Sleeved and Home Again

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

You know, my grandparents came to this country from Greece. They came legally, and learned to speak, read, and write English. They knew if they wanted a better life in this country, they needed these skills.

My daughter is an ob nurse. It's very hard to help someone in labor who does not speak a word of English. Their husbands speaks English, so I don't get why they do not bother to teach their wife English. It's the same story. They came to Oregon or California or whatever state, to have a better life. It's a little difficult to have a better life when you can't communicate your needs.

[MacMadame 81]

I think the husbands discourage their wives from learning English so they can keep them under their thumbs, personally.

[Eyfura 3]

I think in some cases you are actually right, that was my first thought when I read OregonDaisys post. My second was given time, most will learn, you can't expect all of them to come here knowing English, aside from that in most other countries women are not educated as well as men are, so they are at a disadvantage to begin with.

[Elisabethsew 50]

Did you all know that the most culturally diverse county in the United States is Queens, New York? I work for a huge health care system and we would literally go broke if we provided a face-to-face person to translate for all the people who did not speak English. What we do have is telephone translation for over one hundred languages. If a staff member can't speak the language and no one else in the hospital can, we use the phone and it works great. If the patient is confused, we encourage the family member to stay. If they can't stay, we make sure they provide us with a number they can be reached at.