Learning a New Language: Pros and Cons

Three factors influence your ability to develop cross-cultural knowledge and cross-cultural communication skills as well as how quickly you develop these skills.?

First, it depends on your experience with traveling and your knowledge of the new country. Second, you can learn a lot about the local culture, both indirectly and explicitly, from workshops, books, or websites dedicated to cultural learning in general or to the local culture in particular.?

The more knowledge you gain, the better and quicker your adaptation.?

Additionally, mastering the language of the country you are living in is essential. By learning the local language, you not only demonstrate respect for the culture but also gain access to a wealth of insights, perspectives, and opportunities for meaningful connections with the local community.

You arrive in a very silent world if you cannot understand the local language. The beautiful movie from Sophia Coppola, Lost in Translation, shows this sense of isolation in the two main characters who are Americans staying in Tokyo for a few days. It illustrates how we can end up being surrounded by crowds and yet still feel very isolated, as if we were deaf.?

To break the silence and start to adapt, it is essential to learn the local language, or at least to learn some of it. Start as soon as you arrive.

Learning to understand and speak the local language (or one of the languages spoken in the host country) brings you a huge advantage. It allows you to communicate on a daily basis with all the people in your life (not only the other expats) and to learn about what is going on in the society around you.

In particular, it opens access to the local media and gives you some social competence: a personal knowledge and awareness of the place you are walking in.?

If you know the gossip and the things people are worrying about at any moment, you can take part in the small everyday conversations. The topics may not be vital, but knowing about them helps you to feel connected. It feels good to exchange a few words with your neighbour in the morning, even if what you say is not so important.?

Although it takes a few months to reach a good intermediate level, once the motivation is there it is not as hard as you might remember from your school years because the language surrounds you every minute, at least if you allow it to. There are various ways to learn a language, and you can choose to learn and speak about what interests you the most. In contrast to the school situations you may have experienced as a child, this time you are in charge.

Understanding the local culture and a new language gives you a strong sense of achievement because you know you have mastered your situation and your environment.

Many expats ask themselves whether it’s worth the time and money or whether they should try to find a compromise and invest just a little in language learning. They may wonder which language is most useful to start with, or wonder whether it’s worth the effort at all.

In many cases, the true expat only expects a short stay, so they ask themselves why they should learn the local language.

Millions of internationals also find it more urgent to speak English rather than the local language because English is the most common language in their new international community. They may need English, rather than the local language to be able to interact with colleagues or school teachers. Learning English may be the logical first step, leaving the local language to be learned at a later stage during longer stays.

Therefore, many different situations and many different reasons to learn the local language, official language, or dominant language… or, if it suits you, to avoid learning any new language and instead survive with the languages you have already mastered.