Learning second language

[pharm4312]

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Hello
I am a P4 student and am thinking about learning a new language through rosetta stone for the purpose that it may help find a job when graduating. I only know a little bit of french as a foreign language.

Do you think this will ultimately be helpful, and if so, what would the most useful language be?

Spanish is the obvious thought, but something a little more obscure like russian or chinese may be more of a commodity.

I am not sure what the best language would be, or even if this is worthwhile. I obviously only expect to learn a basic conversational proficiency, not to be able to counsel on medications in the other language.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

I'd learn Spanish. Much more useful to United States citizens. I'm currently learning French with a free Android app called Duolingo with some success.

 

[pharm B]

You're trying to become decently fluent in a short amount of time, so I would go with Spanish. It's a frequently-encountered language, and it's probably no more difficult than French to pick up. Once you know the verbs, it's all just a matter of how you conjugate them. Vocabulary would be just rote memorization.

My wife and I are learning Irish (already speak Spanish and a little German) via Rosetta Stone right now and I really like the setup of the program. We're not native speakers now by any means, but we can hold a conversation.

 

[BonbonBoom]

I have had the same thoughts too. Spanish would be the most frequently used, and I feel like if you learned any other language, you might not even have to use it at all (unless you intend to work in a town where that language is frequently used). For instance, what are the odds you will run into someone who understands more French/German/Russian than English? Chinese might be a better alternative to Spanish.

 

[pharm B]

When I was a pharmacy tech in South Texas, I quickly discovered how useful Spanish can be as a second language. The nice part is that the sentence structure is pretty simple, so it really was like getting back on a bike. I think you definitely could go from a baseline of nada to pharmacy-fluent in less than a year if you work at it.

 

[kendrick lamar]

Hello
I am a P4 student and am thinking about learning a new language through rosetta stone for the purpose that it may help find a job when graduating. I only know a little bit of french as a foreign language.

Do you think this will ultimately be helpful, and if so, what would the most useful language be?

Spanish is the obvious thought, but something a little more obscure like russian or chinese may be more of a commodity.

I am not sure what the best language would be, or even if this is worthwhile. I obviously only expect to learn a basic conversational proficiency, not to be able to counsel on medications in the other language.

Would most likely depend on the area you work in. I know a doctor who learned Portuguese in a city I used to live in because there was a huge population there. In California, like Bay Area, you got a lot of people speaking Hindi, Farsi and probs Mandarin Chinese. Near Montreal, like the Vermont, Maine, or New Hampshire border, perhaps knowing French would be useful.

Spanish is the language most people try to learn as a second language since a lot of people in the country speak it regardless of geographic locale. I would def consider Spanish before anything else. 🙂

 

[68quebec]

Spanish is definite one to go! however, if you want to follow global trend, chinese might be another good one to go.

 

[Bubblewrap]

A small side question.

Will learning another language be helpful in the healthcare field? I ask because when I took French in high school I learned colors, action verbs, descriptive words, etc but I'm wondering if learning a second language at a nearby college will help me communicate in the pharmacy world. I mean I don't know if we will learn words that we will use in the healthcare field.

 

[pharm B]

If you work in a retail pharmacy, a second language can definitely be helpful. Will a semester or two of language courses teach you to speak in a healthcare environment? Nope. Just supplement the foundation stuff with books/videos of healthcare Spanish (or whatever language).

 

[radio frequency]

Spanish, for sure. Chinese is a bit of a novelty, but learning it fluently stateside is somewhat difficult. You'd really want to go and spend time there to pick it up well enough to use in a healthcare setting. Spanish you could learn and use in the US, and if you wanted to get better, you could travel and study in Mexico, Central or South America fairly easily...(and cheaply)

 

[xiphoid2010]

I don't foresee Chinese being very useful in direct patient care unless you live near a Chinatown. Learning it would be far more useful in business and trade side.

The Hispanics already here and continues to come here will far out strip the relatively tiny Chinese American population for the foreseeable future, especially if we provide citizenship to them.

 

[Stilltrying1288]

I'm fortunate to be fluent in Spanish and it was pretty helpful in terms of gaining a payed internship. Not sure how helpful it will be in finding a job later on, but all my preceptors and managers tell me it will be big.

 

[boriqua]

Chinese and Spanish. if you somehow learn to be fluent in these 2 languages, even if by some miracle, you can't find a job as a pharmacist, you can bet your ass that you can get a job doing something. I picked up the Chinese newspaper the other day and there were like 8 Chinese pharmacies looking for full time pharmacists that spoke fluent mandarin.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

You don't even need to know the language in China.

If my life ever goes topsy turvy and I'm alone, broke, and hopeless...I think that's what I'm going to do.

 

[Ackj]

You don't even need to know the language in China.

If my life ever goes topsy turvy and I'm alone, broke, and hopeless...I think that's what I'm going to do.

Hell, that sounds like a great vacation idea. If you could get like a 1-2 week gig for some grand opening, that sounds like a lot of fun. Get a few buddies and you could be the whole board of directors, forget a guys' weekend in Vegas.

 

[xiphoid2010]

You don't even need to know the language in China.

If my life ever goes topsy turvy and I'm alone, broke, and hopeless...I think that's what I'm going to do.

Better get in while you still can. White guy used to something people gawk at in China, but now they are a dime a dozen in major coastal metropolis that people don't notice much any more. These shows might still be a good gig in the less developed inland and western provinces though. Go I would get in on it before it's all gone dood! 😎