Are there English-speaking doctors in Ambergris Caye?
Kate Corrigan - Caye International Bank
Yes, there are English-speaking doctors in Ambergris Caye. Everybody speaks English here. All the prescriptions are in English and all the paperwork is in English, since English is the first language of Belize. You will get the odd lone Spanish-speaking person, but you will not see a lot of them.
There is a young lady who works for us who just had a baby. Her English is not great, so we ended up teaching her some English. We sometimes have to repeat...
Yes, there are English-speaking doctors in Ambergris Caye. Everybody speaks English here. All the prescriptions are in English and all the paperwork is in English, since English is the first language of Belize. You will get the odd lone Spanish-speaking person, but you will not see a lot of them.
There is a young lady who works for us who just had a baby. Her English is not great, so we ended up teaching her some English. We sometimes have to repeat ourselves and ask her if she understands, and she would do that Manuel thing from Faulty Towers, and say, “Yes, yes, yes.” (Faulty Towers is a funny TV show in England where the lead character has a Spanish waiter named Manuel whose response to everything is, “Yes sir, yes sir, yes sir.” All he ever says is "yes," but he does not understand a word of what he was told.)
For the most part just speaking English here it is fine. I do not have any language barriers and I do not speak Spanish.
Posted December 22, 2014
Melisa Ayala
Yes, there are English-speaking doctors in Ambergris Caye, since all San Pedranos (the local name for people who live in San Pedro, the main town on Ambergris Caye), and everybody else in Belize speaks English. English is our first language. Most people in Belize have two languages, which are English and Spanish, with English being the first language. My mom understands English and she could speak some English, but I speak to her in Spanish and English....
Yes, there are English-speaking doctors in Ambergris Caye, since all San Pedranos (the local name for people who live in San Pedro, the main town on Ambergris Caye), and everybody else in Belize speaks English. English is our first language. Most people in Belize have two languages, which are English and Spanish, with English being the first language. My mom understands English and she could speak some English, but I speak to her in Spanish and English. Most people here understand both languages. Some people also understand other languages like Garifuna, Creole, Maya, etc. It’s pretty awesome living here.
The Garifuna and the Mayans are natives here and people in Belize really take the languages and culture of Belize very seriously.
(Sign in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize for jet ski rental in the common language of English, pictured.)
Posted May 13, 2015
Lisa McCorkle Guerrero - DIAMANTÉ
All the doctors I’ve come across in Ambergris Caye speak English. We have a few doctors that are from Cuba who moved down to Belize to work, and even they speak English. A lot of the reason is because we’re such a big tourist destination but, believe or not, a lot of people, especially the younger generation still speak Spanish in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye. Even my kids’ first language is English. I grew up speaking Spanish in my house but our school...
All the doctors I’ve come across in Ambergris Caye speak English. We have a few doctors that are from Cuba who moved down to Belize to work, and even they speak English. A lot of the reason is because we’re such a big tourist destination but, believe or not, a lot of people, especially the younger generation still speak Spanish in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye. Even my kids’ first language is English. I grew up speaking Spanish in my house but our school system is based on the British system so all of our schools are English speaking. You have to know English to get around here. So even when doctors come from Spanish speaking countries like Cuba or Mexico, they eventually have to learn English to work.
Belize is the only English speaking country in all of Central America. Its official language is English. All the contracts for our condos are in English.
(Sign in English of a historical artifact in Burrell Boom, Belize, pictured.)
Posted September 15, 2015
Bob Hamilton - Century 21 Coral Beach Realty
Yes, there are English-speaking doctors in Ambergris Caye. The entire country of Belize is officially English-speaking. You can go to any government office or any bank and you will find that English is the official language.You can learn Spanish if you want to but you don’t have to. All the doctors on Ambergris Caye speak English. They are bilingual. Even the staff speak English well. Most people here on Ambergris Caye grew up with two languages. English is the major...
Yes, there are English-speaking doctors in Ambergris Caye. The entire country of Belize is officially English-speaking. You can go to any government office or any bank and you will find that English is the official language.You can learn Spanish if you want to but you don’t have to. All the doctors on Ambergris Caye speak English. They are bilingual. Even the staff speak English well. Most people here on Ambergris Caye grew up with two languages. English is the major language taught in the school system, so the parents might be unilingual in Spanish but the children grow up bilingual with English and Spanish.
(Barracks of British Army still conducting jungle warfare exercises in coastal Belize, pictured.)
Posted September 19, 2015
Matthew Hoy - Pelican Properties
Belize is an English-speaking country and English is the first language so every doctor here in Ambergris Caye speaks English. Even the hospital staff speaks English. If English is not their first language, they don’t tend to have jobs that are primarily customer facing or expat facing. Medical personnel all have strong English capabilities. Before its independence, Belize was known as British Honduras so they have been speaking the Queen’s English...
Belize is an English-speaking country and English is the first language so every doctor here in Ambergris Caye speaks English. Even the hospital staff speaks English. If English is not their first language, they don’t tend to have jobs that are primarily customer facing or expat facing. Medical personnel all have strong English capabilities. Before its independence, Belize was known as British Honduras so they have been speaking the Queen’s English for a lot longer than some people would think. There are some dialects of Creole but the accent would never get in the way of understanding somebody.
(In Belize, the Queen's official title is: Elizabeth The Second, by the Grace of God, Queen of Belize and of Her Other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth, pictured.)
Posted November 17, 2015