Learning a new culture, by studying a language.

  This post was written as part of the Intercultural Blog Carnival that will take place on April 17. The aim is to provide advice and support for those just settling in a new country. This post is a short, general version of a post I wrote on what helped me learn Dutch.
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have lived and studied in 4 different countries (5 if you count my birthplace) and understand 6 languages (4 in which I am fluent, 2 which I can manage quite well). Moving around has made it clear to me that learning the local language is a crucial part of understanding the new culture: it's not just the words, it's the philosophy, the cosmovision, the way of seeing life that you slowly start to understand, all of which are incredibly helpful in the process of adapting to a new country. You will probably end up as a citizen of the world, because every time you take a little bit of every place with you, you understand better, you see how similar we are, and how different at the same time.

Sure, there are countries where you can manage to survive speaking only English. But I can only recommend making an effort and going the extra step, you will not regret it and the locals will appreciate it. Here are some ways in which to tackle language learning, aside from the obvious and unavoidable lessons, which are inevitably needed to master such basic things as grammar and spelling:

 -Go to the local library or bookshop and get a good thick dictionary. I find conjugation dictionaries particularly helpful, and pictionaries are a nice extra for your collection. Then go to the kids’ section. As a start, children books can be a great tool. Try reading those before moving to literature in the language of your new country. And speaking of literature, I am a strong advocate of, when at all possible, reading authors in their original language. At some point I was naive/arrogant enough to buy Goethe's Faust in German because I thought I was going to learn in 8 months. I still own the book, but needless to say I haven't read it. And if I weren't reading translated authors I would have missed geniuses like Milan Kundera or Leon Tolstoi. At the moment, I am really curious to start reading Dostoievski.

-Get immersed in the culture. Watch TV. Listen to the radio. Read the newspapers. Visit museums and art galleries. Even seemingly "silly" stuff can help. Get a magazine subscription and try to read all of it, even if at the beginning all you do is look at the pictures. Search the TV guide and look for programs made for children, they tend to be simple and easily understandable. Find out your favourite music in the local language and try to write down the lyrics. If you have kids, learn children songs’ and sing along with them.

 -Don’t be shy and start talking. At first you’ll only be saying things like: “Thank you” and “Please”. Then, you will be able to ask for the bread exactly as you like it at the bakery and soon you will be talking to the people in your neighbourhood.

It might seem an overwhelming task, and it will for sure require time and effort. You will get frustrated. But slowly and surely you will start noticing progress and you will not regret it. Meeting new people, learning new cultures is an experience and an opportunity that, as an expat or traveler of the world you should not miss.