When people ask me about my experience as an exchange student, they inevitably inquire whether I knew how to speak German before I arrived in Austria. The answer is yes (and I am so glad that I did), but I could have had a perfectly wonderful experience even if I had not known German.
When exchange students come to the United States from other countries, they usually know how to speak English very well (sometimes their English is even better than the English of those of us who have lived in the U.S. all our lives). Since they know the language, these exchange students thrive in their host schools and communities. They form friendships quickly and excel in school. The downside of living in a country that speaks a dominant world language is that we do not place enough emphasis on learning other languages in school. My Australian friends who traveled to Austria (note: keep Austria and Australia straight when reading this!) through the same exchange program as me expressed similar discontent with the language offerings at their Australian schools. Although I took German I-IV the year before I traveled to Austria, most Austrians were extremely impressed that I knew German at all. Most exchange students who come to Austria do not know German before arriving there. While it does not take long to pick up another language in a foreign country if you study and make a conscious effort to immerse yourself, knowing the language beforehand can give you a head start in making friends and navigating your new environment. For example, the exchange student from Afghanistan, who knew at least four languages and was quite fluent in German, had no issue making friends at school and was quite popular. Knowing German also made me feel more empowered and independent, and those two feelings alone were worth the hours I put into my German courses. So, if you are planning on traveling to a foreign country for any more than three or four weeks at a time, or if you are thinking about being an exchange student or studying abroad, I would highly advise learning a substantial amount of that country's language before your departure. I recommend the following three actions:
Good luck!!
1 Comment
Betty Beamguard
3/17/2017 06:23:24 am
Wow! I took the Spanish test and think I'm going to like this one even better than the Mango language program offered free thru our SC library system.
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