Medical Spanish beginners Course

Quickly develop your language skills to work with Spanish speaking patients

We understand that if you have little Spanish language experience now, then an elective in Peru can seem a pretty daunting prospect.

Fear not – help is here.  Many of our program participants arrive with little Spanish language experience.  Once here they quickly advance with the help of our medical Spanish beginners level course, homestay families and hospital experience.

Can a beginner learn medical Spanish?

The answer is yes.  However, you need both medical terminology,  Spanish grammar and general vocabulary to communicate with patients.  For this reason, much of our program is focussed on helping students develop a full understanding of Spanish and providing skills that can they can use in and outside of a healthcare environment.

Learning Spanish before arrival

Before arriving here, we recommend that you spend some time studying general Spanish.  Learning a little of the structure of the language will provide you with a foundation that our teachers can quickly build on.  It is not necessary to work on medical Spanish at this stage.  Your focus should be general Spanish.

Nevertheless, once you pay the program deposit, we will send you an excellent medical Spanish book that covers both medical Spanish and general Spanish from beginners level.  At that point, we will also send you online medical and general Spanish vocabulary flashcards for your cell phone.   So you will already have a lot of vocabulary before you arrive.

There are also many online options to help you develop Spanish skills from scratch.  Free tools include Duo lingo and others such as Coffee Break Spanish have free and paid options.  An internet search will offer hundreds of other resources.

Medical Spanish beginners course

The quickest way to learn a new language is an immersion course with small student groups. This is precisely what we do.  We have a team of experienced teachers to provide the level of attention each student requires.

Our regular beginners level language course takes place over 4 hours each afternoon.  Our team of language teachers will ensure you have fun while developing your new language skills.  Each hour you will have a new teacher keeping classes lively and interesting.  The teachers have years of experience teaching Spanish at all levels and will ensure you quickly advance.

If you are looking to advance as quickly as possible we recommend that beginners take our intensive Spanish course which includes 7 hours per day of intensive Spanish at the beginning of your program to provide a boost to your language learning and more confidence on your clinical rotation here.

Learn about the experience of Christina, a medicine resident and Spanish beginner.

Living with a family

The idea of living with a family in another language can be an unnerving prospect.  However, living with one of our families is really not so scary.   Our families enjoy receiving international students with different levels of Spanish and will patiently help you to develop your speaking and listening skills.

Most of our families have at least one English speaker in their household.  Also, their homes are comfortable and just a few minutes walk from our center.

Also, remember you are not alone.  Our families accommodate between one and four participants.  Just let us know if you prefer to live with other program participants.

Hospital electives & Community Health Fairs

While healthcare in Peru is provided in Spanish, at the hospitals, you will meet local healthcare students and professionals with differing levels of English.  All recent medicine graduates in Peru are required to learn English as part of their program.

When you participate in our weekly community health fairs, you will be working with our English speaking doctors, as well as other program participants.  It is at these health fairs that you will notice how your language skills are quickly improving while here.

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