If you moved to a country would you pick up the language?

I know this guy who's going to go travelling, to places like France, Spain etc. he says that he will just pick up the language. Would you really come back from a country after about 5 years and be fluent? Wouldn't you need some teachings?

Reply 1

stevop21

If you were exposed to it and nothing else then I imagine you would. I know a guy who came to the UK with no knowledge of English and was fluent within 8 months. But he was 12 and I think you pick it up better at a younger age.

Reply 2

bestofyou

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1954090&p=36855453#post36855453

Reply 3

spanishguy

I moved to Spain when I was 10, coped with the language pretty well after about 6 months, now fluent.

Reply 4

cloop

If you were immersed in it for 5 years then you would 100% be fluent. I'd give it 6 months, if you actually wanted fluency... (Rather than talking only to English people, etc)

Reply 5

AverageExcellence

If your a forienger like the ones in the UK then you wont make any effort to attempt their language and odds are you wont understand 5 words of it after 20 years.

Reply 6

curtis871

I met a "perpetual traveller" once who reckoned every country he'd visited he'd learnt the spoken language within 6 months and that it could be done for any living main language so I'd say 5 years should be plenty.

Reply 7

-raisa

Original post by AverageExcellence

If your a forienger like the ones in the UK then you wont make any effort to attempt their language and odds are you wont understand 5 words of it after 20 years.

^ Yeah, I agree with this.

Simply living in a foreign country for 5+ years won't make you fluent in that language; it actually takes dedication & practice.

My parents, for example, are Chinese immigrants who have been in Canada for 20+ years and are far from fluent at all!

Reply 8

longman240

Yup, you have to be dedicated to learning, there are plenty of people who've been in countries for decades and not bothered to learn any of the language. It's not just people coming here only, it's British expats in other countries too.

Reply 9

hippy272

Original post by multiplexing-gamer

You'll find a lot of places with tourism have English speakers still though, the teaching of English at school is ever increasing.

Reply 10

alexsasg

I'd definitely pick up the language if I lived there - I think it's arrogant to move somewhere and just expect that everyone speaks English. Even if most people do, the language is an important part of the culture of that country and I truly don't believe you can call yourself a member of that country if you don't even bother to speak the language!

Sorry, rant over. :smile:

Reply 11

tobeconfirmed

It depends on the effort you make. I know one person who lived in a country for years and at the end could only make out the odd word of the local language because they hung around exclusively with English speakers. They had an English speaking job and an English speaking social circle so they just didn't need to learn anything else.