Spanish for midwives

[MidwifeErika]

I would like to learn Spanish. I took 2 years in high school... but that was a few years ago and I wasn't very good back then. I was wondering if there is a Spanish program (books, cds, whatever) that is particularly helpful for midwives or if maybe I would be best going to the college here and taking a class or two.

[JunipersMom]

There is a few Spanish for birth dictionary type books out there. Other than that, get birth videos in Spanish.

[mendomidwife]

There are a number of "Spanish for Health Professionals" books on the market. There is a great Spanish picture dictionary that I keep on my desk at work...I believe it was published by Oxford.
Dictionary.com will send you a new Spanish word every day.....most helpful.
I have found that listening to tapes or cd's in my car is helpful also. I rotate different ones because if not they get boring.
Spanish for Gringos is a good series...it moves along quickly.
I am hoping to go to Language school in the fall for 2 weeks....I know a lot of vocabulary, but don't get to practice a lot.

Carla

[MidwifeErika]

I just found some free podcasts to put on my ipod for learning spanish. So, I think I am going to start there since my ipod goes with me in the car all the time (and I travel for my apprenticeship, so I am in the car often). One was called something like Coffee Break Spanish... it is short lessons, so I will see how that goes.

[turtlewomyn]

I saw your post and I was curious about this so I googled it and found this:
http://www.birthwithsol.com/spformi.html

I don't know how helpful it would be, I have found the best way to learn a language is to go live in a country where people speak it. Easier said than done though! I originally started taking Spanish my first year in college because I wanted to be a doctor (OB/GYN even), I eventually changed and went into the biological environmental field, I studied abroad in Costa Rica and became pretty proficient in Spanish. I lived in S. Florida and used it quite a bit for my work. Now that I am contemplating going into the birth professions I wonder if it will come in handy. I will have to learn a whole new set of specific words though (Por ejemplo, no se come se dice "midwife" en espanol.)

[Lynnette]

partera

[JunipersMom]

Or comadrona, depends on what country your in. I lived in Guatemala for three months while fostering my babe - dreaming in Spanish when I went home.