Jade Jia Ying Wu, BBA
On December 7, Jade Jia Ying Wu, BBA, gave a presentation to Public Health and Professional Degree (PHPD) Programs on “Having Patience for Your Multilingual Patients.”
Wu was born and raised in Guangdong, China, where Cantonese is one of the main dialects, Jade moved to the United States at age 13 and experienced both Chinese and American cultures.
Wu is the creator of “InspirLang,” a website to teach Cantonese, Mandarin, and Taishanese to non-native speakers, and she developed her own Romanized system for Taishanese. She also authored four language learning books and hosts multilingual podcasts such as “Cantonese Diaspora” and “Learn Cantonese Daily.”
During her presentation, Wu provided insight into what it is like to be a patient trying to ask medical professional questions and convey symptoms in a different language.
She presented several ways that medical and health professionals can help non-English speakers in health care settings, including utilizing non-verbal cues, using translating resources, working with family members who speak English, and above all understanding that it is key to have patience and empathy for non-English speakers seeking medical help.
Seeking medical help can already be stressful—non-English speakers have the added difficulty of trying to exactly express symptoms and concerns.
Learn more about Wu’s work. Visit her InspirLang website.