FREE LANGUAGES
(Posted 2010-11-01 16:18:55 by ArchPaladin)

This semester I'm in clinics that are located in ethnically diverse
populations.  This means that over time, I have come into contact with
patients whose native language is different than mine.  While these kinds
of situations are good for building cultural competency, they can also be
challenging from a basic communication standpoint, and particularly so if
the patients don't know English.

I find similar situations at work too.  Since I'm currently working early
hours, I find myself supporting European clients, many of which file their
problems with us in languages other than English.  Many of these are
handled by European support, but occasionally a problem or two slips
through the cracks.

This has created something of a need to be able to communicate basic
information in other languages.  While I haven't picked up this ability
yet, I think learning the 500 most commonly used words in English [
http://www.world-english.org/english500.htm ] [world-english.org] in other
languages would be good.  Particularly if I'm going to be setting up a
clinic where people could be from other countries or ethnic backgrounds, it
would be best to learn something like this.

So of course, I looked for resources where I could pick up language skills
for free.  You'd be surprised, but there are more available than you might
think:

* Live Mocha [ http://www.livemocha.com/ ] [livemocha.com]

* Pimsleur [ http://www.pimsleur.com/ ] [pimsleur.com]

* BBC Languages [ http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/ ] [bbc.co.uk]

* Goethe-Verlag [ http://goethe-verlag.com/ ] [goethe-verlag.com]



So, at some point when I figure out where my clinic is, I can learn
whatever language I need.

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