Learning Other Languages

Learning to speak the language of care – one language, one culture, one conversation at a time. 

Kamusta! Shalom! Ever wondered how to dispense your patients’ medications in other languages? Thanks to Learning Other Languages (LOL), you won’t have to! Organized by the Inter-Professional Education (IPE) Committee, LOL aims to promote cultural competence and patient communication among budding healthcare professionals. In this iteration of LOL, healthcare students from different faculties across Singapore came together to learn one of Singapore’s four official languages — Malay. 

In weekly online lessons spanning five weeks, our friends from the Singapore Medical Society of the United Kingdom (SMSUK) and fellow NUSPS members learned basic Malay under the tutelage of teachers from Persatuan Bahasa Melayu University Kebangsaan Singapura (PBMUKS). LOL’s classes engaged eager learners through discussions, group activities, and roleplays simulating real patient interactions — striking a delicate balance between work and fun. LOL facilitators also fostered a supportive environment for our greenhorns to freely practise their newfound skills in a safe space, while providing constructive feedback for improvement.

Polyglots-to-be!

After five weeks of simmering in the linguistic melting pot, students graduated from LOL’s Malay course without a hitch, ready to serve up their piping-hot knowledge in the clinics. Though this programme has come to an end, the word on the street is that other exciting languages are coming soon to LOL, so stay tuned for future LOL sessions! And even if it’s all Greek to you, fret not, for LOL has you covered! 

Written by: Shaoming