How do YOU say nurse?
Foreign languages are a way of traveling without leaving home. There are subtleties in language that can only be understood within the context of culture, words that cannot be precisely translated. It's a journey to some undiscovered syllabic territory. Like spoken music, language pulses with a characteristic rhythm and cadence that somehow belies the people who speak it. And because a language is kinetic - always evolving to embrace the needs of its speakers - it is a living art form. (Let's face it, our forefathers never ever spoke the word "cyberspace.")
Pick a Language, Any Language
How many languages do you speak? If, like most of Americans, your answer is "one," it's time to adopt a new one. After all there are enough to choose from - about 6800 on planet Earth, spoken in some 257 countries. Believe it or not, North America alone has 165 indigenous languages!
Certainly the best reason to study a language is to be able to communicate with a diverse population. In nursing, that translates to better care for non-English-speaking patients and their families. But there are other personal reasons to indulge in linguistics. For example the human need for brain plasticity - the emergence of new brain cells, new synaptic connections urged into life by a person's willingness to learn something uniquely new.
According to Dr. Paul Nussbaum, associate adjunct professor in neurological surgery at the University of Pittsburgh, learning a foreign language is one of the best ways to encourage "brain fitness." So get over your fear of French 101, forget the struggle of past-perfect conjugations in high school German class. Jump into the diversity of conversational languages.
Personal Hijinx
My own friends find it screamingly hilarious that I have embarked on Dutch lessons. A beautiful blonde woman named Marjo [from Maastricht, a city in the south of The Netherlands which was recently voted the best city for restaurants in the country], relocated to the Philadelphia suburbs when she married a Pennsylvanian. In addition to being a skilled graphic artist, Marjo is now a willing teacher, tediously instructing me on how to recite a menu, the food on my plate, or social niceties when I dine with her during our standing Thursday night dinner lesson.
Hilarity invariably erupts when I attempt to talk to an unsuspecting waiter at our restaurant/classroom in my highly-American-accented Dutch. (Apologies to native Dutch speakers! I am quite sure you would not recognize your mellifluous language when it comes through my lips.) Who knew linguistics could render me doubled over in laughter?
I speak a bit of fractured Spanish, which in turn prompted me to take one year of Flamenco dancing lessons (great exercise and terrific for stomping out frustrations) and I ooze romanticism when murdering college French over a glass of Beaujolais. This, in turn, sent me on a search of thrift shops for French haute couture and to date I have scored exactly one silk blouse from the house of Chanel. C'est vrais! My point is: Languages are a roadmap to new experiences and a larger circle of friends.
It's All Greek to Me
So... get started! Here is how to say "I am your nurse" in 21 languages. I bet you didn't know you were a "verpleegkundige" in Dutch, or a "Krankenschwester" in German. It's only the beginning.....
I am your nurse English
أنا ممرضة الخاص بك Arabic
Аз съм ти сестра Bulgarian
我是你的护士 Chinese
Ja sam tvoja sestra Croatian
Jsem tvoje sestra Czech
Jeg er din sygeplejerske Danish
Ik ben uw verpleegkundige Dutch
Olen sairaanhoitaja Finnish
Je suis votre infirmière French
Ich bin Ihre Krankenschwester German
Είμαι νοσοκόμα σας Greek
Io sono il vostro infermiere Italian
私はあなたの看護師です Japanese
Jeg er din sykepleier Norwegian
Ja jestem waszym pielęgniarki Polish
Eu sou seu enfermeiro Portuguese
Sunt asistentă dvs. Romanian
Я твой медсестра Russian
Soy su enfermera Spanish
Jag är din sjuksköterska Swedish
CHALLENGE: Can you say "nurse" in Devanagri? Do you know where that language is spoken? We'll be going there shortly; get packed!