that my nurses assistant is named "gifty" explains why I can't get past the barrier. Sorry this is probably a stupid thread but it just drives me crazy that certain professions don't require learning English!

 

Welcome to the United States of America I am not racist or discriminative in any way, but I also feel that a common language should be used/required by all in the same country. The problem with your rant is you said "require learning English"... These places do require English but there is no quality control to ensure it is at a certain level of proficiency. I took a few years of Spanish and sign language, and I know enough of both to pass a language test. That doesn't mean I can clearly and effectively communicate in those languages though. And that's were the problem is.

I deal with a wide variety of people on a daily basis, many of which are criminals and low life's lacking any half decent education and yet the majority still speak good English. Why can't educated professionals be the same. It doesn't make sense.

Just another annoyance in life I suppose

 

a vaguely english-speaking nurse in an english speaking hospital is dangerous....

what the fuck?

 

I'm in Australia for the time being and the people here don't give a shit about being politically correct. Basically you conform to their rules (learn and speak English) or get the fuck out. I am a Vietnamese American and think the USA needs to learn a bit from the Aussies.

 

You guys are all lucky that can speak well English, may be said swap a position, and you move to another country and have to learn different language, and see how far you can go..... it is hard. Just take it easy.

 

Try Japanese and Chinese. These are the hardest languages to learn,read from right to left will sure fucked your mind up...

Bilingual ain't easy,how many languages do y'all speak?

 

Ilokano, Tagalog, English, Spanish, and Japanese. And pretty soon Thai. It's not the language barrier but the enunciation. English is my second language and I've learned that its different from someone who grew up with English. I've learned to enunciate and can speak proficient. But when it comes to talking to someone who isn't proficient. I've learned to dumb it down.

 

Nice collections. Thai is easy. I do French, a little Chinese,and Japanese. A little rusty after 25 something years....

 

Come to Fla.. Half our kids can not and will not speak English. Some schools only teach in spanish, Even the driving test can be taken in spanish now yet all our road sign's are in English. Real safe out there. The state was trying to make it so if you wanted welfare you had to TRY to learn Eng.. The aclu shot that down... ITs the USA G.D. IT learn English or go home...

 

I was told some part of Florida,you need to be bilingual to get a job,is that true ?

 

It's true

 

My old doctor was indian or something. She spoke well enough english, but her accent was so think and she spoke really soft so I was that one asking her to repeat stuff 5 times. She would rattle off a bunch of crazy medical terms and whatnot, while my brain is still trying to decipher what she said at the beginning.

A 100% American doctor did the most damage to me though, so maybe a communication barrier is the way to go.

 

Dude, if EVER there is a doubt about whether a nurse, PA, doctor, xray, blood or other tech is understanding you, STOP them (or hopefully you have someone with you to STOP them) and either make sure they understand or make them get someone else who DOES understand.

This is your health in the end, and their screwup may be YOUR demise. No shame in asking for someone with better English skills. Hell, we do it all the time when dealing with 3rd level tech support at work for big iron servers, so I see no reason why not to do it for something far more critical.

Anyone who thinks you're racist for doing that is 1) elitist or 2) stupid or 3) both.

I'll admit, I'm spoiled - we've got a doctor, an RN, a pharmacy tech, a respiratory tech and a medical assistant instructor in my family. Whenever someone ends up in the hospital, there are plenty of people with $clue to listen and observe and speak up if necessary. Sadly, most people are not comfortable doing so (God-complex/God-appearance of medical personnel).

 

I experience this just about every day at the factory I work in.

These people try to speak English, but their broken knowledge of it mixed in with their native language and their accent - makes it very hard to understand. Two people I work closely with and although I've somewhat learned how to pickup words from how they talk...I will admit, I miss a lot and sometimes simply don't want to make them repeat it over and over again (depends on the content). Another guy (different native) speaks so fast and ripples his tongue - sometimes he literally has to get pen & paper and write shit down. If I NEED to hear it again or need to understand it - they WILL get it out right either by paper or talking S L O W E R lol

The other folks (entry level) that I work with daily.... I don't have to communicate with them too much. As long as they do their job. When there's a problem..... It's just easier to SHOW them what they're doing wrong.

And God forbid if you EVER get mad at them, yell at them.... RANT - Today's society has no balls and lazy as shit!! (sorry - laugh)

 

Mexican ?

 

Not sure...I'm thinking India