Japanese for Healthcare Professionals
An Introduction to Medical Japanese
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15
An Introduction to Medical Japanese
Ratings1
Average rating2
The only book of its kind in English, Japanese for Healthcare Professionals is a proficiency-based conversation textbook offering a complete Japanese language course that teaches Japanese grammar along with the vocabulary of medical care. With nearly three million Japanese tourists visiting the United States last year, and another five hundred thousand expatriates residing in the US and other English-speaking countries, it is inevitable that many Japanese speakers find themselves in need of healthcare but unable to communicate. Important highlights of this book are: Accompanying MP3 Audio Disc. No prior knowledge of Japanese necessary. For all professionals seeking to communicate in healthcare situations. Includes an English–Japanese dictionary of medical terms, a glossary of common complaints, and a sample bilingual medical questionnaire. Japanese for Healthcare Professionals offers a complete language course for classroom study or independent learners that teaches Japanese grammar along with the Japanese medical vocabulary. The chapters cover every step of a patient's interaction with care providers, from appointments and admissions to the physical examination, symptoms and illnesses, diagnosis, treatment, instructions to the patient, discharge, and follow–up. Chapters are devoted to the major branches of medicine as well as dentistry and to the corresponding bodily systems. There are also chapters on anatomy, infection and disease, and visits to the pharmacy. Each chapter follows a natural progression designed to help the learner comprehend the new material and acquire the language as effortlessly as possible. Each includes: basic Japanese vocabulary, a situational dialogue, Japanese grammar points and key Japanese language and culture notes, exercises and practice drills, and a quiz to sharpen comprehension. The culture and language notes seek to help the provider understand better a Japanese patient's cultural framework and patterns of belief, as well as the "un-translatable" meaning conveyed by certain idioms. The accompanying MP3 audio disc tries ties in core parts of each chapter, allowing learners to practice their spoken language skills outside a classroom setting. The book also includes thirty illustrations to help with vocabulary acquisition, a pronunciation guide, an English–Japanese dictionary of medical terms, a glossary of Japanese expressions for common complaints, a sample bilingual medical questionnaire, and answers to the quizzes. Emphasizing the learner's practical use of the Japanese language for healthcare settings and the importance of culture in understanding, Japanese for Healthcare Professionals reflects the national standards in foreign–language education set by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign languages (ACTFL).
Reviews with the most likes.
It really grates my gears every single lesson is in romaji with absolutely no kana or kanji except in the vocabulary list at the beginning. The first few lessons are acceptable for this but not all thirty. Most patients outside of Japan who speak Japanese will most likely know the language of the country they have settled in. Excluding the writing system is excluding a critical part of understanding the language itself. The book makes no attempts to foster the learner to use anything but romaji, which sets them up for failure.
As for users who already know some Japanese, this book becomes a slog to make usable. I am still struggling to write all the dialogues in kanji and kana and extract what pieces I need to use. I am tempted to tear out what I need but I don't have enough whiteout for the diagrams and it would be easier to find a stock photo.
I give two stars because it can partially function as a medical term dictionary and the order of the lessons makes sense for building up to a patient interaction for most members of the medical team. I have not listened to the CD yet (though that is due to loaning out my CD player.)
