Poll: Most useful foreign language to learn?

[Geekchick921]

In your opinion, for practicing medicine in the United States, what is the most useful foreign language to become at least conversational in? We all know it really varies by location, but in general, which do you think is the most useful?

Please feel free to elaborate on your answer, especially if you choose an option without a specific answer.

We all know English is the most useful, smarty-pants.

Also, I suck... I forgot to add ASL and you can't edit the poll after you make it. Of course, depending on your specialty, ASL is probably the worst language to learn. Case in point: Ob/Gyn.

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[armybound]

I don't think you'll see any debate here.. spanish is probably MOST useful.

though I think you'd be a real asset if you knew sign language, since I doubt there are too many people around who know it. everything else will just be situational.

 

[PT2MD]

The smartass in me wants to say "English". The other 20% of me says to learn spanish.

 

[TexasTriathlete]

Fortran

 

[lisichka]

useful: spanish

vanity lanquage: italian. when i went to italy, i fell in love with this beauitiful lanquage and its charm. i envy italians, b/c they really don't speak the language, they sing it. quite amazing 😍

 

[armybound]

Fortran

what a nerd

 

[0Complications]

I think that Spanish is definitely the best choice as a second language if you're practicing in the US. If you're planning on going into epidemiology or some other field and want to work for WHO or some other world organization I would say Chinese is going to be a big one to learn (Plus, I think WHO requires 3 languages- Primary and 2 additional).

 

[Drogba]

Fortran

Boo, definitely go with pascal 👍

Seriously though there is no debate, spanish is by far the most useful generally speaking in the US. Other languages are only useful in certain areas. Unless you are 100% certain you want to work with boston haitians or NYC chinese I'd go with spanish.

 

[Vihsadas]

Lol. I misclicked. You can add one more to spanish, and take one off of french. haha

 

[PeepshowJohnny]

I hope this post doesn't come off politically incorrect...

I'm also voting for Spanish as well. The thing about learning Spanish is a lot of your patients who only speak Spanish are going to be lower socioeconomic status illegal immigrant/undocumented worker/whatever status you want to call it or their family members. Because of their perilous legal situation, it's a lot harder for them to find a family member/friend willing to miss work or school to come in and serve as their translator.

When I worked in a hospital in a University town, I encountered patients who only spoke a wide variety of languages (Hindi, various chinese dialects, Russian, etc..) but they tended to be older patients who were accompanied by their multilingual adult children (who tended to be graduate students, professors, or white collar workers) who were always on hand.

 

[Myuu]

Boo, definitely go with pascal 👍

Seriously though there is no debate, spanish is by far the most useful generally speaking in the US. Other languages are only useful in certain areas. Unless you are 100% certain you want to work with boston haitians or NYC chinese I'd go with spanish.

Where are your priorities? Assembly.

 

[Drogba]

Where are your priorities? Assembly.

Thats like trying to learn indoeuropean ;].

I used to do C++, Java and a bit of VB.

I gave up on all that though but I'm teaching myself VBScript, to automate windows tasks and file manipulations and VBA so I can exploit office to its full potential (especially excel). I think those two are the most useful for non-computer scientists that work a lot with computers and data management.

 

[Geekchick921]

useful: spanish

vanity lanquage: italian. when i went to italy, i fell in love with this beauitiful lanquage and its charm. i envy italians, b/c they really don't speak the language, they sing it. quite amazing 😍

I agree completely... I think Italian is the most beautiful language there is. Good thing is that you can effectively understand both Spanish and Italian if you know one or the other.

While I also think Spanish is probably the most useful, from personal experience, if I could suddenly become fluent in any language to help me at work, I'd choose Russian. We get a LOT of older Russian patients who come here because we have a few Russian speaking doctors and they don't speak a lick of English.

 

[MarySue99]

If you want to work for doctors without borders, you should probably learn French, but that is a very specific case.

 

[pntgrd]

If you know English, you're already in good shape compared to those who don't.

Spanish is the most useful in the US as a 2nd language, especially in the west. German and French are good if you will be spending time in Europe, Russian is good for Eastern Europe and former USSR, Arabic good for middle east or CIA and military work, and Hebrew and Greek good for studying the bible in original text.

It all depends on your goals.

 

[Drogba]

If you know English, you're already in good shape compared to those who don't.

Spanish is the most useful in the US as a 2nd language, especially in the west. German and French are good if you will be spending time in Europe, Russian is good for Eastern Europe and former USSR, Arabic good for middle east or CIA and military work, and Hebrew and Greek good for studying the bible in original text.

It all depends on your goals.

Arabic is very useful in many parts of africa as well. Probably the most useful language for that continent along side english.

 

[TexanGirl]

Arabic is very useful in many parts of africa as well. Probably the most useful language for that continent along side english.

Yes, I've heard that about 20% of Africans speak a dialect of Arabic (mostly North Africans). But as for European languages, French or English should suffice in Africa; however, I would imagine that regular use is just limited to a literate minority.

 

[taponthecloud]

Depends where you want to practice. French is very useful in some parts of the Caribbean (Haiti) as well as northern Africa.

 

[Abilene85]

If you have no preference, Spanish would be best. But if you are interested in a different language, learn that one. If everybody learns to speak Spanish, than there won't be many around to help out with French or Russian patients.

 

[Sir Buckethead]

OK everyone agrees with spanish being number 1, lets see if we can reach consensus on #2:

I say french, because it's the next most widespread colonial language. In particular, if you are interested in working in Africa French would be very helpful.

 

[Geekchick921]

OK everyone agrees with spanish being number 1, lets see if we can reach consensus on #2:

I say french, because it's the next most widespread colonial language. In particular, if you are interested in working in Africa French would be very helpful.

Yeah, in retrospect, I should have said "Aside from Spanish" and had all the other options up there.

I would say Russian or an east-Asian language like Chinese, Japanese, etc., though if I was going to learn another language (if I learned Spanish first) I would probably finish learning Italian.

 

[skyeblue0610]

Spanish for me since I live and will practice in Texas. But I tried my best for 3 YEARS to learn it and barely made it out alive😱 My senior year GPA was SO high because I was done with that.

Right now, I can't speak it, read it, or write it.

 

[shantster]

Seeing as Spanish is the 2nd most spoken language in the US, that would be the choice unless you're planning on working somewhere with a larger population of some other group.

I think sign language is the next most common language so that would be useful.

 

[Sir Buckethead]

Spanish for me since I live and will practice in Texas. But I tried my best for 3 YEARS to learn it and barely made it out alive😱 My senior year GPA was SO high because I was done with that.

Right now, I can't speak it, read it, or write it.

Sounds like you're just not a natural language-learner.

Be glad you live in america where it isn't expected of you.

 

[coldweatherblue]

definitely spanish.

sucks for me because I speak conversational German (family is German-American), French (took it in high-school and liked it, went to France, sister is fluent, etc) and Czech (lived in Prague for a year) but no spanish other than what can get me by at taco bell. I like languages so I'm sure I'll learn spanish at some point though. Spanish is the most useful because there are many spanish-speaking people in the United States who do not speak English. Therefore to give them medical care you must either speak spanish or have an interpreter. Anyone in the states from Germany, France, or the Czech Republic most likely speaks English quite well anyway... 👍

 

[Doc Aspirant]

Well, for practicing in the US (most of it) Spanish is probably the most useful but not just because of the increasing numbers of Spanish-speaking people here but because of its relation to the other Romance Languages. If you were fluent in Spanish it would be much easier to communicate with a Portuguese person so learning Spanish has a lot of benefits I guess. (Of course you already knew about that relationship I just felt like typing something, don't mind me 😛)

 

[cbrons]

Tagalog is a pretty important language

 

[typhoonegator]

Haitian creole...at least in Boston.

 

[pakbabydoll]

Really depends on where in US you want to practice. Dearborn Michigan you better know at leasts some urdu/hindi/arabic. Other then that Spanish is the most useful, after English of course.

 

[TexanGirl]

Well, aside from Spanish, I think French would be the most useful language to know if practicing in the US. It's the official language of over 20 countries, so even if you don't speak a lick of Arabic or Yoruba, you can still communicate with a good majority of patients who have learned French as a second language. Also, français est romantique! 😍

However, I think if you're just learning languages for economic use and not out of any legitimate personal interest, you won't get very far. Learning languages is a huge, huge time investment and to achieve near-fluency takes serious devotion: most people don't have that kind of sustained interest. If you somehow manage to make it personal to you, then I congratulate you in being in the minority that is culturally and linguistically enriched!

 

[Dave_D]

I suppose you could argue latin since arn't alot of medical terms actually latin? (As for me I'm sticking with English given everything I've been through.)

 

[TexanGirl]

I suppose you could argue latin since arn't alot of medical terms actually latin? (As for me I'm sticking with English given everything I've been through.)

Yeah, although you'd risk looking like an elitist intellectual snob.

 

[skyeblue0610]

Sounds like you're just not a natural language-learner.

Be glad you live in america where it isn't expected of you.

Down here it kinda feel like it is. My school was thinking of making Spanish required under the Humanities requirements glad they axed that idea.

 

[Phenol312]

I agree completely... I think Italian is the most beautiful language there is. Good thing is that you can effectively understand both Spanish and Italian if you know one or the other.

While I also think Spanish is probably the most useful, from personal experience, if I could suddenly become fluent in any language to help me at work, I'd choose Russian. We get a LOT of older Russian patients who come here because we have a few Russian speaking doctors and they don't speak a lick of English.

I did four years of italian in HS and i can carry on a conversation with someone speaking spanish and we can get a general feel of what the other is trying to get across...in retrospect i wish i had taken spanish but...italian sounds so much better 👍

 

[Geekchick921]

I did four years of italian in HS and i can carry on a conversation with someone speaking spanish and we can get a general feel of what the other is trying to get across...in retrospect i wish i had taken spanish but...italian sounds so much better 👍

Amen! I took 3 years of Spanish in high school and 3 semesters of Italian in college. Knowing Spanish helped me with the Italian, I think.

When I go back for my psychobio bachelors and the pre-med program, I'm planning on getting on the Spanish track so I can take Spanish for Medical Professions, which my undergraduate school offers. The only Italian classes left are the ones on culture and one conversational Italian course, but the Spanish would help so much more.

 

[sharmei17]

Tagalog is a pretty important language

😀😀😀😀😀
Really? I'm a Filipino🙂.. I am glad that u appreciate our language..

mabuhay.

Fortran

nah..ALGOL looks cool🙂

 

[smq123]

Also, I suck... I forgot to add ASL and you can't edit the poll after you make it. Of course, depending on your specialty, ASL is probably the worst language to learn. Case in point: Ob/Gyn.

Why wouldn't ASL be useful for OB/gyn? 😕

OK everyone agrees with spanish being number 1, lets see if we can reach consensus on #2:

I say french, because it's the next most widespread colonial language. In particular, if you are interested in working in Africa French would be very helpful.

Chinese. French might run a close second in some parts of the country.

I suppose you could argue latin since arn't alot of medical terms actually latin? (As for me I'm sticking with English given everything I've been through.)

Many medical terms are actually Greek.

 

[jr doctor in sd]

I agree ASL is important...not too many people know ASL compared to say spanish or arabic or french so if you have a deaf patient itd be very hard without a translator. Im planning on taking a year of ASL ive already completed a Q of it =) its really fun.

 

[Myuu]

Ebonics

CC: "My shawty was trippin and tried to step to me and homeslice with a nine. So I picked up a shank but slipped and checked my grill on the Jacob that I froze her wrist with last week. Hurts like a mofo dawg."

I was good until "Jacob." 🙁

 

[Drogba]

I was good until "Jacob." 🙁

Some kinda jewelry ("froze her wrist?") or maybe a cast? Ebonics is a lot easier to decipher in person and within a specific context

 

[Geekchick921]

Why wouldn't ASL be useful for OB/gyn? 😕

It was mostly a joke, but line of sight and busy hands.

When doing a pelvic exam, the patient can't see you sign while you're down between their legs. And it must be borderline impossible to try to deliver a baby (either vaginally or via C-section, since the mother is usually awake) and communicate with the mother at the same time. A nurse or family member that could translate what you're saying to ASL would probably be much more useful.

 

[smq123]

It was mostly a joke, but line of sight and busy hands.

When doing a pelvic exam, the patient can't see you sign while you're down between their legs. And it must be borderline impossible to try to deliver a baby (either vaginally or via C-section, since the mother is usually awake) and communicate with the mother at the same time. A nurse or family member that could translate what you're saying to ASL would probably be much more useful.

Oh. I see.

I don't talk to patients much while doing a speculum exam. Whatever I DO say, I could also easily say before I did anything at all. Since bimanuals are done with the examiner standing up, they could probably lip-read, if you had to say anything to them.

You generally don't talk to patients while doing c-sections - there's usually not much of a need for it. They can't even see you, since there's a giant blue surgical drape between her head and the surgical field. Even if you do talk to them, they can barely hear you over the general chaos that goes on, so someone will usually repeat what you've just said.

While doing vaginal deliveries, I also didn't talk to patients right before the baby was coming. A nurse usually takes over the pushing coaching, anyway, when you're getting ready to catch the baby.

Most of the talking has to come before and after the procedure. So ASL might not be a bad idea after all, if it interests you.

 

[scowdeva]

Some kinda jewelry ("froze her wrist?") or maybe a cast? Ebonics is a lot easier to decipher in person and within a specific context

Wow, so I have finally found the one thing that growing up in Flint, MI, gives you for personal growth...I should have listed ebonics fluency on my AMCAS!!!

P.S. Jacob = Jacob the Jeweler = some icy bling

 

[Geekchick921]

Oh. I see.

I don't talk to patients much while doing a speculum exam. Whatever I DO say, I could also easily say before I did anything at all. Since bimanuals are done with the examiner standing up, they could probably lip-read, if you had to say anything to them.

You generally don't talk to patients while doing c-sections - there's usually not much of a need for it. They can't even see you, since there's a giant blue surgical drape between her head and the surgical field. Even if you do talk to them, they can barely hear you over the general chaos that goes on, so someone will usually repeat what you've just said.

While doing vaginal deliveries, I also didn't talk to patients right before the baby was coming. A nurse usually takes over the pushing coaching, anyway, when you're getting ready to catch the baby.

Most of the talking has to come before and after the procedure. So ASL might not be a bad idea after all, if it interests you.

Ah. You're the med student, I'm still just pre-med, so you know more about this than I do. For me, though, I'll probably work on improving my Spanish and Italian. 🙂

 

[winkangyblink]

😀 I think for the U.S., Spanish would be most useful on a regular basis depending on your location. Just curious, though, I took 2 years of German and thought it was pretty awesome and also spent a month-ish in Vienna studying German. Is it uncommon for med students to know German? I wonder if it's still an assett if you have a decent ability to use German, but have mostly forgotten all but your basic Spanish. Wish I could learn tons of languages and converse with anyone around!

 

[ChubbyChaser]

I am still standing firm with my vote of a "native american language" ya gotta stand firm with your roots

 

[BlackSails]

For regular practice in the US: Spanish
For WHO/Public Health internationally: Chinese, Hindi or Arabic

 

[ElZeekio]

This is pretty interesting. I'm in the UK, but contemplate coming back to the States someday. I can speak German and French fairly well, used to be proficient in ASL, and thinking that I'd like to become fluent in a useful language for medicine, whether here, abroad, or the US. It seems like a LOT of people in and out of the medical professions speak Spanish, so it's not the most unique skill to have, no? Then I thought perhaps Mandarin since they're going to own most of the world's assets soon, and there are significant Chinese populations in my fave two US cities: SF and NYC. Then I came back to my French, so I could go anywhere in Africa, Haiti, or France itself (did you know they have a pretty amazing healthcare system? Even better than the NHS here in the UK)

 

[MiguelSanchez]

While Chinese may be used by more people, the question is what will be most useful when speaking to patients. At least here in California, Spanish is most important because there are a lot more patients who speak ONLY Spanish. While there may be a large Chinese population, for one they may not speak the same dialect, and also they tend to learn more English, such that your broken Chinese probably will be worse than their broken English. You are much, much more likely to encounter patients who speak Spanish and basically will only speak Spanish (probably because they can get along just fine outside of the hospital without English).

 

[Loon]

Much like the best diet is the one you stick to, the best language is the one you want to learn. As important as Spanish is, if you don't like it or have an affinity for it, you won't get nearly as far as you will pursing your interest in another language. Over the course of your career, any language you choose will come in handy once or twice, regardless of the field.

For the record, I voted Spanish. But I have some other thoughts to offer.

In the US, barring specific regional variations, Spanish is the best way to go for dealing with patients. If you want to be able to talk to all the nurses and techs (or eavesdrop on their lunch conversations...), Tagalog is also a great choice.