I saw the neurologist yesterday. He gave me a physical examination, and I believe I passed. I have equal strength in both sets of limbs, decent balance, a normal gait, etc. The only notable abnormality about my motor function is my positively spastic reflexes (which occasionally makes me feel like a super hero). The appointment ended up being quite reassuring, in that it demonstrated something crucial: my body still serves me well, and I still have control over it. For the time being, a little numbness does not threaten my ability to walk, think, grasp objects, see, or exist.
I may need to switch medications, but that's another story.
I spoke Finnish throughout roughly 90 percent of the appointment. Rami was with me, and he provided far more translations in simple Finnish than in English. The doctor was, of course, able to handle himself when English was needed. If Rami hadn't been present, however, I wonder if I'd have needed to rely on English more. People are busy, after all, and most of them don't have time to sit and wait while I struggle to form a coherent sentence. On the other hand, a lot of people are just as uneasy about employing their English skills as I am about speaking Finnish. What is the etiquette in such a situation? Should one try to use Finnish, perhaps resorting to English when vocabulary is missing and grammar is jumbled, or is it more efficient to simply power through in English? It depends a lot on how well the other half of the conversation speaks English but, let's face it, most Finns speak my language better than I speak theirs.
What benefits me personally is to speak Finnish as much and as often as possible, and I try to do so with people who I'm sure won't mind. Still, one has to be considerate. But what is the considerate thing to do? Which is more burdensome: the onus of speaking a foreign language, or the onus of listening to your native tongue spoken badly?
Edit: A lot of people have asked how my friends and family are faring after Hurricane Sandy. As far as I know, they're all safe, either evacuated or residing just out of the reach of destruction.
I may need to switch medications, but that's another story.
I spoke Finnish throughout roughly 90 percent of the appointment. Rami was with me, and he provided far more translations in simple Finnish than in English. The doctor was, of course, able to handle himself when English was needed. If Rami hadn't been present, however, I wonder if I'd have needed to rely on English more. People are busy, after all, and most of them don't have time to sit and wait while I struggle to form a coherent sentence. On the other hand, a lot of people are just as uneasy about employing their English skills as I am about speaking Finnish. What is the etiquette in such a situation? Should one try to use Finnish, perhaps resorting to English when vocabulary is missing and grammar is jumbled, or is it more efficient to simply power through in English? It depends a lot on how well the other half of the conversation speaks English but, let's face it, most Finns speak my language better than I speak theirs.
What benefits me personally is to speak Finnish as much and as often as possible, and I try to do so with people who I'm sure won't mind. Still, one has to be considerate. But what is the considerate thing to do? Which is more burdensome: the onus of speaking a foreign language, or the onus of listening to your native tongue spoken badly?
Edit: A lot of people have asked how my friends and family are faring after Hurricane Sandy. As far as I know, they're all safe, either evacuated or residing just out of the reach of destruction.
I'm glad to know about your friends and family. I also have a blogger friend living in NY and she's doing fine, thank goodness!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm GLAD to hear about your health in general. Hope the new medication suits you. And KUDOS for you to keep pushing with your Finnish!!!
The last time I went to the tks (terveyskeskus) alone, one nurse asked me in very slow Finnish, "Puhutko suomea? Vai pitääkö minun puhua englantia?"
The offer was MUCH appreciated, but I said I could understand Finnish - though she did still speak slowly (which was REALLY considerate 'coz my brain wasn't really 100% functional due to flu). But anyway, I find that for me personally, if the other party seems to be willing to speak Finnish (and seems to have time to wait for me to explain my thoughts in Finnish), then I'd charge on with Finnish.
Actually in all the training places I went to after my course, I always forced myself to speak Finnish 'coz it's harder to switch to Finnish when you've started talking in English. Only once during my training session in the library I had to resort to English because I was in a panic and the boss had asked me something in Finnish but I didn't understand no matter how many times she said it, so she resorted to English instead he he he...
And of course body language helped, too! Once I went to tks alone and there was a blood test and the nurse asked me something (a medical term) but I wasn't sure what it was. So she pointed to the part that she meant so that I'd understand hi hi...But I suppose it's tricky when it comes to medical terms...I always try to look up the words first in the internet before going to the tks (like for the time when they invited me to have papa koe). I didn't know too many medical terms then (it happened 4 years ago and hubby couldn't come with me), but thankfully the gyno spoke VERY slow Finnish to make sure I understood ha ha ha ha ha...but I did prepare myself a little at home by looking up words connected to papa koe. :-D OK, enough rambling hi hi...
P.S. If a customer asks me something in Finnish that I don't understand and it's clear that he/she doesn't speak English, then body language it is! :-D
Yeah, body language is important. I find myself using my hands a lot more when I speak Finnish even if I know how to express something, I suppose just to make absolutely sure that I'm saying what I mean. It feels weird sometimes when I notice how much I'm flailing my arms around!
DeleteAlso, I've noticed that when someone offers to speak English or to speak Finnish slowly it's usually incredibly kind of them and not at all condescending. I don't know about other people's experiences, but I find that the people in this area are very encouraging. Just today, as I was writing my CV in our daily Finnish class, the ATK teacher insisted I put "Ymmärrän ja puhun hyvin" next to "Suomi" in the language skills section. It's kind of not true, but it was kind of him to encourage me! I definitely have more of those experiences than the opposite kind.
Oh yeah, actually I haven't met anyone with a condescending attitude towards me, even though in the beginning of time when I started working at my current workplace, some customers asked me something that I didn't understand. I asked them to repeat it but I still didn't understand, then they said to each other, "Never mind. She doesn't understand. Let's just walk around and see if we can find it ourselves." But they didn't say it in an annoyed tone of voice, so I didn't feel bad about it - I won't let myself feel bad about it!!! I made a mental note on the word and then vowed to try my best to remember the word and where the object may be in the store! :-D
DeleteYour ATK teacher is really encouraging!!! GOOD to know you're surrounded by people like that. :-D
P.S. Point taken on the arms flailing. I also realize that Finns tend to use more body language with me when they're not sure how much Finnish I understand hi hi hi hi...so I guess it's a common trait in mankind, I suppose. :-D
I think it's best to speak in Finnish, when you can, since this is where you live. If they seem to be in a hurry, maybe you could apologize for your slow Finnish, say that you're trying to use it as much as you can, but would they would prefer English for expediency?
ReplyDeleteGlad everyone is okay - It's surprising how unconnected I feel to Sandy, without being able to turn on the news reports. I've read about it and seen a ton of photos, but it still seems not real, somehow, without moving pictures.
I forget, are you originally from the east coast, or nearby? I've been reading and watching stuff on the internet, plus getting news from friends and family who live in New York, New Jersey, and the Connecticut shoreline. It's pretty upsetting (scary to see a flooded New York), but I'm ultimately just glad everyone I know is okay.
DeleteYour suggestion to attempt Finnish, apologize if necessary, and ask what they'd prefer is a good one. I've done that, but sometimes it ends up being a battle of politeness (i.e. "What do you want?" "No, what do you want?" etc. etc. ad nauseam). I do think it might be the best option, though.
What do you mean you passed? They didn't put you away?
ReplyDeleteThey didn't subject me to diagnostic torture as punishment.
DeleteGlad to hear that you are still in one piece, Elena, and that you did so well at your doctor's appointment (both physically and linguistically!) Personally, I never feel bad about practicing my Finnish on people in service industries/professions, since after all they are there to help (even though they perhaps hadn't anticipated that being patient with a beginner's Finnish would form part of their job description!) - in those situations, I try not to switch to English except if I know I won't be able to make myself understood in Finnish. I am more shy about speaking Finnish with friends, to be honest, because I feel more worried about their feeling bored or burdened by having to persevere with my Finnish when we could just have a nice, enjoyable conversation in English :)
ReplyDeleteRecently I had to call the dentist to change my daughter's appointment time. We had been allocated a time that was on a school morning, and I carefully explained at the outset that my daughter was at school and therefore could I please have a time that was after 1pm. The airhead receptionist sighed heavily and offered me an alternate time, at 10 am on a school morning. I repeated my original point about school. She sighed heavily and asked me something I didn't understand, so I asked her to repeat herself. She sighed again before repeating her question in an overly slow and condescending tone. By this stage I was really annoyed at her attitude and felt like saying something deeply sarcastic in English, but instead I decided to keep going in Finnish just to piss her off.
Maybe it was just a coincidence, but about a week later we got a mailed notification that the dentist had unilaterally changed the re-booked appointment time (of course, to 10am on a school morning!)
Wow, good point about the service industry thing. If I were a particularly boring, obnoxious person, they'd have to listen to me all the same. My poor Finnish can't be any worse than that.
DeleteThat receptionist sounds just awful. She definitely deserved your Finnish-language wrath, and good for you for sticking it out! Also, it's odd that your appointment was reverted to a time when you specifically said didn't work for you. Any ideas as to why?