Aggravating
You don’t know how frustrating and condescending it is when you’re doing your best to speak your patient’s native language as best you can (and not doing half bad given that you haven’t really practiced in a couple months), and your patient’s mother and grandmother start laughing and making fun of the way you pronounced a word. Yes, I had my stethoscope on, ladies, but it ain’t exactly soundproof. And I can understand much better than I can conjugate.
I’m as obviously gringo as they come, but it’s obvious that I’m trying my best, and I’m making an effort. I don’t care if I’m a medical student or your doctor or the guy who cleans your toilet; it’s rude, flat out.
Only the kids laugh. The parents are gracious and appreciative. They tell me “You speak very good Portuguese”. And when I turn to the kids and ask “Is that true? Do I speak very good Portuguese?”, they slowly shake their heads.
Brutally honest. They can’t help it, the dears.
Flea
That kind of a sparked a bit of anger in me when I read that … with you making an effort to speak to them in their language in your own country. But I won’t go there … although I could do so, since English isn’t my first language, either.
Hang in there … the ones who laugh just plain don’t know any better …
Although I haven’t had any experience with this yet (I haven’t gotten to medical school or that level of patient interaction), I can definitely say its one of my larger fears while I study my Japanese. I already feel awkward enough trying to communicate to someone else in their own language, and I know when I do try to gather the courage to do so, I would greatly appreciate a certain amount of respect for at least going through the work I have.
Once took a history in a foreign language on an elective in a foreign country. The patient’s replies to my rather simplistic questions triggered a healthy laugh with everyone else in the room, but me. I just didn’t have a clue what he was saying.
The only reason, I didn’t consider them rude, was the fact this was in Japan. Japanese cannot possibly be rude.
I agree. It’s rude. I’ve been pretty lucky, but my second language is French. The folks I’ve needed that language with were from Vietnam (many years ago) and from the Ivory Coast. The earlier immigrants were glad to find someone with whom they could converse. The more recent immigrants were forced to admit that their English was better than my fractured French and we got along quite well in Franglais. They were all polite.
I’ve had lots of the same – I was a Spanish major in college, so I should have flawless Spanish, right? I NEVER freely volunteer that information to patients, because then we shift the focus of their visit from what orifice their kid has been leaking from to why I can’t seem to use the subjunctive appropriately after umpteen years of Spanish. Sorry, dudes – I’m doing the best I can. I don’t know why, and maybe it’s inappropriate, but it seems that half the time I ask patients if they speak any English and they say no, and then ten minutes later I hear them in the waiting room talking to the nurses or other patients just fine in English. If I’m going to put myself our there, it’d be nice if you would meet me in the middle . (M-2 student in Richmond)
lol:)
common guys! if someone speaks funny, why not laugh? i dont mind if anyone laughs on me. i`ll laugh also! it even makes the situation less strick. if you feel they want to make you look stupid thats different. but if they just laugh, then dont mind, laugh with them:) and then you`ll be that cute doc, with the cute pronanciation:) try that:)
I don’t have a problem with that. Mi native language is spanish, I also speak some english and I’m learning French. And I agree with Sara, just laugh with them! It’s really funny, don’t take life so serious! And by the way, what language were u trying to speak?? Spanish?? Don’t worry, you’ll probably never speak spanish like a spanish-native person! It’s really funny to hear a “gringo” speaking spanish, because they do not conjugate correctly the verbs, they use a funny acent and they don’t know what’s the “doble sense”, and most of the time they say some hilarious things! They forget about the mexican “albur”…. So, just laugh with them!!!
What’s the big deal, right? — Sorry, I’m being sarcastic.— I am a Japanese native studying medicine here in the US. You, American people, laugh at my “funny” accent all the time, I mean, ALL THE TIME. In the movies, TV, even in cartoons, I see people make fun of others with an accent. Are you teaching your kids it is OK to make fun of people with an accent? I thought America was all about celebrating the diversity and not tolerating any discriminations, am I right?? How sad. I used to be naive. I used to get hurt when people made fun of my accent. What do I do now? Just laugh with them. I’ve learned that you’ve got to have a thicker skin! I didn’t mean just you, Graham. If you were my physician and tried to talk to me in Japanese, I would have appreciated your thoughtfulness. That would have even made my day! But unfortunately, there’re also people like your patient. If I say, I hope America becomes more sensitive to issues like this, honestly, I think that’s a wishful thinking. It is very sad to say that, but that’s true, or at least, seems like it is. For the last 7 years that I’ve been here, it hasn’t changed a bit, and I don’t think it ever will. Sad, isn’t it? But just remember, not all the people are like this. Don’t be discouraged because of this one incident. Keep trying. And, if we, you, me and your blog-readers, keep trying, maybe, who knows, maybe someday, we CAN change the world. Until then, Just laugh with them!
am sorry to hear u had such a bad experience… but i got to tell u, my accent is not even funny, but i`d rather say stupid! and still i dont mind. am not living in america, and honestly i dont wish to. so far i`ve been in england(am from hungary), where i didnt have any bad experience. on the radio i`ve heard once they were laughing on how the americans say “botox”… lol, and for me the british was a lot more funnier! but i LOVE when i can laugh on how people speak, cuz i do not find it stupid, but extremly nice. so then i laugh. if someone speaks hungarian(trust me thats a VERY hard language) they make a lot of mistakes. and yes, i do laugh, but i always make sure, i love when i hear those typical mistakes, and cute pronanciation. its just the way u look at it. of course some people might be rude, we can never avoid it, but if one day i happen to laugh at u, be sure, it makes me happy, thats why i laugh, nd to make u look ridiculos:) (oops… laugh on me cant remember how to write:)))
hope i can help u a little to take it easier:)
thats why i laugh, AND NOT to make u look ridiculos:) (sorry spelling mistakes again:)
What I can tell from my own experience (I am brazilian, married to a canadian man) is that I used to giggle everytime he tried to speak portuguese – however, I had to explain to him that I wasn’t laughing at him because I thought he was dumb, I was giggling because I thought that was cute!
You guys are right, I probably should just laugh it off, but I kind of took the laughter as “incompetence.” Maybe I shouldn’t have. I’m very touchy sometimes.
um, wrong. no. don’t get a thicker skin and don’t laugh it off. i speak a bunch of languages, and spanish and italian very well. my patients are usually very kind when i make mistakes. BUT! i NEVER EVER make fun of peoples’ accents. that’s bullshit! condescending, rude bullshit. not even to go into the whole stereotype thing- – -but english is the target language here, and if a provider makes the effort to make a pt more comfortable by using their language, let’s just all be courteous enough to be kind about mispronunciations or misconjugations. rudeness is rudeness and i don’t care how non-p.c. it is to say so.
just my opinion. kcd
I can tell from reading your blog, you’re nothing close to imcompetence! So, don’t let others fool you, either! One day, you’ll meet a patient who truly appriciates your thoughtfulness. Until then, I think it’s worth trying!
oh, dears:) just do stay touchy, and never change:) this will give u an attitude patients like:) and i am very touchy many times(thats how i know patients like it:) i think i imagine life a little different… if anyone would laugh on my pronanciation, i would laugh as well, and not cuz i have a thicker skin, but i believe there r things in life which we can make fun of, and make life smiley-er:)
and i wanted to say congrats for being in the grad school guide:) cool…
Eech! Tell me about the difficulties. A bit of French goes a long way (here in Canadia) but I think my rusty German only offends.
I’m looking forward to trying out the two -count ‘em, two – words of Ladakhi that I know this summer. This language is a variant of that used in Tibet, and I’ll be helping to treat 1300 of the displaced Tibetan Changpas (nomads) who speak it!
I can forsee a lot of goofy hand signals although we are very fortunate to have translators along for the ride.