thinking in Medical Chinese

[Guest guest]

Alon,

 

The point is to start thinking in medical Chinese instead of having to

refer back constantly to a dictionary. With any foreign language, the

facility with which one acquires the terminology reflect the comfort

level of usage. Try going to a restaurant in say, Paris, where they hate

English speakers to begin with, and order from a menu with dictionary in

hand. I remember, many years ago when I studied in Israel, because

virtually all of my companions and associates were non-English speakers,

I was forced to learn spoken Hebrew, and found myself thinking in Hebrew

after just 3 months. During those 3 months, it was murder, but

afterwards the acquisition of language fluency was invaluable. The same

here.

 

Yehuda

 

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[Guest guest]

Yehuda you are right of course if one in forced to learn a langue one learns it

quicker. But again my question is what are you trying to converse, medicine with

westerners or order a meal. Again because the terms often mean different things

depending on context I for one prefer to teach one to think and understand the

multiple meanings and possibilities than new and often difficult to memorize and

to pronounce words. May be it is just my style of learning i do not know. But i

can tell you that the longer i teach the less lingo i use because I see how much

longer it takes for people to understand the materiel. One thing that is true is

that without the lingo it takes longer to state ones meanings. more words that

is, something that goes against my grain. But like I told Zev try to do this in

class and you will find out how much vagueness might be in your own as well as

others mind when using chinese lingo

alon

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Alon,

 

Point well taken, HOWEVER, are we not trying to raise the bar and create

sharper thinking, more efficient students and resultantly practitioners?

By teaching with descriptions instead of using the (yes, uncomfortable)

terms themselves we create a crutches for students, which continue to be

used when they are later doctors. Using your logic, why not use

descriptions instead of anatomical terminology? Simply because use of

proper orthopedic terminology enables us to quickly and exactly

articulate what we are describing. It also raises other's esteem for us

in our medical relationships. The same analogy applies with our Chinese

medica colleagues. And for those of you who are thinking, " who cares

what they think! " I tell you, not apologetically, that communication does

not in any way mean capitulation. As Marilyn Allen always says, " Don't

expect to be paid for an insurance claim with a diagnosis of " wind-cold

damp bi-syndrome " . We are still beholden, as a new player in the

Western world, to their language, that is when we relate to them, BUT,

for our own fluency, efficiency and excellence we need to (not

necessarily converse in, but definitely) use Chinese medical terminology.

 

With due esteem,

 

Yehuda

 

On Mon, 3 Nov 2003 09:19:58 -0600 " Alon Marcus " <alonmarcus

writes:

> Yehuda you are right of course if one in forced to learn a langue one

> learns it quicker. But again my question is what are you trying to

> converse, medicine with westerners or order a meal. Again because

> the terms often mean different things depending on context I for one

> prefer to teach one to think and understand the multiple meanings

> and possibilities than new and often difficult to memorize and to

> pronounce words. May be it is just my style of learning i do not

> know. But i can tell you that the longer i teach the less lingo i

> use because I see how much longer it takes for people to understand

> the materiel. One thing that is true is that without the lingo it

> takes longer to state ones meanings. more words that is, something

> that goes against my grain. But like I told Zev try to do this in

> class and you will find out how much vagueness might be in your own

> as well as others mind when using chinese lingo

> alon

>

>

>