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Learning a Language Abroad | ||
Tags: Living abroad | Immersion | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Immersion, Schools & Certificates |  | |
| brian91 Senior Member Ireland Joined 5282 days ago 335 posts - 437 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 1 of 9 14 July 2010 at 12:45pm | IP Logged |
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This morning I was listening to an Irish radio station called 2fm. One of the guests on the show I was listening to
moved to France, and was saying how her French improved, and how here children are now fluent with perfect accents. My German isn't progressing as much as I hoped, so I was wondering how beneficial living abroad is? Sorry if this topic is repetitive, but every time I ask something here, I get a new perspective. Also when I Google ''how learn language abroad'' it's just people trying to sell me stuff (I'll check out there websites anyway I guess). Plus I'll try researching ''total immersion'' more. So has anybody here lived in a country that speaks their target language? How much did it help? Was it difficult making friends? Were you homesick? Was it difficult finding a job, or did you go as part of a college course? As part of my third year of university, I will spend that academic year abroad, but I'm not sure whether to choose German or Mandarin, but that's another thread. :D Thanks, Brian, 18 Edited by brian91 on 14 July 2010 at 4:21pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| TixhiiDon Tetraglot Senior Member Japan Joined 5302 days ago 772 posts - 1474 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese, German, Russian Studies: Georgian | Message 2 of 9 14 July 2010 at 1:11pm | IP Logged |
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Hi Brian,
I've lived in a few countries where languages I've been studying are spoken, for varying lengths of time and with varying results. I stayed in Warsaw for a month to do a Polish course with people from all over the world studying Polish. The default language amongst us all was English and I stayed in a dormitory and shared a room with a Japanese guy, so my Polish didn't improve all that much. I lived in Vienna for 9 months as part of my university course and was a completely stereotypical ex-pat, only making friends with other English-speakers and getting drunk every weekend. My German did improve quite a lot simply because I was there for so long, but not nearly as much as it could have. I lived in Russia for two three-month periods during which I became very close friends with a group of Russians. As a result, my Russian improved massively. I have lived in Japan for 14 years now and am at a point where I speak much more Japanese than English. My partner is also Japanese. Accordingly, my Japanese is better than any other language I have ever studied. Common to all these experiences is that I had a fantastic time! Living abroad is so exciting, stimulating, and eye-opening. It's an experience I would recommend to anybody. I do get homesick occasionally, but only for superficial things like good TV and mashed potato! I see my family once a year, and I keep in touch with friends in the UK through Facebook. I get a little sad when I see photos of all my old mates together, but I have my own friends here and I'm happy with the choices I've made. I would advise you to do your degree, get a TEFL certificate, and then go wherever takes your fancy and get a job teaching English for a year or two. There's plenty of time to get on the career ladder. 6 persons have voted this message useful | |
| brian91 Senior Member Ireland Joined 5282 days ago 335 posts - 437 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 3 of 9 14 July 2010 at 1:20pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks, TixhiiDon! That was a very helpful post. I want to do my TEFL before I get my driver's license, which is very
odd for my age. :D My mom wouldn't let me do it though, but I should be able to do it when I'm living in the city for college. Mashed potato is hard to beat, but I thought the television in Japan is way better than the UK? At least from what I saw on Tarrant TV. I guess I would only miss Top Gear. :D 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| astein Pentaglot Groupie Germany Joined 5106 days ago 80 posts - 134 votes Speaks: English*, German, Italian, French, Mandarin Studies: Russian, Dutch | Message 4 of 9 14 July 2010 at 4:20pm | IP Logged |
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I'm living in Germany right now and spent four months in China last year, and I can really agree with what TixhiiDon has said. You really need to make it a point to surround yourself with the language. It has to be natural, however. When I was in China, they made us sign a language pledge, promising to only speak Chinese, even outside of class. We were mostly Americans, though, and it really felt too forced. Also, since I was with other foreigners, it was hard to know whether I was really surrounding myself with correct Chinese or not. I feel like I began to absorb some of their errors, not having a good enough ear at that point to correct everything.
Living in Germany has been completely different. I live in a dormitory with German students in München. None of them speak English with me, and they don't even speak Standard German. Rather, I have been forced to learn to understand Bavarian, and that has done wonders for my German. I work here, as well, so I have also been able to get the corporate, formal side to add to my German. I have spoken (literally) zero English since I have arrived, aside from a couple jokes and grammatical explanations to people learning English. I wouldn't have believed how much I would improve, given that I have, as of yet, only been in the country for two months, especially considering that I was already pretty good when I arrived. I'm not sure if the post cleared anything up, but to sum up my thoughts: live the language, with people who have spoken it their entire lives. I don't know whether I have learned more German from reading and practicing or from going out onto Leopoldstraße after a big World Cup victory. There is learning a language, and there is becoming a part of the language. That's the whole point, isn't it? Edited by astein on 14 July 2010 at 4:23pm 6 persons have voted this message useful | |
| brian91 Senior Member Ireland Joined 5282 days ago 335 posts - 437 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 5 of 9 14 July 2010 at 4:26pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks, astein. Another really good post. I would love to live in Munich. The White Rose really got me interested in
the city when I was younger. I also listen to Bayern 5 Aktuell often. How different is the dialect in Bayern? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| astein Pentaglot Groupie Germany Joined 5106 days ago 80 posts - 134 votes Speaks: English*, German, Italian, French, Mandarin Studies: Russian, Dutch | Message 6 of 9 14 July 2010 at 4:46pm | IP Logged |
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As an understatement...rather. If you were to take the difference between Dutch and
German, and then halve it, you would be pretty close. It is different enough that I could understand almost nothing that they were saying when I arrived. Luckily, it comes pretty quickly. Also, everyone can speak and understand normal German, so it´s really not even an issue unless you live with people who speak it. If you want to see what Bairisch is like, there is a comedian who performs in Bairisch. His name is Günter Grünwald, and his accent is pretty clear and relatively easy to understand, at least when compared to some of the accents that come out "aus dem Bayrischen Wald". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy-h28V4tjY 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| brian91 Senior Member Ireland Joined 5282 days ago 335 posts - 437 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 7 of 9 14 July 2010 at 5:52pm | IP Logged |
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Wow, I didn't know they were that different. We never learned about dialects in school. :/ Are there other dialects in
Germany? Are there any areas in German that just speak Hochdeutsch? Maybe in the north of the country? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| astein Pentaglot Groupie Germany Joined 5106 days ago 80 posts - 134 votes Speaks: English*, German, Italian, French, Mandarin Studies: Russian, Dutch | Message 8 of 9 15 July 2010 at 8:27am | IP Logged |
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It really depends on where you are, and what sort of people you are speaking with. There are many dialects in Germany, but most of them in the north are much closer to Hochdeutsch. A lot of these people won't even learn the local dialect when they are younger, especially if they live in a city. There seems to be a lot more emphasis in Berlin and some other places to limit the use of the dialect and adapt to speaking Standard German (maybe a cultural thing?).
In the south, it is a variety of factors. Most dialects in Bayern and Österreich are mutually intelligible, and they sound very similar. There seems to be a fairly heavy influence from smaller villages and rural areas, as those who live in the cities tend to speak more Hochdeutsch. It is also a bit of an issue of pride. There is a long history of tension with the norther German states, and linguistic preservation might be a way of fighting against total cultural absorbtion, and perhaps even a method for recognizing the "Preißn", who have wandered a little too far south. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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