It depends, if you are in europe and learned foreign languages as a kid, it's entirely possible... Where I am now, in China and before Japan, indeed the langua

It depends, if you are in europe and learned foreign languages as a kid, it's entirely possible... Where I am now, in China and before Japan, indeed the language barrier is much higher and while I feel that I can speak well enough to both discuss politics and make jokes at a party (working in a company with no foreign speakers and talking in japanese all the time at home with my girlfriend helps). I'm still an illiterate and often feel the barrier of the language... But, that didn't stop me from having a sense of belonging there or, now that I don't live there, to be also sometimes a bit homesick toward Japan...