Ideas for Spanish in Pharmacy interest group?

[Dolcely]

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Hi fellow pharmacy students, I wanted to see if any of you had ideas for activities that can be done in a Spanish Pharmacy interest group. The goal of this interest group is to help students understand the importance of communication with patients even if they are Spanish speakers (do to the rapid rise of the hispanic population in the US) and help students get familiar with common phrases, questions and responses, and such words that are most commonly used in the pharmacy setting (specifically retail). Any input is greatly appreciated!

Fun activities to learn Spanish, volunteer opportunities we can look for, anything ...

Thanks!

 

[anewmanx]

There is such a wide variety of dialects that get labeled as "Spanish." The colonization of Latin America began over 500 years ago. Due to this, the language evolved differently from the motherland of Spain. In addition there was a mixing of indigenous phrases and very individualized country specific evolution of the language.

So when you say "common phrases," etc... that can open up a real can of worms. I can speak proper Spanish with just about anyone and they will understand me, but I would be hard pressed to understand half of what people from Puerto Rico or Mexico say. The reason? Pronunciation differences, colloquialisms, and cultural references that don't translate across physical borders. Here are some good examples of the problem in Engilsh.

People should focus on learning to use good Usted form Spanish, and especially how to READ Spanish. When all else fails someone can write down what they're trying to ask you.

Things like Google Translate are next to useless for translating Germanic languages into Romance languages and vice versa .The grammatical structures are just too different to create a clearly understandable translation. Nothing will replace getting a solid foundation in the grammar of a language.

Anyone interested in adding the Spanish feather to their cap should minor in the language, or take private lessons until they reach the B2-C1 level. The easiest solution for a pharmacists is to hire bilingual pharmacy techs.

 

[Dolcely]

I completely agree with everything you said and thank you for adding to the conversation! Although having an educated bilingual tech in every pharmacy would be more than ideal, there seems to be a lack of health care professionals (in this case, pharm techs) interested being able to provide these services. The reason to start a Spanish Pharmacy group is not to teach others to speak Spanish perfectly, its just to get them familiar to the language because more than likely every pharmacist is going to encounter this problem and there will not be a bilingual tech around. You are correct in explaining that there are so many types of Spanish languages because of dialects and I can tell you from experience (being a native speaker) it can be hard for me to understand others if they are from another Latin American country than I am, even they are speaking Spanish to me. The Spanish group just wants to expose students to multiple ways of being able to understand and communicate with spanish only speaking patients. This initiative can only help us as professionals expand our ability to reach out to more patients. If anyone in is interested in working as a translator, then yes you have to major in Spanish, but this group is not meaning to certify students as translators, its focused on expanding our ability to communicate with others.

I appreciate the feedback!

 

[anewmanx]

duolingo for practice, good solid usted form practice sentences.... that would be invaluable to anyone wanting to get their foot in the door; even though duolingo is not 100% accurate.

 

[Dolcely]

I've heard of it, I'll try it and recommend it to others. Thanks!