The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Language and Communication Quotes

Foua can't read numbers, let alone words. That doesn't make her dumb, but it does mean that it's going to be all but impossible to communicate with Lia's doctors. Cue the serious, life-threatening consequences of not being able to communicate.

Can we get an "um, what?" up in here? That's kind of a lot of pressure to put on a fifth-grader. While most of their peers are playing Pokémon and discussing the finer points of kickball, these Hmong youngsters are forced come face-to-face with the deaths of loved ones.

This is what happens when you have some struggles with communication. Instead of talking to their doctors about their concerns, the Hmong fall victim to paranoia and misinformation. To be honest, the same exact thing is probably happening within the hospitals too, with doctors spreading gossip and mocking Hmong culture simply because they don't understand it. Better than eating brains, but still, not the best way to run a hospital.

Dwight Conquergood is the exception to the rule. Instead of acting all condescending toward the Hmong, he makes a point of learning about their culture and uses that knowledge to better convey Western medical concepts. And guess what—it works. Sometimes, good communication is as simple as meeting the other person halfway.

Sweet metaphor, dude. No matter how hard he tries, Neil just can't get on Nao Kao and Foua's level. Neil is a good dude and a good doctor, but even he fails to look past his own cultural preconceptions and see the Lees as people. Unfortunately for Lia, her parents are in the same boat. You'd think Saran Wrap would be less tough to navigate than, say, a brick wall, but hey, layers are layers.

Here we've got the whole problem in a nutshell. Even when there is someone who can translate both languages, it doesn't remove the cultural barriers, which often end up being much harder to overcome. As a result, the doctors inadvertently make faux pas after faux pas, gravely offending their Hmong patients just as they think things are finally clicking into place.

This lady gets it. She knows that the language gap is only the first hurdle, and making it over the cultural gap is an even bigger leap. This idea shapes her entire strategy in relating to the Hmong.

Uh oh. Once again, a miscommunication between Neil and the Lees has serious consequences. Instead of thanking Neil for his hard work—work that's taking a huge emotional toll on him—Nao Kao and Foua convince themselves that Neil is only looking out for himself. If it were a Eurotrip, sure, but once again, that's what these folks just don't get.

This is a breath of fresh air, if a little hippie-dippy. Jeanine Hilt bypasses language, culture, and ethnicity altogether, bonding with Foua as one individual with another. If only it were this easy for everyone. Ultimately, Jeannine shows us that real communication isn't about cultural sensitivity or political correctness—it's about having an open heart.

We're not quite sure how to feel about this one. Was the situation really this hopeless? Or, perhaps, could both sides have made more effort to communicate with the other? As usual, the answer only comes in shades of gray. About 20 or so, by our count.