Learning mandarin saved my patient!

I'm a RN, and have started learning mandarin to better help my patients. It's hard for a westerner, but Gabriel has made it easier for me. His lessons allowed me to be able to ask if my mandarin speaking patients can speak English (until I am conversational in mandarin). Recently, a patient was being abused by their spouse. My asking the patient if he could speak English, in his language, taught him to trust me. Because of this trust, he told me he was being abused. The family had been trying to get him out of the marriage for years. I got him out of the home and safely with family that day! He's now filed for divorce and is safe with his children. He's happy and safe, which means a lot to me. I know this happened because I spoke to him in his language. When I spoke mandarin, he cried with joy that I tried to communicate with him. AND HE UNDERSTOOD ME! That would have never happened without Gabriel. It just reiterated to me that I'm doing the right thing. I'm going to keep learning mandarin so I can help my patients. I'm so thankful I found this site!