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> I think it's reasonable to rely on tools like Google Translate, it sucks but full language coverage isn't reasonable. Far better than what was possible befor

> I think it's reasonable to rely on tools like Google Translate, it sucks but full language coverage isn't reasonable. Far better than what was possible before, when as a tourist you maybe had a phrasebook or something similar. This is part of the risk of travel into an area where you don't know the language. Also if you are going to permanently move to such a place, it's incumbent on you to become functionally fluent in the local language. Nobody there owes you a special accomodation.

munk-a 5y ago
> Also if you are going to permanently move to such a place, it's incumbent on you to become functionally fluent in the local language. Nobody there owes you a special accomodation. Functional fluency doesn't really cover hospital interactions though, right? I can live for decades in Paris without knowing what the word for chest pains or sprained ankle are.
- Talanes 5y ago
  I've spoken English my whole life and still struggle to express the exact sensation I'm feeling to a doctor.
- djrogers 5y ago
  No, I doubt you could - 'pain' and it's synonyms, as well as basic body parts like 'chest' are pretty basic words for someone who's spent decades immersed in a language...
- AmericanChopper 5y ago
  I’ve lived in a foreign country where I learned the local language and was hospitalised twice during the time I lived there. My vocabulary certainly didn’t contain very much medical vocabulary, and it wasn’t an issue at all. At worst you’re Google translating one or two words, or explaining things in a slightly odd way. I could certainly say “chest pain” though.
rtpg 5y ago
The difficulty with "functional fluency" is that medical terms are extremely specific. On top of that you have to deal with "doctors in X recognize this illness, but doctors in Y recognize it as something entirely different"-style stuff. Alergies can be a scary one to get wrong, too! Of course nobody owes anybody anything. I do think that in countries with nationalized health care, at the very least having a call center to help out with language difficulties around this feels like almost a no brainer though. There are doctors with specialized dictionaries and the like as well, of course. And... yeah honestly, Google Translate (or my favorite solution of "go to wikipedia page and find the linked article in local language") can help a lot.

munk-a 5y ago

> Also if you are going to permanently move to such a place, it's incumbent on you to become functionally fluent in the local language. Nobody there owes you a special accomodation. Functional fluency doesn't really cover hospital interactions though, right? I can live for decades in Paris without knowing what the word for chest pains or sprained ankle are.

Talanes 5y ago
I've spoken English my whole life and still struggle to express the exact sensation I'm feeling to a doctor.
djrogers 5y ago
No, I doubt you could - 'pain' and it's synonyms, as well as basic body parts like 'chest' are pretty basic words for someone who's spent decades immersed in a language...
AmericanChopper 5y ago
I’ve lived in a foreign country where I learned the local language and was hospitalised twice during the time I lived there. My vocabulary certainly didn’t contain very much medical vocabulary, and it wasn’t an issue at all. At worst you’re Google translating one or two words, or explaining things in a slightly odd way. I could certainly say “chest pain” though.

rtpg 5y ago

The difficulty with "functional fluency" is that medical terms are extremely specific. On top of that you have to deal with "doctors in X recognize this illness, but doctors in Y recognize it as something entirely different"-style stuff. Alergies can be a scary one to get wrong, too! Of course nobody owes anybody anything. I do think that in countries with nationalized health care, at the very least having a call center to help out with language difficulties around this feels like almost a no brainer though. There are doctors with specialized dictionaries and the like as well, of course. And... yeah honestly, Google Translate (or my favorite solution of "go to wikipedia page and find the linked article in local language") can help a lot.