The Ease Of Living Abroad When You Know The Native Tongue

Indulging in an entirely new language, food and cultural etiquette is intriguing and widens your perspective in multiple ways.

21:10 06 December 2019

Traveling and living overseas is exciting and challenging at the same time. Well, living like a local is not as easy as it sounds. You need to adjust according to the country norms, eat local food regularly even if you don’t have a taste for it, and try to communicate in the local language even though you are awful at it.

While some people move to a different country for a lifestyle change, others are seeking further studies or job prospects. Knowing the native language is extremely crucial for ease of communication. Even though it is difficult to catch up on a second language, learning it can make your survival easier along with providing a few other benefits.

How Easy Is It to Learn a New Language?

Moving to a new country requires learning the local language for ease of communication. It can also open many facets that you might wish you knew earlier. Depending on the level of difficulty for each language, you can chart out the number of hours or weeks it would take to learn the language. Group 1 languages, which are the easiest and are related to English, take around 600 hours. Group 5 languages, which are the most difficult and carry completely different alphabets, can take around 2200 hours to reach basic fluency.

If you are moving to South Korea for work prospects, you need to start learning Korean a few months prior, as the language falls in group 5 which is the most difficult. The first step would be to learn the alphabet. Astonishingly enough, understanding the Korean alphabet doesn’t have to be a difficult task and can be learned in 30 minutes. You can also take up courses that help you reach the basic fluency within 90 days. Once you have learned one of the most difficult languages in the world, group 1 languages should be a piece of cake for you.

If you’re thinking of moving to a new country, here’s how learning the native language can help:

Break The Cultural Barriers

Speaking the native language can provide the opportunity of living like a local and mingling in the native culture. It assists you in taking a step further and develops curiosity in knowing more about the undiscovered world you are living in. Apart from understanding significant art and historical relics of the country, you can appreciate media, movies and music in their language. Translations and dubbing simply ruin the original meaning in some manner and so you can contemplate how important it is to know the language if you are a music or movie fanatic. Also, people are more open to understand and share their own thoughts when you speak their language.

Build New Friendships

You wouldn’t expect all nationalities to speak English, if that’s your first language. Countries like Saudi Arabia, Japan, South Korea and a few more possess a low English-speaking ability. So, if you are destined to stay in any of these countries for a while, you need to learn the local language to make new friends and build your network. Learning a new language takes effort and a lot of patience, and upon knowing that, people will be more inviting and welcoming towards you. They would appreciate your efforts of trying to fit in, which is helpful in building relationships. In this manner, you can also learn more about the culture and the country’s history upon hearing anecdotes from a local.

Opening New Job Opportunities

If you are a student studying abroad, you would require a part time job to fulfill your monthly expenses. But without the knowledge of the local language, it can be very difficult to find an appropriate job. Learning the native language can not only fetch you part-time work for survival, but can also open a window for a full-time position after you graduate. You can also look for international freelancing opportunities with the comfort of staying at home once you’re back.

Apart from being comfortable abroad, learning a new language also helps you to develop your memory and builds a longer attention span. It also assists in catching up on a third language if you wish to learn more than two languages; even easier if is nearly similar to the second such as Spanish and Italian. Being trilingual is impressive and once you get the hang of two or more languages, you will seek to learn more and get to discover alluring things within this world.