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On this blog post I wanted to talk about learning a new language - a common concern that students have when they want to go abroad. I want to share some ideas and tips and some experiences I have had with languages too. Hope this helps.

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Background from me

I have studied Spanish since I was in year 7 and took it up in A-level too. I completed my module in first year of Nottingham in my Spanish module. My dad also speaks Spanish so I had some good support as well. This doesnt mean I didnt struggle when I got to Valencia though. Here are some experiences that I had with the language.

• Valencians speak with their tongues (was so hard to understand them sometimes)
• they speak faster than they do in class (of course!)
• you sound more formal than they do
• everything is shortened down and dont forget idioms
• they can tell you’re not from Spain - they will speak English to you - and was frustrating when wanting to learn
• I got embarrassed sometimes

All these things were super overwhelming at first. In my apartment, the lift was always a scary moment because I knew if a local came in they would speak to me in Spanish and my default was just to say ‘no entiendo’. I disliked that for my journey.

After a month there, I decided enough. I had to get over that embarrassment. Even if it was small. Nice locals would always say to me ‘little by little’ and they were right. So the next time soemone came in the elevator, I asked them how their day was. And they answered and asked me how mine was. Eventhough it was small and basic (my level in the language was higher) it meant I had some confidence to use that knowledge.

After 3 months there, I had friends in my apartment that would talk to me ages outside my apartment door and I made good friends with a family there too. It made me feel very good about my decision. Thats not to say there wasnt times where Valencians confused me with their overestimation in my language proficiency but it meant I was one step closer to getting confidence to living there.

I always recommend to anyone to step out of the comfort zone with that. After all, you decided you wanted to make the move there, so make an effort, even if you feel stupid sometimes. You aren’t. It can just be hard sometimes.

Ways to learn the language

For different countries, the languages get harder. Spanish is rather basic compared to Japanese for example so I can only really speak on some languages that are similar to Spanish.

1. take courses that are in that language - there will be students that are native there - this is a double bonus way to learn. You can learn from the students and also hear the langauge in this lesson. And dont worry - you can review notes after class so you wont be overwhelmed