Job Discussion Forums

[Gawain]

How much local language do you need to live well? Can I get away with beginner vocab? In Taipei movers hijacked my possessions until I paid double what we agreed to. I didn't understand a word. I pulled the driver out and started kicking his ass, and jail was seconds away. My Taiwanese girlfriend negotiated. We paid double but I got my stuff back. It sure helps to know what people are yelling!

Surely globetrotter teachers are not fluent in Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Spanish, Czech, Russian? Are they multilingual? Am I just retarded? Surely I don't have to master Czech and Russian and Korean to make an EFL career?

[carnac]

Usually an employer can help you find a local "fixer" person who speaks enough English for you to communicate. This person does for you the things you need done, for (generally small) pay, until you become fluent enough to find your own way around. This is for matters like governmental relations, getting your phone (and hopefully, Internet), getting electricity, etc.
Taxis can be a problem so I keep some notes of names of places in the local language and when needed pull out the paper and point. Not very useful if the taxi driver can't read, however. When I go to do serious shopping involving a contract (car, apartment, ) I bring a local who screams at the seller for me until the price becomes reasonable and who explains it to me. All the while feeling incredibly illiterate.

After 6 months maximum, the problems have fairly much gone away.

Good question.

[ls650]

[Gawain]

Surprised only a few responded to such an important topic. Communication is crucial to your overseas survival! Can you really just fake it?

Anyone got any cool stories about not knowing the language, and the misadventures your ignorance caused?

[T-Bone]

When I was in Japan I had a lot of help from English speaking natives and expats. I fell into the trap of spending most of my time in the "expat ghetto". As a result, my Japanese skills were lacking sorely by the time I left. I can find my way around a restaurant menu, though.

I was living in a big city (Nagoya) working for a big company. I relied on the social scene at the company; most of the Japaenese I met were keen to practice their English.

I think this is the general rule for eflers worldwide: in the cities you can get by with English; you need the local language more the further you venture out in the provinces.

This applies to any foreigner, actually: I know of lots of latinos and Chinese here in the States that speak little English...

It limits their opportunities in the States, just as my ignorance limited mine in Japan...

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

You can get phrase books in many, many languages and they can often help you with basic survival.

If you are in an area with an alphabet system (including non Roman character alphabet systems, like Hangul in Korea, and Hiragana and Katakana in Japan, though Japan uses kanji, Chinese characters, as well) then life becomes much, much easier as soon as you can read and write it.

[Roger]

Methinks the original poster is one of those who cannot relate to, and identify with an indigenous culture and society; that's no crime at all, but he must accept it comes at a price. Tourists also have to pay a higher price for special tourist services that normal local people would frown upon; the market dictates that what the few need comes at the price that the monopoly can supply it for. And locals who speak your lingo have the right to make you pay for their pain in learning your lingo. You are a tourist, accept it.

[Deconstructor]

I speak number of languages pretty well, but German is not one of them. Learning it was very important if I wanted to survive in Germany without much aggravation. There were times when I knew that the person in front of me could speak English, yet she wouldn't just, I guess, out of spite. "You're here, speak ours" was the attitude. I didn't stay in Germany for years, but was there for many months and it was hard to function.

When I was in Korea, however, I had virtually no problems even though, again, I couldn't speak a single word in Korean. People went out of their way to speak English and accommodate me.

I think ex-imperialist cultures like Germany and France feel profound resentment towards English and about the fact that their languages never made it to the international scene or were promptly usurped like French.

[Aramas]

[Deconstructor]

[Roger]

[tom selleck]

As an Anglo-Canadian, I feel Deconstuctor's views have a grain of truth to them.

I was all the too keenly, politically aware of what was going on in Quebec during the 1995 separation- by tenths of a percentage point. All of their arguments for separation always had foundations on mush. The amount of dollars that flowed to Ottawa were always less than the flows that went back to Quebec. After listening to open line radio shows and reading every editoral on page 3 of the newspaper for years, I eventually just came to the conclusion (sorry Guy, if you're reading!) that they were just pis sed English turned out to be the predominant language, and not French.

They just didn't feel that comfy in North America surrounded by a sea of 300,000.000 English speakers. It was and is, all about language.

For me, personally, I just didn't feel like learning French because the Government decided a minority of 10 million French speakers would dictate my choice of studies when the closest Franco-phone in numbers were at least 3500 miles away. A mandated bilingual policy makes sense if speakers of both language are in relative proximity of each other. But in a country the size of Canada, tell a school kid he's gotta learn French, when in a classroom like Vancouver, 40% speak English as a second language, it just doesn't make sense. Of the 40% you're talking Hindi, Punjabi, Cantonese, Mandarin and Korean. Then you have to learn French because some bureucrat in Ottawa says so?

Which leads us to the suggestion of a silly story. Naturally, entering China with no useable French (not that it would help me here!), I embarked upon learning Mandarin. Maybe just a little motivation was the guilt of not learning a language when I had the opportunity. Being in a foreign country is better motivation. Wanting to eat something delicious for lunch is greater motivation when you're hungry and sick and tired of instant noodles.

This particular time, I was not only hungry, but wanted something fast. I went to this little hole in the wall restaurant where this guy also sold potato sandwiches. Sounds gross, but I'm telling you they tasted great!
I remembered that sandwiches were something something bing in Chinese, but I drew a blank, and momentarily forgot how to say, "I want a potato sandwich."

I walked up to the guy and said, "Wo yao ai zi bing."

And then I just realized I told the guy I wanted AIDS when I pointed at his sandwiches!

[Deconstructor]

Roger Wrote:

[marblez]

[dmb]