Learning New Language in Medical School

[hopefulscientist]

Hey all. I am reflecting on my recent more realized desire to do global health work in the Middle East and I was wondering how doable you all think it is to learn a more complex foreign language (Arabic) during medical school? I am going for at least intermediate proficiency, though ideally more expert. I have already been accepted to a traditional medical school program (2 years pre-clinical, 2 years clinical) so it is better if I decide on my options sooner rather than later.

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[emergencycat]

I did some public health work in the Middle East and loved it. If you've been accepted already and really want to learn Arabic, work hard to learn it now. Arabic is not an easy language to learn. Medical school is not easy, either, and it's incredibly time consuming. You could (maybe) spend a few minutes a day keeping your Arabic from getting rusty, but no way will you be able to actually learn the language while in school. Also, may I ask what connection you have to the Middle East? Is your family from a country in the Middle East or have you ever been there? Plenty of people that I worked with from the US while there would be very unlikely to go back. Some people loved it, but most that did had family connections. I have no family there and will very likely work there again after I finish my medical training, but

Also, I wanted to point out that learning "Arabic" isn't like learning French or Spanish. There are quite a few dialects and you should focus on learning the one spoken in the area that you want to work.

I would focus on learning the skills right now that will actually allow you to help people down the road. The best way to learn a language is to live in the area that it is spoken. You can learn Arabic and become proficient when you actually live in a country that speaks it. Don't waste too much time learning a language you'll forget due to lack of practice. That being said, if you end up going to school in an area with a large Arabic-speaking population, you might get a little bit of practice in with patients. Still, my vote is to learn a bit now for fun, focus on learning medicine, then learn it well when you actually live/work in a country that speaks it.

 

[doc05]

I hope you're not serious. It's doubtful you will learn a complex foreign language and actually maintain proficiency without daily use.

 

[hopefulscientist]

I spent some time in Kuwait a few years back and enjoyed how down to Earth the people are, despite a somewhat unstable environment. As for dialects, I am aware of that and planning on Egyptian Arabic as it seems to be well understood by many in the Arab world (Pimsleur has a program for it). I appreciate your advice on focusing on medicine during medical school, I'm an ambitious guy, though it is helpful for people to remind me that there are only so many hours in a day to do everything. I'll likely find a global health program that I could participate in and teach myself Arabic over this coming summer and the following summer. Thanks for the direction!

 

[Stagg737]

Unless you have a knack for learning language and have a person or group that you can talk to in that language regularly, I think you're being a bit foolish to shoot for "expert proficiency" unless you plan on doing almost nothing other than med school and learning that language. You could probably get to a point where you're moderately conversational, but I'd wait until you finish your first semester of med school to decide if it's really worth the extra time and effort on top of everything you'll need to do for medicine.

 

[Moko]

Learning a foreign language during medical school will be tough, especially considering that most of your time will be spent learning the language of medicine over the next few years. If you're dead-set on learning Arabic though, see if there are clinical electives that you can take in the Middle East during your third and fourth year (in addition to spending your summers abroad).

 

[AMEHigh]

Although difficult, if it's something that you really want to do, it's not impossible. I found especially during the the first 2 years of school where you're mostly in the classroom, there is time for hobbies. Does your city offer arabic lessons? If so, definitely take lessons.

I went from knowing zero french to at least being somewhat conversational during med school based on work I did overseas. With the internet these days it makes it easier to be immersed in different languages. Honestly, I've gotten a little lazy, but I was practicing my french everyday and would listen to French radio all the time when I was home and practice that way. I was doing pretty good with practicing during the beginning of residency year, but I've slacked off a little, I need to get back in to it.

I know a few people over the years who have learned arabic, but most of them lived in countries where they spoke the language for several months. Although medical school is difficult, if it is really something you want to do, if you put in the discipline and time, it is something that you can fit in to the schedule. Learning french is something that is going to help my career in the future, so I'm planning to stick with it.

 

[familyaerospace]

I am doing Hebrew in medical school. It is really not the best time to learn it.

 

[tick_tock400]

I spent some time in Kuwait a few years back and enjoyed how down to Earth the people are, despite a somewhat unstable environment. As for dialects, I am aware of that and planning on Egyptian Arabic as it seems to be well understood by many in the Arab world (Pimsleur has a program for it). I appreciate your advice on focusing on medicine during medical school, I'm an ambitious guy, though it is helpful for people to remind me that there are only so many hours in a day to do everything. I'll likely find a global health program that I could participate in and teach myself Arabic over this coming summer and the following summer. Thanks for the direction!

Hey! So I actually picked up Arabic pretty quick and had some friends (non-Arabs) who did so well. Granted, we didn't do it in medical school, but I would disagree with the above posters that not being in an Arabic-speaking country makes learning Arabic on a more fluent basis much more difficult. There were multiple persons I knew who could speak Arabic on a semi-fluent basis (enough to have legit conversations) without ever having been to the Arab world. I will say that a lot of people LOVE the Middle East too though, it's not for everyone, but the Middle East is very different from one city to the next, and there are about 22 Arabic speaking nations. This will be a very useful language to learn for sure, and even if you don't pick up fluency, you'll probably meet many patients who would appreciate a few kind words, expressions, greetings, etc being said to them in their native language. I would learn modern standard Arabic if I were you, and the "watered down" versions of Egyptian Arabic and Levantine Arabic that are found in many textbooks should be understood by a lot of the Arabic world as well (I'm saying "watered down" because a lot of times these books will put like 80% Modern Standard Arabic and 20% Egyptian Arabic, so you're still learning Modern Standard Arabic essentially). That being said though, I definitely put a big halt to my language learning in medical school because of how intensive I find medical school to be and I'm not sure if it's that useful gaining even more fluency in languages like Arabic than what I have right now, although I have certainly lost my fluency at this stage because I barely use it.

Kuwait and other Gulf countries are a bit different in that I doubt you need Arabic to really survive there, considering especially how probably a minority of the population speaks the language too! I'm not sure how good Pimsleur is-- I may have tried it myself-- but I actually took some classes in undergraduate, and those are help at the very beginning, but a lot of learning with Arabic you can do on your own, and there's so many books out there to help you. I really don't think this is an "ambitious" goal as someone who's been there and who's had many friends "be there" as well. I would say medical school is tough, but not THAT tough that you can't squeeze in any language study. I would recommend finding friends you might be able to practice your Arabic with, making goals for yourself (so one of mine was-- that really helped me pick up fluency-- was to record myself speaking in Arabic for 10 minutes/day minimum, and I would just describe my settings or read an article out loud, etc, and it REALLY helped), and not letting people tell you that you can'd do it! I've had experience with some of these "programs" by the way for intensive Arabic learning both in the USA & abroad and I haven't had positive experiences; I have heard positive things about University of Jordan for instance though, Middlebury, and UT Austin on the bright side though. I would also highly recommend looking into scholarships for language learning as Arabic is a language that many programs might give you scholarships to learn as a student.

Best of luck! Feel free to PM if you have any specific questions!

 

[whatever5]

The tough part is learning spoken vs written arabic. Most arabic lessons you'll find will teach you modern standard arabic (which is great for reading/writing, but if you actually spoke like that you'd raise a lot of eyebrows).

Finding a resource to learn spoken arabic is difficult, depending on what dialect you're looking for.

 

[Kazaki]

Arabic is my first language. It's not easy! Especially for a native English speaker, because English is probably one of the easiest languages to learn and master. The thing that makes learning Arabic so difficult (aside from being a wonder of a language really) is that wherever you learn Arabic, they're going to teach you formal Arabic, which is never used by the public. Bedouins don't actually speak formal Arabic, but they are the only people that properly master the language.

You could (maybe) spend a few minutes a day keeping your Arabic from getting rusty

You will never attain beginner proficiency with a few minutes of practice a day, you need time. Lots of it.

I am aware of that and planning on Egyptian Arabic as it seems to be well understood by many in the Arab world

Shows how little you know about Arabic, since Egyptian Arabic is by far one of the weirdest dialects. Probably has something to do with the fact that Egyptians aren't actually Arab since they're African, and how they watered down the language when it was brought to them...

The question that comes to mind is, why Arabic? Being able to speak different languages is something that many employers look for in a doctor, but wouldn't Spanish be more useful as a second language in the US? Because I'm going to start learning Spanish next year

 

[tick_tock400]

Arabic is my first language. It's not easy! Especially for a native English speaker, because English is probably one of the easiest languages to learn and master. The thing that makes learning Arabic so difficult (aside from being a wonder of a language really) is that wherever you learn Arabic, they're going to teach you formal Arabic, which is never used by the public. Bedouins don't actually speak formal Arabic, but they are the only people that properly master the language.


You will never attain beginner proficiency with a few minutes of practice a day, you need time. Lots of it.


Shows how little you know about Arabic, since Egyptian Arabic is by far one of the weirdest dialects. Probably has something to do with the fact that Egyptians aren't actually Arab since they're African, and how they watered down the language when it was brought to them...

The question that comes to mind is, why Arabic? Being able to speak different languages is something that many employers look for in a doctor, but wouldn't Spanish be more useful as a second language in the US? Because I'm going to start learning Spanish next year

I would disagree with the above poster and argue that English is actually considered one of the harder/hardest languages to master. I think learning beginning Arabic will need lots of time, but we have several different people at my medical school who are trying to learn languages from scratch essentially to go to different countries during the summer, and I do go to a medical school that is considered very intensive. I put in a LOT of time to learn Arabic though and gained a solid understanding of it, and while it's highly unlikely OP will be able to do that, he can probably gain at least beginner proficiency. There are also plenty of patients who only speak Arabic or prefer it considering it is the 5th most common language in the world, we have many elderly Arabs here, many undocumented Arabs, an influx of refugees currently and over the upcoming years, etc. Arabic will definitely be very useful. Also, Egypt is considered part of the Arab world, along with countries like Somalia and North Sudan. The Egyptian Arabic that is often taught in books is not the exact same that Egyptians from lower socioeconomic classes speak amongst themselves, but the few words here and there (i.e. mish, mafeesh, etc) that OP will learn will help him to communicate a lot with Arabs from different regions.

 

[Kazaki]

I would disagree with the above poster and argue that English is actually considered one of the harder/hardest languages to master. I think learning beginning Arabic will need lots of time, but we have several different people at my medical school who are trying to learn languages from scratch essentially to go to different countries during the summer, and I do go to a medical school that is considered very intensive. I put in a LOT of time to learn Arabic though and gained a solid understanding of it, and while it's highly unlikely OP will be able to do that, he can probably gain at least beginner proficiency. There are also plenty of patients who only speak Arabic or prefer it considering it is the 5th most common language in the world, we have many elderly Arabs here, many undocumented Arabs, an influx of refugees currently and over the upcoming years, etc. Arabic will definitely be very useful. Also, Egypt is considered part of the Arab world, along with countries like Somalia and North Sudan. The Egyptian Arabic that is often taught in books is not the exact same that Egyptians from lower socioeconomic classes speak amongst themselves, but the few words here and there (i.e. mish, mafeesh, etc) that OP will learn will help him to communicate a lot with Arabs from different regions.

Fact is, English is very easy to learn regardless of your opinion. We're not talking about being able to say a few words here, saying a few words in any language doesn't mean that you can speak it, just keep that in mind. Trying to get a very basic history in Arabic is actually a lot harder than you think. One can probably gain beginner proficiency in Arabic over a year or two, just not by practicing for a few minutes a day.
I never said that Egypt isn't part of the Arab world, Egyptians (and all African nations that are part of the Arab world) aren't Arab...Their roots go back to random African tribes, not Arabic tribes.

For anyone trying to learn Arabic to use in a hospital setting, I suggest you stick to formal Arabic and build a solid foundation with that. Once you have that it'll make learning multiple dialects a lot easier, which is your goal at the end of the day.

 

[shadowlightfox]

I want to revive this topic because I myself have been studying Japanese for a while and with medical school starting, I don't want to forget all that I have learned. But wow, it's disheartening to see so many people saying you won't have time. But I guess it is what it is.

 

[GoodWillShunting]

Nobody knows your language skills. Medical school is tough, learning languages is tough, but everybody has 24 hours in a day. If you really wanted to, and have the ability to balance, then yes, you can learn. It will be hard, it will take longer, but not necessarily impossible or unlikely for a lot of people, in and of itself.


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[CharakaComplex]

Honestly you should definitely learn a language if you have a really strong motivation to as well as the time management skills to do so. Like, you're definitely going to have to triage your life and decide what's important during your course (but nothing with the exception of your health should be more important than med school), and if learning a language is important to you then by all means, go for it.

It definitely isn't impossible, though. I've been taking my Sanskrit certificates and learning German and Hungarian on the side, but a) I do pick up languages easily; and b) I have exactly no social life, lol (but this is mostly because I live too far from anyone else to have one). Different people have propensities for different hobbies, of course, language just happens to be what I'm good at.

 

[Mongoosie]

I want to revive this topic because I myself have been studying Japanese for a while and with medical school starting, I don't want to forget all that I have learned. But wow, it's disheartening to see so many people saying you won't have time. But I guess it is what it is.

Do your best to find other japanese speakers and try your best to converse with them. It might be a bit over zealous to continuously study kanji and all that, but I hope that you could maintain speaking ability.

 

[SRWOLFE]

I'm trying to learn Russian right now using Duolingo.

 

[Mongoosie]

I'm trying to learn Russian right now using Duolingo.

If you're not learning as fast as you'd like to I might recommend using Duolingo as a supplement and instead try to focus on reading children's books and progressing in difficulty. Grammar books are also super helpful as you are actually writing the material, whereas in Duolingo you just click the option.

 

[SRWOLFE]

If you're not learning as fast as you'd like to I might recommend using Duolingo as a supplement and instead try to focus on reading children's books and progressing in difficulty. Grammar books are also super helpful as you are actually writing the material, whereas in Duolingo you just click the option.

I've thought of that. Looked on Amazon but couldn't pick one / don't know which would be best. Might check out a B&N but I doubt they have Russian kid's books!

 

[croak]

If you are dedicated to become a physician, learning another language, culture, and history will at some point in your career be respected and admired.

 

[shadowlightfox]

Do your best to find other japanese speakers and try your best to converse with them. It might be a bit over zealous to continuously study kanji and all that, but I hope that you could maintain speaking ability.

There are a lot of Japanese people near where I live, but that's the problem. It's near where I live, not near where I'm going to med school. And even then, encountering someone who speaks Japanese natively is very slim, so I'm gonna have to find another way to maintain my Japanese.

I'm planning on continuing to use Anki for my Japanese, as well as Wanikani for Kanji. I've come too far to just abandon it all!

 

[sithmoo]

I think that medical school might actually help you learn a new language in the sense that it encourages a structure and routine approach to studying. So if you can find time to make sure to squeeze it in regularly, you may do quite well. Don't forget about talking to real people who speak the language fluently! There are 'pen pal' exchange sites like https://www.italki.com/partners which are there to help you pair up with someone (help them learn English in exchange for time speaking Arabic, etc.). Not affiliated with that particular site, but thought it looked cool.