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This is a question for those of you who are living abroad or have lived abroad.
Assuming you did not speak the local language before arriving there, did you learn it to live there, did you just use English or did you use some other language (but not the local one) you already knew?
I live abroad.
I work in an English language environment so I could get by without learning the language of the country I live in.
That said, I've taken language lessons for the countries in which I've lived.
I spend a lot of time traveling and can do that in most languages.
I took a year of Italian in the community college in the States immediately before the move, but that was barely enough to deal with realtors and workmen (we bought an ancient house and had it brought closer to modern time.) Luckily, the Italian general contractor spoke French and so did I, so between the two languages, we understood each other well. The in-depth learning for me came after we started living there.
My husband, OTOH, relied on his one year of Italian (from college, 35 years prior) and many decades of conversational Spanish (from living in Southern CA) to improve his understanding of the local language. He did fine on daily matters and only referred the more complicate issues to me.
I had no choice but learning/speaking the local language since very few people spoke English in the town where we lived.
Last edited by Ol' Wanderer; 01-11-2012 at 09:00 PM..
I moved overseas and took an intensive short-course for the basics of the local language. It was six weeks in total for ~ 120 hours of classroom instruction. After that I began to use the language every day and actively learned new words through a variety of methods. But I had to work and thus used English mostly with the local language for chit-chat with friends.
Finally, after about 10 years, I offered to replace an instructor for classes that were taught in the local language, and I found that I was able to teach in it. When you are forced to speak at length, you find that you have to increase your lexicon beyond the basic daily-function words. It is hard work, but it can be done.
Too many people are shy to use a new language for the fear of making mistakes or else sounding "funny". I embrace the sounding funny part, and have turned it into an ice-breaker. For me, communication is what counts, and that can be accomplished by less-than-native fluency.
Not just language but accents. When I lived in Australia, people assumed I was local, listening to me Moving back to the states I find once in a while I slip.
This is a question for those of you who are living abroad or have lived abroad.
Assuming you did not speak the local language before arriving there, did you learn it to live there, did you just use English or did you use some other language (but not the local one) you already knew?
Good question.
It completely depends on what you're doing in the foreign country. I've noticed that people who MUST speak the local language, usually do learn it. I mean, MUST, because of employment reasons. No one speaks any English in your employment, and so therefore you're required to learn and speak the local language to function.
Generally speaking, English teachers, are very hit and miss with this. Since many people living abroad (at least in Asia), are generally English teachers, we speak and do everything in English all day long. So, I find that the ones who want to speak the local language, must really have the extra energy to get out of their workworld sphere and do something else in their spare time to immerse themselves. If you don't have the desire or energy, it's way too easy to stay in english-speaking bubbles for years and years while living in a foreign country.
This is a question for those of you who are living abroad or have lived abroad.
Assuming you did not speak the local language before arriving there, did you learn it to live there, did you just use English or did you use some other language (but not the local one) you already knew?
Actually I knew some Portuguese before I moved, and I certainly needed it. None of the first half dozen people I casually met in Lisbon after getting outside the airport spoke English...it was a good lesson.
I think one thing Americans forget is that non-Americans resent a resident foreigner who does not learn their language just as much as Americans get very annoyed with resident aliens who do not learn English.
The fact that many people outside of England, US, etc. speak English does not mean that they want to have to do this in their own countries with immigrants. And just as in the U.S., some people are very quick to make this point.
Actually I knew some Portuguese before I moved, and I certainly needed it. None of the first half dozen people I casually met in Lisbon after getting outside the airport spoke English...it was a good lesson.
I think one thing Americans forget is that non-Americans resent a resident foreigner who does not learn their language just as much as Americans get very annoyed with resident aliens who do not learn English.
The fact that many people outside of England, US, etc. speak English does not mean that they want to have to do this in their own countries with immigrants. And just as in the U.S., some people are very quick to make this point.
I also observed that while living in Spain and Brazil. Particularly Spain, where I found that if you didn't speak Spanish, they just didn't have time for you. Even if you did speak Spanish, if you didn't understand, they just spoke it quicker to be done with you quicker.
In Brazil, I found people very helpful and kind, however, they simply didn't have any English foundation whatsoever. Like, ZERO. So, you really had to learn Portuguese to do anything whatsoever.
Over here in Asia, people pretty much expect foreigners to NOT know any of their local language. SO, they'll often apologize if they can't help you in English, etc. It seems to vary quite a bit.
In Japan, there is a whole less English than anywhere else I've lived or been in Asia, so here, you kinda need to learn some Japanese. In Korea, it was easy to live there for a long time, with people just apologizing for their lack of English, oddly enough.
I have been living in Germany for 11 years now. I was 35 when I mived. It took me a year to be comfortable in the language. I speak almost perfect now with a bit of accent. Never took a class.
Friends who live in the Netherlands say it is hard to learn the language as everyone speeks such good english and they rarly give you a chance to practice.
I live in the French-speaking part of Belgium (Namur) and I always try to speak French to people (I don't have much choice though because most people here, at least that I've encountered, do not speak English). That was the whole reason I moved here, to improve my French language skills.
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