In A Student’s Words…Amanda (Entry 3)
I recently went to Mexico to visit my father and all of my family on my father’s side. I enjoyed seeing everyone so much but although I have so much family who speaks Spanish, I am not totally fluent in Spanish. In Mexico English is taught at a very young age during school and it is not uncommon for people to be bilingual after high school or earlier. When I was in Mexico My cousin who is 16 was reading me a book, “War of Worlds”, in English for her homework. I took many Spanish classes in high school and in college, I know a little Spanish but I have not used it enough to retain it fluently.
One of my recent patients spoke Spanish as his first languages. He also spoke English very well. One day I came into his room for therapy and he presented to be slightly confused but pleasant. He began to speak Spanish to me. Normally I would have understood some of what he was saying but I wouldn’t have known how to respond fluently. On top of him speaking Spanish to me, he spoke it so fast which made it even more difficult to understand. Finally after my failed attempt to understand what he was saying, I told him that I did not speak Spanish. He looked at me, laughed, and said “Oh! You don’t speak Spanish? I thought you did. I don’t know why I thought that”. We both laughed about it and I told him about my family in Mexico and how I wanted to practice Spanish. So that’s what we did. While he practiced his ADLs I practiced my Spanish. I had a great time with him and I hope to have the opportunity to work with someone like him so I can practice my Spanish.
Being fluent in Spanish is one of my goals as an Occupational Therapist and in life. During my previous rotations there were many patients I worked with who only spoke Spanish so my Fieldwork instructor and I would always need a translator. I would be so nice to be able to speak directly to a patient instead of having a translator. Speaking in the patient’s own language would probably also help with gaining rapport. I want to learn Spanish not only to speak to my family in Mexico without them having to speak to me in English but to also be confident in understanding and speaking with a patient who does not know English.
- Amanda
