crazycajun
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We are looking at a new voluntary training course to learn spanish. If selected and you complete the course there would be a pay increase. ($1.25hr) Just wondering if anyone else has ever seen this.
Learning a New Language
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usafmedic45
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The only Mexican* I need to know is "No hablamos Espanol. Speak English." You'd be surprised how many "non-English speakers" are just being stubborn.
*- Said because calling what most of the illegals we deal with speak Spanish is a lot like calling ebonics Queen's English.
*- Said because calling what most of the illegals we deal with speak Spanish is a lot like calling ebonics Queen's English.
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It's quite common in public service positions to earn additional pay for being fluent in additional languages. I don't know of any private EMS services that offer additional compensation for being multilingual.
The service I worked for contracted with a private company that provided real-time translation in several languages via cell phone. Call the number, turn on the speaker phone, and communicate.
The service I worked for contracted with a private company that provided real-time translation in several languages via cell phone. Call the number, turn on the speaker phone, and communicate.
crazycajun
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I agree. I said Spanish to be nice but from what I understand this is actually a "Mexican Language Course". We do have many here that cannot speak English at all and now that the housing market is coming back it only gets worse. But hey, I will take an increase in pay all day long to sit in a class and learn me some Mexican.
medicRob
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I use Rosetta Stone.
crazycajun
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Not sure how they are going to di it. I heard it will be a live seminar based course.
samiam
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It is a good idea I am half fluent in Spanish and there have been multiple occasions where I was the only person who could communicate with the patient. They have nifty little books with yes or no questions "si o no" and pronunciation keys for the asker. They cover pretty much everything.
My personal favorite: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1582556849
They also have great smart phone apps. You can pretty much get by with 2-3 years High school Spanish and one of these.
My personal favorite: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1582556849
They also have great smart phone apps. You can pretty much get by with 2-3 years High school Spanish and one of these.
ArcticKat
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How is that working out for ya? I've been considering using that to learn Spanish too but haven't decided if I want to lay out that much cash for something I know nothing about.
medicRob
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I enjoy it greatly. I am on Unit 3. If someone were to ask me about an ink pen, I feel confident in my ability to answer their question.
Que es esto?
Es un boligrafo!
ArcticKat
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Shrug... on the other hand, I probably know all the Spanish I need for my Mexican holiday.
Dos Cervasa Por Favor.
Dos Cervasa Por Favor.
frdude1000
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Your being racist. I understand most of the people are Mexican, no they do not speak "mexican". They speak Spanish. That is like me saying you speak American.
usafmedic45
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I do speak American English. It's a distinct dialect. There's nothing wrong with admitting it. I also speak German, enough Hebrew to get myself into trouble, some French, a few phrases in Arabic and I try to learn a bit of the language for each of the country I go to. I think it's rude to try to force someone to adapt to my linguistic shortcomings and believe that everyone who comes here should learn English. It's not racist, it's just practical.
My point was that if you learn Mexican Spanish and go to Spain you sound to them like a character off of Hee-Haw sounds to us. If you learn Castillian Spanish ("Spanish Spanish" if you will, which sounds a hell of a lot more like Italian than it does the Mexican dialect) and deal with Mexicans (at least outside of academic settings), that look at you like you're an elitist snob. It's a lose-lose situation. I'm a hell of a lot more likely to spend time around Spaniards than I am Mexicans so I see no point in learning the language. I have nothing against Mexicans or anyone else. I do have a problem with people who come to live in this country and don't bother to learn our customs, our language and our standards but get really pissed off when someone doesn't want to bend over backwards to do the reverse. As a minority twice over (Native American and Jewish), I think I'm on pretty firm ground to tell you where to shove your opinion of me being a racist.
My point was that if you learn Mexican Spanish and go to Spain you sound to them like a character off of Hee-Haw sounds to us. If you learn Castillian Spanish ("Spanish Spanish" if you will, which sounds a hell of a lot more like Italian than it does the Mexican dialect) and deal with Mexicans (at least outside of academic settings), that look at you like you're an elitist snob. It's a lose-lose situation. I'm a hell of a lot more likely to spend time around Spaniards than I am Mexicans so I see no point in learning the language. I have nothing against Mexicans or anyone else. I do have a problem with people who come to live in this country and don't bother to learn our customs, our language and our standards but get really pissed off when someone doesn't want to bend over backwards to do the reverse. As a minority twice over (Native American and Jewish), I think I'm on pretty firm ground to tell you where to shove your opinion of me being a racist.
How is that remotely racist? There's a distinct difference between the Spanish spoken in Mexico and the Spanish spoken in Spain, just like there's a difference between the English spoken in America -- "American English" --and the English spoken in Britain --"British English --, or the French in France and the French in African colonies, etc, etc. It's much more expedient to say "Mexican" when referring to the dialect of Spanish most commonly spoken in the US.
Aidey
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I have to say I agree also. That is why I chose to learn ASL rather than anything else. The Deaf are the only group who can't do much about the fact they don't speak English.
On a side note, if you take a geographically diverse sampling of American English speakers there will be significant variations in the language. Saying "Mexican Spanish" or "Mexican" isn't much different than saying "Southern English" or "Southern".
Also, I find it hard to believe you need to speak the local language to be able to get into trouble. Something tells me you could manage that without knowing the entire alphabet.
emt seeking first job
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Date a native spanish speaker.
b)
b)In my opinion, your post sounded intolerant, rather than racist. However, I think it would be just as wrong for me to conclude that you're intolerant as it would be for you to conclude that any of your patients are "just being stubborn."
emt seeking first job
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Imho:
Ideally people would speak the native language where they are but the reality is they do not.
I think most americans dont learn another language because they are perfectionists. Other people from other places are fine with knowing just enough of a language to get by.
If you just learn a few basic phrases, even just a greeting, or how to say thank you, that along with body langiage will go along way in establishing rappore.
Ideally people would speak the native language where they are but the reality is they do not.
I think most americans dont learn another language because they are perfectionists. Other people from other places are fine with knowing just enough of a language to get by.
If you just learn a few basic phrases, even just a greeting, or how to say thank you, that along with body langiage will go along way in establishing rappore.
usafmedic45
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After the fifteenth or sixteenth time you see someone keep saying "No hable Ingles" and the suddenly start yelling in it when you make a comment or something they don't agree with, you start to become suspect of the claims of members of that group. It's like how I don't trust anything a cop tells me unless I know him personally.
Very true for the most part, but a lot of us do speak multiple languages. I can also read Latin, which comes in handy....well pretty much never outside of watching History International and understanding the vulgar graffitti left on walls in Pompeii.
Tolerance should have limits. Otherwise you get walked all over. If being tolerant in your book means surrendering to an influx of illegal immigrants who want to come here, then yeah, I'm intolerant. Then again, I will vociferously defend those same folks if anyone calls them lazy. If you've never hauled sod, bricks or working doing roofing, then you have no right to speak up on that but that's a topic for another day. There's a lot of Mexicans around here and nearly to a person, all of them are among the kindest and most generous folks I've ever had pleasure of dealing with. My only gripe is that a lot of them are hear illegally or that they demand we adapt to their needs. Same would go if we had a bunch of Jews come in and start demanding that we all learn Hebrew, or Poles showing up and demanding Polish language knowledge to make them feel welcome. Even as a polyglot, I don't like the idea of being told what languages I need to know.