HablaMed- Stop asking “Do you speak English?”—try this instead


This week’s Spanish on shift: Chest pain

Reader,

Hola equipo 👋—

This week, we’ve got two quick Spanish wins to bring to your next shift:

🗣️ Entre Pacientes: Two Fast Wins

Respectful language opener:
Instead of “Do you speak English?”, try: ¿Prefiere español o inglés?

/preh-FYEH-reh ehs-pah-NYOL oh een-GLEHS/
“Do you prefer Spanish or English?”
It centers patient choice and lowers friction right away.

Pain that guides care:
Use: Del cero al diez, ¿cuánto dolor tiene ahora?

/del SEH-roh al DYEHS, KWAHN-toh doh-LOR TYEH-neh ah-OH-rah/
“From zero to ten, how much pain do you have right now?”
Pair it with a few quality descriptors to better triage symptoms:

🧠 Vital Vocab: Chest Pain

  • punzante – stabbing
    /poon-SAHN-teh/
  • ardor – burning
    /ahr-DOR/
  • opresión – pressure
    /oh-preh-SYON/
  • latente – dull
    /lah-TEN-teh/
  • agudo – sharp
    /ah-GOO-doh/
  • palpitante – throbbing
    /pahl-pee-TAHN-teh/

📺 Coming soon: A new 60-second case on chest pain triage—stay tuned!
📄 Also on the way: A free 50-phrase triage PDF + audio companion—keep an eye out.

🎟 Heads up: The Founding 100 is available now for our Spanish Lab Meetups where we'll do vocabulary and phrase drills, clinical cases, and much more! Check it out on our website- We begin Mid November!

Un abrazo,
—The HablaMed Team

P.S. Know someone who’d love this? Forward this email or share habla-med.com. to help us grow our community.

Tyler@Habla-med.com

600 1st Ave, Ste 330 PMB 92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2246
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