The Power of Language

18 Mar 2019

Most of the stress of expats come from an uncertain new environment and people with different language when they are trying to settle in. A new environment is a challenge because you don’t have any connection there; you feel different from the locals and you cannot follow the daily routine as you did in your home town. It is hard, all of us understand, but is there any way for expats to adapt to new life more easily? Yes, there is! Some expats said that learning the local language can help a lot!

Building relationship with locals in the host country is vital for one to get used to a new place. With the language border, building a close relationship with locals is not as easy as expected. Therefore, learning the local language is a good way to shorten the distance between you and the locals. You don’t have to speak fluently but knowing some phrases could help you a lot. Even if the locals can speak in English, learning and using the local language can show your respect for the local culture, which is very impressive when you are meeting new local friends. People will see your hard work.

Other than building relationship, knowing a bit of the local language can make your daily life easier. Try to imagine you are entering a local restaurant where the menu is only written in the local language, and no one can explain a word to you. At that time, the only thing you can do is just leaving the restaurant and finding another one. You therefore probably miss a chance to taste the best food in the town. Isn’t it regretful? To avoid this happen, you can learn some local cuisines’ name, at least those you love to eat.

Not only in daily life, but you may also find the local language useful in some emergency cases. When you need medical services or emergency services, you will be glad that you learned how to explain the health condition to the doctors clearly in the local language. Especially for the expats who moved or will move to a host country where English is not commonly used, like Japan and Korea. Many expats claimed that they faced difficulties when seeing doctors due to the language difference. You may need to pay extra attention as it will probably bring a negative impact on your health.

Learning the local language is beneficial, but don’t stress yourself out if you do not plan to learn due to the difficulties of learning a new language. It is definitely challenging to be word perfect, yet, learning some simple phrases can also take you to the next level.