Many people ask me how I have come to speak Spanish. It was mostly thanks to mi mama who said that if I wanted to be a doctor in New York that I should learn Spanish. I took Spanish starting in the seventh grade of Woodland Junior High School. Our school had a pretty decent language department, it offered French, German and Spanish at that time. I had no particular exposure or influence by Hispanic culture at that time, but it made sense for me to take Spanish.
I’ll never forget what transpired in my head when I opened my Spanish textbook in class for the first time. The title of the book? ¿Que tal? or What’s up? I loved it. The book was published in the seventies (no I’m not that old) but I entered into another world. The first chapter was a basic introduction to Spanish and Spanish-speaking countries. The first place that was described was Puerto Rico. I immersed myself into reading about the diversity of the people and the culture. Later chapters would teach me about Mexico, Spain, and the migration of people from other Latin American countries.
It was the first time I had experience with a culture similar yet so different than mine. That’s what made it so absolutely appealing. Sure, on the outside many Latinos can look almost Indian, the hair, the skin color. In some cultures rice (arroz) is the staple just as it is in India. There’s an energy and spirit that is similar yet different. Just as in Indian history, there’s a mixture of native, European and African cultures (some Indians deny it vehemently but I believe it). I felt a certain peace learning and immersing myself in the Spanish language and culture.
The Spanish that I learned and spoke was very Castillian. Very proper. Not what you hear on the streets. I continued taking Spanish and Spanish literature at NYU, but again, it was a very proper education. When I became a medical student, my Spanish skills came somewhat handy, but let’s face it, most of my time in medical school was spent hunched over a desk.
I trained at NYU/Bellevue for residency, that’s when my language skills really started becoming necessary. But it had been four long years of studying. I had lost my conversational skills and felt somewhat awkward. There were times when I was asked to interpret for other people. One time I was asked by my fellow resident to tell a family member (in Spanish) that their loved one was dying. My friend asked me to tell them that it was futile to keep the respirator in, could I possibly ask them to consider extubating? I realized that in order for me to be able to speak on this level, I had to signficantly improve my skills.
Bengali and Spanish are somewhat similar. For example, the equivalent of Ud. (Usted) which is a formal way of addressing someone in Spanish, is “Apni” in Bengali. In the Indian culture, you musn’t address someone who is unfamiliar or someone who is older in the “you” form. I wouldn’t ask a storekeeper, “Can you please show me this?” The formal conjugated verb would be used. This is the similar concept in Spanish. I think being fluent in another language made it easier for me to absorb Spanish. My ability to speak Bengali also came in handy at Bellevue since there is a large Bengali-speaking patient population there. But there so many different dialects and expressions that it was often difficult for me to understand colloquial expressions. The similar thing happened across Latin American cultures. For example, what could be an autobus (bus) would be a gua gua to another person from a different Latin American country. How was I supposed to keep track of all these nuances?
I worked as an attending physician on the Lower East Side (L.E.S.) for four years. Believe it or not, there were times when I spoke Spanish the whole day without speaking a single drop of English. My Spanish improved signficantly. I learned so much about different Latin American cultures. To this day, my office and apartment are adorned with gifts from patients who come from Guatemala, Columbia, Ecuador, Puerto Rico, The Dominican Republic, Mexico, and so many other places. Although I’ve now forgotten the names of those patients, their faces and histories are forever etched in my mind. They were some of the most generous and caring people I’ve ever met and it was a pleasure being their physician.
My private practice now is very different than my previous job. Most of my patients are young, urban, and English-speaking. Some patients from previous jobs followed me to my office, and I have a handful of Spanish-speaking patients who somehow manage to seek me out. I worry that I’ll lose all that I have learned when I worked on the L.E.S. This time around though, I will not let my skills dissipate. I force myself to to read and learn new words everyday. I won’t ever take it for granted again. Puedo hacer.
