Some months ago, I moved from the central area of Hamburg to the more rural parts of Berlin. I wouldn’t want to go to a place where the doctor speaks zero English, so if they are at a good level, I can probably survive the other staff because I know the basics there.
Eventually my teeth would need a check-up, so I was taking the steps for this. I searched on Google maps for “zahnärztin” (dentist) in my local area. There were a few results.
Each had a company website, I checked the website to see if they specified their languages, but they didn’t. But they had an email where people could write them.
Since I was not in a rush, I wrote an email asking if they are happy to speak English and sent it to all three of them.
This was also easier in some way because there was no need to call many different places and ask if they are taking new patients.
(English translation below.)
BETREFF: mögliche neue Patientenfrage
Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,
ich bin in die Gegend gezogen und suche einen neuen Zahnarzt. Ich komme aus den USA und ich lerne Deutsch, so ich brauche Zahnarzt das kannst spricht Englisch.
Ist der Zahnarzt dort fähig und glücklich zu spricht Englisch? Und was über das andere Personal?
Vielen Danke,
[name]
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SUBJECT: possible new patient question
Ladies and gentlemen,
I have recently moved to the area and a new dentist is necessary. I'm from the USA and in the process of learning German, so I would still need a dentist that is able to speak English.
Is the dentist(s) there able and happy to speak English? And what about the other staff?
Thanks,
[name]And it worked pretty good. I got a couple of replies.