Dear Editor,
I know a lot of people complain about the Spanish-speaking doctors working at local health centres and how difficult it can be to understand them.
A friend of mine, who is a teacher of Spanish as a foreign language in the Algarve, had warned me that some words can be really tricky and cause confusion to the Portuguese. He gave me this example: in Spanish apenas puede comer carne roja means loosely ‘you should avoid eating red meat’ but apenas in Portuguese means ‘only’, so the Portuguese patient could get confused and think that the doctor is suggesting he should “only eat red meat”! Anyway, I waited with anticipation to see who would be my doctor at a recent visit to the health centre in Lagoa one evening. And – surprise surprise – he spoke Spanish! He didn’t attempt to speak Portuguese with me but it was easy to follow what he was saying. He spoke very slowly and repeatedly asked if I understood what he was saying. He was very helpful.
I don’t know whether he would be able to speak in English to a foreign patient if required but somehow I suspect a Portuguese doctor would be quite happy to say a few words in English! Or maybe not!
It would be interesting to know what other readers have to say of the Portuguese health system. I can’t complain too much actually.
Marta P. Jerónimo
Lagoa
