4 ms·

Relationships are a big one. Not just dating, but being isolated from family and friends can be hard (I lived in Beijing for 4 months, and enjoyed it, but it do

by fortes 18y ago

Relationships are a big one. Not just dating, but being isolated from family and friends can be hard (I lived in Beijing for 4 months, and enjoyed it, but it does get lonely). Also, not every one is ready to live somewhere foreign. Especially if they don't speak the language.

swombat 18y ago
I guess I feel that less since I jumped country (from Switzerland to the UK) once already, so I feel less attached to where I am (though I do have many friends around here). With respect to language, it seems to me there are so many ways to learn common languages these days, that this should not really be an excuse. Anyone can go on Bit-Torrent and download some language courses, and speak a language passably well in a few months... (well, unless it's a ridiculously hard language like Chinese...) Btw, for that, I recommend a combination of the Pimsleur courses, + a book about grammar, followed by reading a fiction book in the target language, before actually moving there.
- fortes 18y ago
  Dating someone who speaks the language (before, as well as while you are there) is also very, very helpful. (I didn't do this in China, but my friends who did definitely had a leg up).
  - randallsquared 18y ago
    If you do this, beware that some languages are enough different for male and female speakers that you may end up learning lots of gender-confusing idioms. I've read that English-speaking men in Japan sometimes end up speaking fairly fluent "Japanese girlfriend" rather than the Japanese they'd be speaking if they'd mimicked other males.
  - dschobel 18y ago
    the famous "sleeping dictionary". yes, this helps quite a bit.
- jdminhbg 18y ago
  It's very easy to speak a language passably, it's much more difficult to speak it well enough to have friends and in-depth conversations. It can get alienating when you feel like you're not in on the joke everyone else is.
- patio11 18y ago
  I feel less attached to where I am I moved abroad and have the hardest time explaining to people (principally family and friends back home) that I feel really, really attached to the city I landed in, and the little slice of life I carved out here. I miss being closer to my family, but sort of perversely I feel like I fit in a lot better here than I ever did in, e.g., the city I went to college in.

by fortes 18y ago

swombat 18y ago

I guess I feel that less since I jumped country (from Switzerland to the UK) once already, so I feel less attached to where I am (though I do have many friends around here). With respect to language, it seems to me there are so many ways to learn common languages these days, that this should not really be an excuse. Anyone can go on Bit-Torrent and download some language courses, and speak a language passably well in a few months... (well, unless it's a ridiculously hard language like Chinese...) Btw, for that, I recommend a combination of the Pimsleur courses, + a book about grammar, followed by reading a fiction book in the target language, before actually moving there.

fortes 18y ago
Dating someone who speaks the language (before, as well as while you are there) is also very, very helpful. (I didn't do this in China, but my friends who did definitely had a leg up).
- randallsquared 18y ago
  If you do this, beware that some languages are enough different for male and female speakers that you may end up learning lots of gender-confusing idioms. I've read that English-speaking men in Japan sometimes end up speaking fairly fluent "Japanese girlfriend" rather than the Japanese they'd be speaking if they'd mimicked other males.
- dschobel 18y ago
  the famous "sleeping dictionary". yes, this helps quite a bit.
jdminhbg 18y ago
It's very easy to speak a language passably, it's much more difficult to speak it well enough to have friends and in-depth conversations. It can get alienating when you feel like you're not in on the joke everyone else is.
patio11 18y ago
I feel less attached to where I am I moved abroad and have the hardest time explaining to people (principally family and friends back home) that I feel really, really attached to the city I landed in, and the little slice of life I carved out here. I miss being closer to my family, but sort of perversely I feel like I fit in a lot better here than I ever did in, e.g., the city I went to college in.