Who is Learning a Lanaguage?

[Pekoe]

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I am about to learn Russian and Spanish because I was told that they are helpful. I have a background in languages and seem to pick them up pretty easily. Is anyone else learning anything besides English? Do you think a language is important?

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

They can be VERY helpful, depending on where you eventually want to live/work. I'm currently in FL, and many jobs strongly prefer/require both spanish and english. I know the southwest is the same. I personally don't feel comfortable working within another language, but I can get by and be conversational, which has been very helpful.

-t

 

[PsyKardinal]

I am in Texas here, and I really suggest that you learn Spanish if you have the oppurtunity. As to working in Spanish as a therapist I would not be comfortable at all. I know enough that I can go into an emergency room and do a sketchy assessment for psychosis/risk to self and others, but that is about it...oh I can also ask for the bathroom.

Jeff

 

[doctorpsych]

being multilingual will absolutely give you an edge in the market... in fact, in the next few years, it's going to be a requirement in certain jobs (it already is in some places...depending on location)... the term "majority" and "minority" will have a more political meaning than a quantitative meaning soon. However, although having an edge, it does not necessarily guarantee higher pay. Depends how you play your cards. I would rank Spanish as the number one choice... if you go into business (e.g. I/O), an Asian language such as Chinese may be second to Spanish.

 

[TherapistDave]

I would imagine that being fluent in Spanish is highly profitable/considerate, as there will be more than 50 million individuals of latino/hispanic descent in the next few years for the US of A. However, like everyone has said, it really depends on the area you will be in. Russia could be helpful, but where would you be practicing that would require you to learn some Russian? Just curious.

 

[Pekoe]

Dave-- I PM'd you!

Spanish area people-- I was recently in a south western state when my dad was dying and it was a different planet down there. The doctors were either Indian or Arabic (and very talented and fantastic and if I could learn Arabic I would because his Arabian doctor made me melt with his English and I can only imagine how Arabic must sound) and so many people were Spanish. I went to the drug store and sometimes it seemed that there were no English speakers outside the hospital. (I was in Tucson.) I am Irish with red hair and I glowed White and they knew I was out of my element. I saw Spanish speakers in the cancer unit and it was a problem to not speak English which is partly why I was interested in learning-- my mother is well spoken and well educated yet she was having a hard time with dealing with what my dad was going through. Can you imagine what it was like for the non-English speakers? Something as simple as telling letting everyone know that my dad was allergic to shellfish (iodine alert!) and lactose intolerant and they still forgot in spite of red alerts all over him, and she had to look on every medication to make sure certain ingredients weren't in them.

Even if I suck at my MCATS and GREs, I want to work in a hospital and be "there" for people having communication barriers. My real loves are art and languages. Psychology and medicine are just avenues to use them, a means to a road, if you will.

 

[ipsychologist]

been learning Japanese for 7 years. Interestingly, there are some words that express a feeling or thought that doesnt exist in the English language. With so many interracial relationships and a huge cultural gap, some help will be needed. Try reasoning with an interracial marriage/family with only English and you will side with the individual who speaks English. A second language is a must, i believe. 😍

 

[PsyKardinal]

TherapistDave

Are you from good ole e. texas, I speak gud sounds like one of my old professors. He spok reel gud two.

Jeff

 

[Pekoe]

been learning Japanese for 7 years. Interestingly, there are some words that express a feeling or thought that doesnt exist in the English language. With so many interracial relationships and a huge cultural gap, some help will be needed. Try reasoning with an interracial marriage/family with only English and you will side with the individual who speaks English. A second language is a must, i believe. 😍

You speak to my heart! Our thoughts are limited by our language.

Our bodies often speak for us as well.

Do you by any chance do any Japanese arts? One of my daughters speaks Japanese and I have studied the brush painting and ikebana (flower arranging) for years. I learned from an American and she has grown up watching me do both. Her teacher says she moves like a Japanese person-- nothing comical, but there is a movement to doing these things that comes out and she has picked it up when she does them. I don't know if it is psychology, but I am extremely intrigues by the cultural meanings behind this.