I am learning the intersection of three languages: English, Vietnamese and Medical! When I am at the hospital, I often translate for my mom. When I am not around, I imagine a lot of hand gestures and repeating happens. I'm sure she and the nurses have developed a special language. I would say my Vietnamese is intermediate - enough to read and write (maybe even create a poem), but most certainly not enough to translate all medical terms. Therefore, the past few days, I have spent looking up various medical terms in Vietnamese. Below are some key terms that have helped with translation for my mom and relatives:
- red blood cells: hồng huyết cầu
- white blood cells: bạch cầu
- plasma: huyết tương
- platelets: tiểu cầu
- cells: tế bào
- cancer: ung thư
I found the following two websites quite useful: