Medical Spanish Workshop for Health Practicioners

“I’m a nurse, why do I need to know Spanish?” When you know Spanish, you increase your marketability if you are looking for work and your job security if you already have a job. For example, we conducted some research and found the following jobs that have Spanish preferred or required. For most of these jobs, you do not have to be completely fluent in Spanish; you just have to be communicative.

At our 2-day workshop, you will instantly increase your employability. We are offering a Medical Spanish workshop August 28-29 from 8:30-4:30 in Los Gatos, CA . Lunch and all materials are provided for the $195 registration fee.  At the workshop, you will learn how to:

• Conduct patient intakes
• Give treatment instructions
• Role-play typical scenarios
• Ask questions specific to your circumstances
• Use present, past, future and command forms of verbs

Certificates will be issued. Contact us for more information or to sign up.

Registered Nurse (RN):

1. https://jobs-genexservices.icims.com/jobs/4144/job?&sn=Indeed&?mode=apply&iis=Indeed&iisn=Indeed
2. http://hsccjobs.iapplicants.com/ViewJob-81579.html
3. http://career.staffingsoft.com/site018/asp/JobSeekerResults.asp?ClientId=ONL&sessioncompanyid=&refnumber=&id=84&Display=details

School Nurse:

1. http://edjoin.org/viewPosting.aspx?postingID=332483&countyID=43
2. http://edjoin.org/viewPosting.aspx?postingID=329697&countyID=44

Medical Receptionist:

1. http://www.hillphysicians.com/Providers/Pages/viewjobs.aspx?PageID=158
2. http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobDetails.aspx?ipath=EXIND&siteid=cbindeed&Job_DID=J8D5ZH73P7P96BXYW0F&cbRecursionCnt=1&cbsid=566c12e3959845fc95b38ed0aad27745-333555041-R6-4
3. http://davita.taleo.net/careersection/10000/jobdetail.ftl?job=401020&src=JB-10382

Caregiver (CNA)

http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobDetails.aspx?ipath=EXIND&siteid=cbindeed&Job_DID=J8H09Y70HPST8JQCH74

Medical Assistant

1. http://peoplemenders.com/SearchCareers/JobPostingDetails.aspx?id=7729&utm_source=Indeed&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=Indeed
2. id=7729&utm_source=Indeed&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=Indeed  https://sutterhealth.taleo.net/careersection/2/jobdetail.ftl?lang=en&job=1156149&src=JB-15920
3. http://www.hillphysicians.com/Providers/Pages/viewjobs.aspx?PageID=143

Physician Assistant

https://www.healthcaresource.com/elcamino/?fuseaction=search.jobDetails&template=dsp_job_details.cfm&cJobId=949154&source=Indeed.com

Practice Assistant

https://sjobs.brassring.com/1033/ASP/TG/cim_jobdetail.asp?sec=1&partnerid=6495&siteid=5226&jobId=1148095&type=search&JobReqLang=1&recordstart=1&JobSiteId=5226&JobSiteInfo=1148095_5226&GQId=0&codes=IND

Texting in español

R U 1 of those peeps who ♥ text shortcuts? How do U do it in spansh? Click here to find out!

Language Learning on the Job – Language Educator August 2009

Because of the services that Habla Language Services offer, the Language Educator was interested in hearing more about how Habla LS reaches corporate America in their quest to learn Spanish. Click here  for the August 2009 edition featuring “Language Learning on the Job.”

Habla Language Services also offers ESL (English as a Second Language) for businesses and individuals.

Habla Language Services Featured in the Language Educator Magazine

My goal is to post weekly on Wednesdays. Sorry it’s been a while since my last posting. Sometimes life just happens. I will have a stock pile of postings to take us through to the end of the year. Make sure to share this blog with others interested in best practices for language learning and reaching the Hispanic market.

Click here for the April 2009 edition of Language Educator Magazine featuring “Using Languages in Health Care” and how Habla Languages Services helps chiropractors and others do that.

From Ridge to Reef

Check out this video directed by my Costa Rican partner Roy Prendas for WWF! When you participate in Habla Language Service’s Spanish immersion program in Costa Rica next summer, you’ll get the best of language, nature and culture! Save the dates:
Session 1: August 9-13, 2010
Session 2: August 16-20, 2010

http://hablals.com/learn-spanish/personal/costa-rica-immersion-program/

Somos americanos

Did you know that America is all one continent? Most cultures teach that there are 5 continents and America is all one. That is: North America, Central America and South America are one. Yes, we are all Americans. This video shows how the continent is divided into different cultural zones. California has its own culture! Hey! (Oh yeah, I should mention it’s in Spanish (from Spain – lisp and all!) Click here for video:

Learn a New Language – Why Not Spanish!

This article by Meina Kaleyah of Drexel University really caught my attention:

“I would like to blame geographic isolation for the fact that most U.S. citizens that are not of immigrant households do not speak any languages other than English. Fine, you can’t hone your German or your French, we get it – it’s all an ocean away. Regardless, just to the south of us Spanish, and not English is what is spoken. According to a report conducted by the Center for Applied Linguistics, Foreign Language Teaching: “What the United States Can Learn from Other Countries,” the U.S. lags in foreign language proficiency because linguistic education is introduced too late, and our teaching force is not properly equipped. These conclusions should not come as a surprise. We can all recollect the nightmare and confusion of foreign language classes, so it’s no wonder why few bother to pursue the languages in which they once held interest. So, what do we lose from avoiding learning a foreign language?

In most careers, fluency in another language is highly valued, not only for what such knowledge indicates about the employee but also for business ventures, creating a scenario where expanding into a global market becomes viable. A study published April 2006 in the “Journal of International Business Studies” concludes that introducing employees that speak another language into the workplace actually cuts transaction costs that involve international clients. Previously, if an employee was multilingual, they were utilized merely for the translation of bureaucratic documents (e.g. questionnaires). Language and the associated ethnic conventions were segregated from the skill itself. Language is now an integrated strategy within corporations. Commercial culture has shifted in its perception of multilingual people. Possessing knowledge of multiple languages is associated with many valued qualities, such as versatility, perceptivity and cooperation. In the pre-twenty-first century corporate milieu, multilingualism would brand an individual as an expatriate of another country, the child of an immigrant, or European – no outstanding traits would be attached.

Employment aside, knowing another tongue brings introspective and social context to the individual. Anyone who is a first or second generation immigrant in this country can attest to this fact: speaking and speaking well is tied to enculturation. A common phenomenon in bilingual households is a dual persona, one for each language and culture. There is no wrong in it; simply, characteristics within our own personalities are punctuated in different ways in different cultures via the style we communicate.

A study published in the “Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching” illustrates the integral nature of culture within foreign language education. Miwako Yanagisawa followed students learning Japanese as a second language at the Tokyo Christian University in Japan. The study focused on the socialization of Japanese culture that was imparted along with the language. Students in the class who communicated effectively in Japanese shared a couple of common attributes. First, they understood their social context as non-Japanese, using it to their advantage. They also incorporated values and norms of the Japanese within their exchanges.

Two fundamental processes of language socialization were revealed: “socialization through the use of language and socialization to use language.” Proper knowledge of a language carries more weight than the ability to string a sentence together. We are assimilated into the culture, we assume different identities – we learn how to connect with people that may have been socialized in a fundamentally different manner. Learning a foreign language makes us global citizens.

My parents firmly believe in this notion of “global citizen.” Although I grew up in an Iranian household where Farsi was spoken, my parents wasted no time plopping me in yet another foreign-language environment at the tender age of four. For two years, I attended L’École Internationale Française de Philadelphie in Bala Cynwyd. To this day I am not sure what fueled this decision (why didn’t they get me a Spanish-speaking nanny?), but it certainly changed the course of my life intellectually. Though my French lay dormant for many years after I stopped attending L’EIFP, my high school French literature class reawakened my inner-Francophile. Labé, Baudelaire, Appollinaire – all their words moved me to tears.

I find that American literature often leaves something to be desired when it comes to poetry. As a Francophile, French movies and literature are my bread and butter. “Au Revoir Les Enfants” and “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” are two choice films that should not be overlooked. Frankly, even if you cannot speak another language, cinema is a great medium to introduce yourself to any culture. Do not be embarrassed that you cannot watch a movie en V.O. (in its original form); a great movie translates in all languages. Even if you do not have the time to sit down and get through that pricey Rosetta Stone program collecting dust in your desk, the arts are a great medium to take in another culture.

A refuge for the tired and poor is not just some archaic inscription on a plaque within the walls of the Statue of Liberty. As a country of immigrants, we frequently encounter those from other countries, daily. At the very least, we should watch some foreign films. However, there is no substitute for fluency in another language from your own. It aids in our world perspective and our ability to communicate with a variety of people, a well as adding a little kick to our résumé. Simply, a foreign language facilitates growth; when you stop growing and changing, you’re dead.”

Mexican Names and Nicknames

When you are working with the Hispanic market, in California, it is important to understand the Mexican culture. Understanding Mexican names and nicknames is a big part of what makes up Mexican culture. I’ll never forget the time I took a test in my Spanish class for native-speakers. We were suppossed to read a book and the quiz was on the characters in the book. Well, nobody had read the book, but all the Mexicans knew the nicknames associated with each name. It was the 1st time I ever experienced what it was like to take a culturally-biased test. If I had had this list or something similiar, I would have been able to pass the quiz!

Now, I’m passing on the info to you. You may not be taking a quiz in español para hispanohablantes, but if you are dealing with Eduardo and everybody is calling him Lalo, now you’ll know why. nombres-mexicanos

Why Can’t Laborers Learn English?

Have you ever had difficulty communicating with an employee or co-worker because of language differences? Even when English is a common language, sometimes communication challenges arise. So much more are the challenges when an employee has not yet mastered English. While it may be to the immigrant’s advantage to learn English, it may also be to the employer’s advantage to learn Spanish! When we stop to consider that many immigrants may not have a high school education, they work long hours, and are adjusting to a new culture; it may actually be easier and more efficient for college-educated Americans to learn the industry-specific Spanish they need to communicate with the Spanish-speaking market or workplace. 

Many of you reading this article probably have at least a college education. Have you ever tried to learn a second language? Imagine the challenges immigrants face as they try to adjust to a new country, work many hours, and then go to English as a Second Language school, wondering what a noun and a verb is.

Because Hispanics now represent 12 million people in California, it may be to your benefit to learn Spanish. Depending on your profession, you may be missing out on close to 50% of the market share by not knowing Spanish. If you are not able to communicate with this population, you may be missing out on huge profits. It would be faster and easier for you to learn what you need to know to communicate with the Hispanic market in your industry rather than to expect an immigrant from a Spanish-speaking country to be able to communicate his or her needs in every industry with which they interface.

So how can you begin to learn to communicate in Spanish, or any other language for that matter? Enroll in a program designed to teach you what you need to know to conduct business in your industry. Learn the fundamentals; don’t get bogged down with grammatical rules.

Many professional Americans are held back from speaking a language other than English because they are consumed with using perfectly correct grammar at the expense of actually communicating their message. Well, there is another way to approach this. Have you ever listened to somebody speak English who speaks it as a second or third language? Do you home in on all the grammatical errors they make when speaking, or do you try to understand what they are saying?

Break free from what your high school or college professors told you. The sky will not fall if you make a masculine word feminine or if you conjugate a verb incorrectly. Learn key phrases in your target language like, “Slower please; I’m still learning.” Listen for key words and then form your questions around what you did understand. Such as, “What did you say about x?” “We should ship the product when?” “And then do what?” This shows the speaker that you are getting part of the message and he or she can just repeat clearly the parts you didn’t understand.

If you need to brush up on your language skills or you need to start from the beginning, find a language school that caters to the professional. You do not want to sit in a class conjugating verbs for hours. After all, you are not getting graded at the end – but you do need to communicate with your target market. Find a school that teaches the specifics you need in your industry. Some software programs start at the beginning. They may teach, “The ball is bouncing.” “This is a boy.” How many hours do you need to sift through to be able to say, “Bring me the ¾” nails.” Or, “tell me where it hurts and when it is the worst.” If you find a school that focuses on teaching you exactly what you need to know for your market, you can be speaking with Hispanics (or other population groups) in minimal time and can focus on increasing your bottom line because you have now opened yourself up to 12 million more people in the market!

Habla Language Services provides Spanish classes and industry-specific workshops in San Jose, CA and the SF Bay Area. Additional areas are available for travel fees. We offer onsite Spanish. Learn Spanish now!

Habla Language Services Launches New Website

Thanks to the NASE Business Development Grant that was awarded to Habla Language Services in July of 2008, we are proud to announce the launching of our new website.

Any of you who own small businesses probably understand the feat that goes into developing a website. Finding the right person who shares your vision is a challenge. After some trials, we finally found an enthusiastic developer who works with websites in Word Press. He got us set up with 25 webpages and all the dynamics we needed. We are now set up to blog and you can count on seeing a fresh update on our website weekly.

Our first blog entry is our proud announcement of the NASE grant that made this happen. Click here for a link to the Press Release.

We also want to show off the congratulatory letter that Dianne Feinstein wrote: For those of you who are unfamiliar with Habla Language Services, take a look around our website. We offer onsite Spanish instruction in San Jose, CA and the SF Bay Area. We will also travel within a 2-hour radius. Additional locations are available for an additional fee.

We offer specialized Spanish and ESL instruction for individuals, small businesses and corporations. Learn all the Spanish you need in 3-8 hours! Current streamlined workshops include:

• Spanish for Chiropractors
• Spanish for Bankers and Financial Experts
• Spanish for Construction
• Spanish for Missionaries (at home and abroad)
• Spanish for Homeowners

We also offer conversational Spanish classes, How to Order a Burrito Workshop, and Mexican Fiestas. This summer we are offering a Spanish immersion program in Costa Rica! Email us for more information.

Thank you for visiting our website. We will be posting fresh blogs weekly on effective language learning and reaching the Hispanic market. Please subscribe to our blog and invite your friends to as well.

Que Dios le bendiga,

Gina Covello, MA