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Does it really matter what language they speak when another American loses a job to outsourcing?????

Posted By: Amelia on 2005-11-29
In Reply to: At least most of them speak English as a first language, eh. - I speak Canuck




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These ESL's speak more than their own language, sm
many are fluent in several languages.  They also pay income taxes at the same rate as USA-born doctors.  Until you can speak their language as well as they can speak ours, have some compassion for their efforts, and be glad that you have a job.  There are ESLs wherever you go.  Better get used to it.  Or better yet, why don't you travel to a country where you don't speak the language.  It might humble you a bit when you see how difficult it is. 
At least most of them speak English as a first language, eh.
Except the Francophones/Quebecois. Plus, they're not undercutting us on wages.

Pas DE probleme!
Give me a break! This is America, you want to be here, speak the language!

Dont expect them to speak language perfectly.
x
Are there many American MTs whose first language isn't English? nm
nm
Doesnt matter how many language I know.
x
No ma'am I speak American.

It's a dialect, not a language. As for my ancestors, I have traced my heritage to Ireland, Czech Republic, and Poland. I'm well aware of my roots. But I don't live in those countries, I live here. I wouldn't move somewhere I couldn't understand or be understood.


It sounds to me like you're one of the bleeding heart liberals, who wants to keep letting more in when we can't take care of the ones we have. Do you enjoy your work being sent overseas to people who can't understand "English"? Do you enjoy making a lot less per line because of that?  


I feel sorry for you and your ignorant bliss of what this country is becoming. I'm pretty sure you're outnumbered on this board, too. You have taken a comment out of context to suit your own soapbox. My point was, if they want to offshore work, why not send them their own dictators? There are hundreds on this board everyday complaining about the ESL's - hence the acronym - and yet I see nothing from the "cat" to those commenters.


Maybe you just wanted someone to fight with today. Signing off - have no time for comments like yours!


Blodnee, you speak English, not American....sm

and answer the question....Where did you're predecessors/folks come from...or don'tcha know that either?  Cat 


Well it appears we all speak American English...

There are thousands of different dialects of American English....from North to South or East to West.  Come on folks, we listen for a living....Please calm your little buns down...."American" is not a dialect....Vernacular is different everywhere.  When asked to "cut out the lights" my kids looked at me for an answer to which I replied "turn off the light switch".      Cat


*************************************************


Theodore Roosevelt on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN


 


"In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."


 


Theodore Roosevelt 1907

English may not be the official language on the federal level, but it is the NATIONAL language. sm
From Wikipedia:

Although the United States has no official language at the federal level, English is the national language.

In 2003, about 215 million, or 82 percent of the population aged five years and older, spoke only English at home. Spanish, spoken by over 10 percent of the population at home, is the second most common language and the most widely taught foreign language.[139][140] Immigrants seeking naturalization must know English. Some Americans advocate making English the country's official language, as it is in at least twenty-eight states.[141] Both Hawaiian and English are official languages in Hawaii by state law.[142] Several insular territories also grant official recognition to their native languages, along with English: Samoan and Chamorro are recognized by Samoa and Guam, respectively; Carolinian and Chamorro are recognized by the Northern Mariana Islands; Spanish is an official language of Puerto Rico. While neither has an official language, New Mexico has laws providing for the use of both English and Spanish, as Louisiana does for English and French.[143]


P.S. Miami may be one of the largest cities, but it is still just one city located in one small state. There are 49 other states. Miami is just a small speck when you compare it to the rest of the United States.
I'd cut my loses and look elsewhere. nt
 
They say yeast loses its effectiveness.

Here's an interesting science project a kid did proving that yeast loses its effectiveness.  It's in Adobe Acrobat format.


http://www.usc.edu/CSSF/History/2004/Projects/J1316.pdf


You can use it anyway, but it will take longer to rise, and you might get flat dense pizza dough.  BTW, thanks for the idea for dinner. 


Your logic loses water in several ways. SM
Wal-Mart, years ago, was famous for only selling American-made products.  THAT promoted capitalism on many levels, and RIGHT HERE IN THE US, not China, which is where they buy most of their goods.  So who is getting rich here?  It certainly isn't companies in the US who provide goods to Wal-Mart because very few of their goods come from the U.S.  Also, they pay their employees very low and treat them badly.  They have at least one class action discrimination suit against them. And let's not forget the numerous suits for hiring illegal aliens to clean their stores and LOCKING THEM IN!!!  Also, did you even read the article Rad Guy posted?   If you did, and you still defend them, even as a devil's advocate, that says a lot about you.   By the way, I don't shop there and haven't for a long time. 
my 3 y/o girl cat loses tons of hair too...nm

Go to tools, language, set language--nm
//
Doesn't matter, IF you are not paid an hourly wage, i.e. a set amount no matter - sm
how much or how little you type, say $12.00/hour, you do not get OT. As someone mentioned here, certain jobs are exempt, and as most of us are paid a flat rate of .08 cpl or .09 or .10, whatever it is, that is all we get regardless of how many hours under or over 40 hours we go. If you want OT then go get an in-house job or get a job doing something else.
of course they speak english, with an accent but they speak British-English quite well.
And I can't speak Indian so I guess they have an edge don't they?
he is not American on what was an American site
What we post, jobs posted, and those who are posting jobs have no way of knowing it is off shore because he is hiding it - what a great way to get more of our jobs - not sure why this does not bother you. But as an American it bothers me

Nothing to do with your first language, of course. nm
s
language
Language skills are definitely at the top - I agree. So many outsiders think all we do is type and memorize a few terms. Makes me crazy sometimes to think we are being looked down upon for, quote - just typing, how hard can that be?
P.S. I hate it that we cannot put quotations in our posts!!
OP does not say who had the language
barrier, the doctor or the patient. Just because she is a white American female does not mean she speaks English.
English Language
Amen to that!!!
I live in South Florida and you may as well call it a foreign country. I asked a clerk at local Walmart for Phiso-dem...she had me write it on her notepad she carries around, because she doesn't speak English!!!!
English as a Second Language
nm
foul language
I meant to reply to Tomahawk's post.  If you scroll down a few to MQ, you will see what I a referring to.
Should have said English as a FIRST language. LOL
x
So, English is a second language..LOL!
How can someone get a job doing this kind of work without knowing English?  Just amazes me!
AT&T language line

Hospitals can set up an account with the AT&T language line.  You call the number, give your account code and tell them what language you need.  They have tons to choose from and they are available in real time.  You have to use a speaker phone so the patient, translator and care provider can all hear each other.  Some 911 dispatch centers use it too. 


Sometimes the default language gets (sm)
changed on a document when I am typing and I have to go back in and reset it to English. I notice this when my autocorrect entries do not work and I know that I have them in the file. It only happens every once in a while and I have to "select all" and then change the language back to English. Hope this helps in the future.
LOL We have no'national' language!
and if you don't believe me, visit Miami sometime, one of the largest cities in the U.S.
National Language

"In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."


Theodore Roosevelt


learning another language
It isn't that I wouldn't like to learn another language if I had the time. I would. It would be neat to be able to speak another language, but I don't. And it makes me fustrated when immigrants come here and expect me to know their language when they are the ones who came here. They should know proper English. Or just decent English. If I moved to South America I would not expect them to understand me. I would take it upon myself that if I wanted to communicate I need to learn good Spanish. And if I had a job where I did something such as dictating, I would make sure I knew decent English and tried to make myself understandable. Some ESLs act like they don't care if you can understand them or not. There ARE some who try though.
Wow...so know we have to learn your language as well.
-
If you think that's 'foul' language, you don't
Get over it.
I think learning the language
and losing the accent are not quite the same thing... many of the ESL doctors speak English quite well, and may have been studying English for years in school.  After a certain age, the accent is very difficult to lose. Some people have more of a talent for this than others. I know, makes it hard for the MTs.. but part of the job. Not saying they shouldn't try to improve... I study another language, but I am always going to have an American accent.
I think learning the language
and losing the accent are not quite the same thing... many of the ESL doctors speak English quite well, and may have been studying English for years in school.  After a certain age, the accent is very difficult to lose. Some people have more of a talent for this than others. I know, makes it hard for the MTs.. but part of the job. Not saying they shouldn't try to improve... I study another language, but I am always going to have an American accent.
English is not the national language sm
America is a melting pot and English is not and should not be the national language. I'm Native American and while I'm not happy about the influx of immigrants - which I'm sure your ancestors were - America is a melting pot and at one time English was the 'second language' around here and others had to adapt.

Deal with it. America is a safe haven and refuge for other countries. Why was it okay for your ancestors to come here but it's not okay for others to come here?
Medical Language Specialist

That is our title, Medical Language Specialist, which really throws people.  When asked to define what that is, tell them you translate medical dictation to document form, be it hard copy document or electronic docment, to provide pertinent medical information for patients, physicians and hospital staff.  See their reaction.   


Of course when they say "all you do is type," ask them to spell esophagogastroduodenoscopy as an example of the terminology you use.  That usually shuts them up.  (Smile)


"The Language of Medicine" sm
is a very good book and very thorough. I would recommend it highly.
ESLs are about 60-70% of the dictators, we as language
With this particular doc did you just guess, or did you leave blanks? How many times did you listen?  Did you ask for help?  They all basically have the same or similar awful accents, so in the beginning you need to take the time to really listen and get to know the accent, that way in the future you can zip through them.  What did you do to make them fire you, what was the mistake exactly? 
Here is an example of the communication/language barrier
My ex-husband had the flu, high fever and it was not getting better. He was quite ill. He went to his physician, a foreign physician with heavy accent. My ex tried to explain how sick he was. The doctor rx'ed antibiotic and sent him home. That night, my ex had a high fever and went into a seizure. Paramedics were called. He was still seizuring by the time they reached his home. He came into the hospital with bilateral acute renal failure due to the infection and high temp.

When I spoke to him, he said it was clear the physician did not appreciate how ill he was and the language barrier was limiting their ability to talk to one another. My ex was so ill, he didn't feel like being assertive. He should have been hospitalized. But, that is too late now. His kidneys never regained function and now he sits with millions of others waiting for a donor at UCLA.

Heartbreaking, isn't it?
language was being discussed - not just plead


French 1st Language dictators

My take is that you are both correct and mistaken.  People with French as their mother tongue can be both challenging and reliable to transcribe in English. The challenging part is the omission of certain sounds that are normal to the English-attuned ear.  The reliable part is that the differences one hears are usually SO predictable.  I belive that with more info I can help you even with your specific problem.   


Assault on the English Language
I transcribe for a doctor who I think may be Russian, but anyway, he has lived in this country (USA) for many years and has not taken the time to learn to speak succinctly. As a matter of fact, he seems to be dyslexic on top of the heavy accent and often phrases words backwards, does not know how to speak concisely, and I am thinking whoever has the misfortune of reading his HNP's is going to think he is a real Dip (even after editing). Even our editors have a real challenge getting through his work. I wish I could shake the snot out of him and require that every ESL physician practicing in America be required to speak the English language fluently.
ESL just means English as second language.
x
Doubt I know our language"perfectly" but you
x
It is you, because you used that same language on your original post...
and who says "loser" anymore besides my young son???
Had an Iranian who didn't know the language sm
so he would just say, "whatever's that word I want - if you don't know it, look it up in the dictionary." That was between all his ummm, ummm, ahhh, It doesn't matter what country he was from, it is just to get the point across that he had a very heavy accent to boot and he never bothered to try to improve one bit in 12 years.  His version of amaurosis fugax was "amagosis fewjacks." Grrrr.
Old lady: What language is: 'Bizoar?' Go to bed!...nm
nm
Isn't that the truth? We are medical language specialists and should be
dd
True but if they dictated in mother language, might not be AS bad. nm
:?
When you have an EFL doctor and they mumble, speaking the language does not help
Only possibly having a knowledge of what they usually say, or what should go there.  a mumble is a mumble is a mumble.