Sometimes the requirements of your job will make you do some traveling around and you could even find yourself working abroad whether temporarily or permanently. While expats could get all emotional during the first few weeks because they had to leave their families and friends behind, they would still need to settle down to work and get things rolling at their desks. One of the major barriers to working abroad is language differences which can lead to a lack of effective communication of assigned duties. To thrive well in those areas, you will need to learn the first language of your new location, and here are some ways you can learn their language effectively.
Renting office spaces to mix with others
Many companies have been embracing the remote and hybrid working options in recent years since the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic. More business setups are joining in because remote working has improved employee engagement and is paying off for the employers also.
Due to this fact, there have been more coworking spaces in businesses to rent out their offices to employers and even employees. If your job takes you abroad to say the United States, near Nashville, and English is not your first language, you can check out office spaces in Nashville and rent one there to help you network with the people and learn the language naturally. A majority of people are always happy to teach you their first language when you ask them.
Try listening to the language regularly
The first effort you should make towards learning a foreign language when you are working abroad is to train your ears to hear the language anytime it is spoken. Every day, you can listen to the radio in the language of your new location. The accents and speech rates can make things difficult to understand in the first few weeks of listening but with time, it would get easier. You can also give an hour a day to TV stations to get used to how the language is spoken also. By the time you eventually start learning to speak, it would be a lot easier because you have listened to how it is spoken for a while.
Do some reading
After getting your ears used to the language, the next thing is to get your eyes used to it. At this point, you may have learned to speak a little so all you need to do is to get your hands on some novels or even fables. Try reading a book that will keep you longer at it than just trending news or a short write-up. Read about 10 pages every day for at least 30 minutes. It may be a difficult exercise early on but one that would ease out with time.
Write something every day
Writing in the language of your new location can help you master a foreign language faster than you could ever imagine. You can write a blog about your expat experience in a foreign country as it will help you learn to write in the new language more professionally. A good thing about writing blog posts in a foreign language is that you get to be corrected by the natives that read your posts regularly. These corrections will help you master the foreign language more.
Find a learning exchange
This is a very good move towards learning a foreign language where you are working. You can look for someone that is interested in learning your language and also willing to teach you theirs. Let’s say you speak English and you are in France to attend to work, you can look for someone that is capable of speaking the French language fluently and do some trading by barter.
You teach the person how to speak English while he or she teaches you how to speak French. If you have an online business while moving abroad then you can take some online business training to manage your website in a foreign country.
Try taking notes while listening to the language
Once you have learned to listen and read the language, you can go a step further by trying to take notes. You even need to learn this because, at some point in time, you will have to take some notes at work especially if you are on zoom calls with your team. It is not an easy task though but with time, it can be mastered and it will help you learn the language more.
Take courses online
This can be the easiest way out of the language barrier you could face while working as an expat abroad. Since you are still new in your new location, there could be that shyness to mingle with people but you can take the initiative to learn the foreign language online. You can sign up for one of the massive open online courses.
It is a free online class and you can sign up for an interactive course that can train you to take notes as if you were there in person. If you are very good with in-class assimilation, then this will be a great avenue for you to master the foreign language and be more confident in relating with people.
Final word
Some expats working abroad can find things difficult and discouraging because of the language barrier. If you wish to surmount these problems, you just need to learn the language. Learning a new foreign language is an opportunity to partake in the culture of that location. The tips here can guide you to achieve this. If you have an open mind towards learning this new language, you will be successful and find things a lot easier in your collaborations there.
Also Read: Important procedures associated with complementary and alternative therapies?
