If doctors ever said “Take two aspirin and call me in the morning,” how would they say it in Spanish?
Fourteen health care professionals are taking a pilot class at Lansing Community College this term to learn how to communicate in Spanish with their patients and clients. The class will become an official offering this summer and again next spring.
“After you say ‘Ola’ (hello), then what?” says Keith Philips, class designer and teacher.
He takes the students through various scenarios in simple conversations.
Enrollees include a Red Cross worker, a medical insurance specialist, nurses-in-training, and physicians.
This is the up and coming mode of community colleges reaching new audiences, Philips says. The class is taught through the college’s Center for International Business, Education and Research.
Included in the Spanish class are cultural components such as food and nutrition, and taking a look at vocabulary variations. There are five words in Spanish for “banana.” “Taco” is not a food in Spain, he adds.
“You have to communicate to do business,” he asserts.
The three-hour class meets at the downtown Lansing campus and costs about $250, not including book purchases. Under exploration now is a class called Spanish for Business to be offered in the fall over three concentrated weekends. French for Business is coming as well.
Source: Keith Philips, LCC
Gretchen Cochran, Innovation & Jobs editor, may be reached here.
All Photographs © Dave Trumpie
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