I t's not so much that the world is getting smaller as that pieces of the global population are more able to move to new locations. Our major cities are a smorgasbord of immigrant cultures.
Refugees stream across borders.
At some point, this patchwork of peoples babbling a spectrum of languages gets sick, or has to deal with their wounds, or just needs preventive care, and comes into a hospital. It might be a field hospital run by the United States during Operation Desert Storm, or a U.N. facility in Zagreb, Croatia, or part of a Special Forces operation in Haiti. Or it might be any major metropolitan hospital or clinic. Medical procedures can be strange and scary, even if you know what's going on. What is needed is the ability to speak a few simple words of greeting and explanation in the patient's native tongue.