Move Where You Don’t Know The Language?
Joe DunningSo, can you emigrate to a country where you don’t know the language? The obvious answer that springs to mind is: yes you can. Plenty of people do it on a regular basis.
Can you read any of the above?
Moving to another country is a very big decision and there is a lot that needs to be taken into consideration. One of these things is the language barrier. One way to solve this issue is to move to a country where the people also speak English. What if you don’t want to do this? What if you want to move to Thailand or Russia? Well, you can learn the language before you go, or you can leave and hope you can pick up the language while you’re out there. Let’s look at the pros and cons of doing either of these things.
If you move to a country where you don’t know the language you may find it an exciting new experience. You might feel like an explorer discovering a new world. You may also find it uncomfortable and find yourself feeling like an outsider. If you go there with an open-mind and are determined to fit yourself into this new country, you will find yourself beginning to pick up some of the language quite quickly. If you go there thinking, “I just want to live here in my own little world, forget about everyone else,” there are two things you need to think about. Have you moved for the right reasons, or are you just running away, and should you have moved to another country if you’re not planning to integrate yourself into this new society?
How would you integrate yourself into the society?
There are many people in England who complain about immigrants who come to the country from Poland, China or India. When you try to speak with them, they don’t speak a word of English. When you’re in a work place with them, you find that instead of trying to mix with everyone, they only stick to the people who also come from their country and speak their own language. They retreat into their own world and alienate the people around them. I’m not saying this is a rule of thumb for all foreign people, but just as British people say, “If you move here, learn to speak English,” remember that when you move to a country where you make no effort to speak their language, you may have the same thing said to you…you just won’t understand it.
If you move to a different country with a new language and you’re taking your children, this is something else you need to take into consideration. When they go to school how will they learn what the teacher is talking about? How will they make friends and begin to socialise? The great thing about kids is they are very quick learners. So the next problem becomes, what if your kids can speak the new language and you can’t? Other things you need to think about before moving to a country where you can’t speak the language are how will you get employment, and what if there’s an emergency? Don’t just make the assumption that because most foreign places do have a lot of people that speak English that everyone will, and you won’t have to make the effort to learn.
If you’re determined to go somewhere with a completely new language, it will obviously be more beneficial to learn the language before you go. I don’t mean you will have to speak it fluently and sound like you’ve always lived there, but you should at least have a grasp of the basics and the types of words or phrases that you would need to use in everyday life. It is a good idea to get a language tutor a few months before you go. If you know at least the basics before you leave, you may find yourself better able to adapt to the new environment. With such a big change as moving to another country, you don’t want to put any more stress on yourself than is necessary. You may also find that you enjoy the experience more. You’ll be able to do all the normal things, like asking how much something is when you’re shopping or asking for help if you get stuck by the roadside when your car breaks down, and you’ll also be able to socialise. You can strike up a conversation with locals in a bar or on the street. You can become part of this new society and culture. It’s surprising just how much knowing the basics of the language can help you.
Take some time to study, it will help you!
As you can see, it’s not just as simple as getting out a map, closing your eyes, pointing to a place on the map and saying “I want to move there.” By the way, if that’s how you picked your destination, you may want to think again, are you doing the right thing? There are so many things you need to think about. It’s all very well making the big decisions, like where will we live? How will we pay bills? Will we be able to work out there? But when making these decisions, you need to think about the things we normally take for granted, like speech and language. This one thing is going to enable you to do a lot of normal, everyday things. Not knowing the language will be a bit disabling.
You don’t want to be lost!
So in conclusion, can you emigrate to a country where you don’t know the language? The simple answer is yes, but there are a lot of things to think about if you want to do this. It could add to the stress of leaving your country and, let’s face it, you don’t really need any more stress or trouble when doing that. Is it really that much effort to learn to speak this new language? Remember it isn’t just about you either. What about the rest of the family who are taking the plunge to move with you? This needs to be a smooth transition for them as well. Will they be able to cope if they don’t know the language? Will it cause friction within the family? These are things you need to think about seriously before taking that big leap and moving to another country.
