Timeline for How do I talk to someone through a translator?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
11 events
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| Aug 28, 2017 at 13:17 | comment | added | anongoodnurse | @ndim - That's very interesting. That would certainly make it difficult, but interesting. | |
| Aug 28, 2017 at 9:53 | comment | added | ndim | Yes/No questions are an obvious simplification of conversations in a western context, but can fail horribly when speaking with someone from a Chinese background. Chinese culture apparently disapproves strongly of answering "no", so out of politeness, the answer will always be "yes". Making the conversation simpler by going to simple yes/no questions actually makes the conversation more difficult! I experienced that first hand when trying to explain some maths concepts to a fellow uni student who was from China. I rarely found out which parts he already understood and which he did not. | |
| Aug 27, 2017 at 17:10 | comment | added | English Student | It is enough to drive a medical person 'up the wall' -- especially when serious health outcomes depend on the proper understanding of the question. It is obviously crucial to have perfect communication in a health care setting, @anongoodnurse. I especially appreciate people who are willing and able to learn a new language for interpersonal communication purposes because it is not my strong suit. I have 2 native languages and also learned English and Hindi at school, but never needed to learn a new language at short notice: therefore I respect those who are coming here & learning our languages! | |
| Aug 27, 2017 at 17:00 | history | edited | anongoodnurse | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 17 characters in body
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| Aug 27, 2017 at 16:55 | comment | added | anongoodnurse | @EnglishStudent - Thanks. This is actually why I learned Spanish. Our inner-city hospital served a population of which about 25% were Puerto Rican. Many of the older patients didn't speak English, and the culture discourages younger people from asking personal health questions, so if I asked, e.g. "Is it possible that you're pregnant?", The young person would say, "I can't ask her that!" Lol! | |
| Aug 27, 2017 at 16:51 | history | edited | anongoodnurse | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
corrected a big mistake.
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| Aug 27, 2017 at 16:48 | comment | added | anongoodnurse | @JETM - Oh, sorry! Edited! | |
| Aug 27, 2017 at 16:16 | history | edited | NVZ | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
edited body
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| Aug 27, 2017 at 15:38 | comment | added | English Student | A strong answer coming from personal experience: I appreciate and upvote! These issues of linguistic confusion have been increasing in frequency here in South India, due to in-country immigration of laborers from North India for job purposes. As you might know, there are so many region-specific languages in India that we can easily have no language in common, but I was very impressed to see them learning the basics of our local languages very quickly and becoming very effective communicators with the local population. | |
| Aug 27, 2017 at 15:35 | comment | added | JETM | Hi. Thanks for all of the great tips here! I'm not sure I understand your first example, though. Are you saying I should say things twice? | |
| Aug 27, 2017 at 15:29 | history | answered | anongoodnurse | CC BY-SA 3.0 |