Why don't UK students make friends with those from overseas - Is that true?
I will start uni this September and a friend of mine who has already studied in the UK has told me that British people do not make friends who are international students because they do not have an accent or they cannot understand them. Is this statement true? As an international student i wanna have British friends because i believe that you learn a country better through its people.
Plus: I know that i will always have unknown words or make some mistakes because its not my mother tongue but is this a real barrier of being friend with British people?
Plus: I know that i will always have unknown words or make some mistakes because its not my mother tongue but is this a real barrier of being friend with British people?
Scroll to see replies
No, it's not true.
Original post by MrMusician95
No, it's not true.
What do you mean?
Original post by iamjames2001
I will start uni this September and a friend of mine who has already studied in the UK has told me that British people do not make friends who are international students because they do not have an accent or they cannot understand them. Is this statement true? As an international student i wanna have British friends because i believe that you learn a country better through its people.
Plus: I know that i will always have unknown words or make some mistakes because its not my mother tongue but is this a real barrier of being friend with British people?
Plus: I know that i will always have unknown words or make some mistakes because its not my mother tongue but is this a real barrier of being friend with British people?
This is false. I see plenty of international students making friends with British students...
Original post by iamjames2001
I will start uni this September and a friend of mine who has already studied in the UK has told me that British people do not make friends who are international students because they do not have an accent or they cannot understand them. Is this statement true? As an international student i wanna have British friends because i believe that you learn a country better through its people.
Plus: I know that i will always have unknown words or make some mistakes because its not my mother tongue but is this a real barrier of being friend with British people?
Plus: I know that i will always have unknown words or make some mistakes because its not my mother tongue but is this a real barrier of being friend with British people?
I can’t believe this to be true, not at all.
I’m starting University in September and one of the things I’m looking forward to the most is the diversity and meeting people from all different countries and cultures.
as an international student it's been my experience that international kids tend to stick together; i think because we just have that thing in common of leaving our home country, travelling to a completely different one and learning what it means to live in the UK. my best friends are from south afriica, india, hong kong, greece and bahrain. i have british friends but the international ones outnumber them and are closer in friendship.
but your first sentence is incorrect. at least i've never had anyone not understand me or avoid me due to my canadian accent
but your first sentence is incorrect. at least i've never had anyone not understand me or avoid me due to my canadian accent
No, it's not true.
Over the last six years, I have made so many friends and lived in houseshares with dozens of international students from all over the world.
America, Bangladesh, Canada, Greece, India, Iran, Jordan, Libya, Mexico, Norway, Qatar, Sierra Leone, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey and Zimbabwe.
So many friends from uni come to visit me whenever they are in London, invite me to stay with them and send me birthday & Christmas gifts every year.
Some people can be cliquey and only willing to talk to old school friends or coworkers.
But they won't join uni student societies, avoid all social events and usually hurry in&out of uni as fast as they can.
Over the last six years, I have made so many friends and lived in houseshares with dozens of international students from all over the world.
America, Bangladesh, Canada, Greece, India, Iran, Jordan, Libya, Mexico, Norway, Qatar, Sierra Leone, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey and Zimbabwe.
So many friends from uni come to visit me whenever they are in London, invite me to stay with them and send me birthday & Christmas gifts every year.
Some people can be cliquey and only willing to talk to old school friends or coworkers.
But they won't join uni student societies, avoid all social events and usually hurry in&out of uni as fast as they can.
Original post by iamjames2001
I will start uni this September and a friend of mine who has already studied in the UK has told me that British people do not make friends who are international students because they do not have an accent or they cannot understand them. Is this statement true? As an international student i wanna have British friends because i believe that you learn a country better through its people.
Plus: I know that i will always have unknown words or make some mistakes because its not my mother tongue but is this a real barrier of being friend with British people?
Plus: I know that i will always have unknown words or make some mistakes because its not my mother tongue but is this a real barrier of being friend with British people?
My closest friends were European and International students during both my undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. Only one of them had English as their native language, while all the others came from various non-English-speaking countries around the globe.
I think as long as you make a conscious effort to integrate, then you'll find making British friends easier. International students have a reputation for only socialising with those from their own country/who speak their native language (although I understand that this is comforting/useful), which makes them less approachable from a home student's perspective.
(edited 4 years ago)
Original post by iamjames2001
I will start uni this September and a friend of mine who has already studied in the UK has told me that British people do not make friends who are international students because they do not have an accent or they cannot understand them. Is this statement true? As an international student i wanna have British friends because i believe that you learn a country better through its people.
Plus: I know that i will always have unknown words or make some mistakes because its not my mother tongue but is this a real barrier of being friend with British people?
Plus: I know that i will always have unknown words or make some mistakes because its not my mother tongue but is this a real barrier of being friend with British people?
If anything its the other way round. International students dont mix as well, plus Chinese students can often just stick with other Chinese students.
They dont care about your accent and most students will be helpful in helping you to learn English. Make an effort and be confident in your social skills, just be a good flatmate or coursemate and your nationality wont matter.
I’ve found the opposite true...
International students seem to stick to their own people and don’t really ever socialise outside it.
If someone is an international student, I’ll go out my way to make you feel comfortable in the UK and help you out where I can
I’ve been helping this Turkish girl on my course settle in but the vast majority of the time she’ll stick to the group of 7 ish Turkish students.
Same situation with the Greek ones.
The only international students I’ve seen make an effort to socialise with us Brits are the Americans and Australians. However, that then brings in the potential reason to their social exclusion being they aren’t confident to speak English to native speakers.
International students seem to stick to their own people and don’t really ever socialise outside it.
If someone is an international student, I’ll go out my way to make you feel comfortable in the UK and help you out where I can
I’ve been helping this Turkish girl on my course settle in but the vast majority of the time she’ll stick to the group of 7 ish Turkish students.
Same situation with the Greek ones.
The only international students I’ve seen make an effort to socialise with us Brits are the Americans and Australians. However, that then brings in the potential reason to their social exclusion being they aren’t confident to speak English to native speakers.
(edited 4 years ago)
I don't think this is true. My friendship group is a mix of British and EU/international students (I'm British).
The only thing is - I probably wouldn't approach a group of people all speaking another language. Like there's a group of girls in most of my lectures who are all Italian or have Italian parents, and they always speak Italian to eachother. While I've chatted with most of them individually, I wouldn't try to join in a group conversation with them all or anything (because I'd feel like I would be being rude by forcing them to speak English when they wanted to speak Italian). So if you go around always speaking your first language, people may assume you don't want to speak English with them.
The only thing is - I probably wouldn't approach a group of people all speaking another language. Like there's a group of girls in most of my lectures who are all Italian or have Italian parents, and they always speak Italian to eachother. While I've chatted with most of them individually, I wouldn't try to join in a group conversation with them all or anything (because I'd feel like I would be being rude by forcing them to speak English when they wanted to speak Italian). So if you go around always speaking your first language, people may assume you don't want to speak English with them.
Not true lol.
I have two people I'd consider my "best friends" at uni, one of them is from China and the other from Jordan. A lot of British students would go out of their way to make international students feel welcome.
I have two people I'd consider my "best friends" at uni, one of them is from China and the other from Jordan. A lot of British students would go out of their way to make international students feel welcome.
Original post by iamjames2001
I will start uni this September and a friend of mine who has already studied in the UK has told me that British people do not make friends who are international students because they do not have an accent or they cannot understand them. Is this statement true? As an international student i wanna have British friends because i believe that you learn a country better through its people.
Plus: I know that i will always have unknown words or make some mistakes because its not my mother tongue but is this a real barrier of being friend with British people?
Plus: I know that i will always have unknown words or make some mistakes because its not my mother tongue but is this a real barrier of being friend with British people?
It's true. It's not because you have an accent though some areas are just racist e.g bath spa.
But if you study at London universities or Manchester or Birmingham British students there are more cosmopolitan and will gladly befriend you
I used to live in Brighton and it was awesome really friendly British classmates and students
Moved to bath spa and it was the worse experience ever. Horribly racist town
Just don't choose a racist area.
Original post by CTLeafez
I’ve found the opposite true...
International students seem to stick to their own people and don’t really ever socialise outside it.
If someone is an international student, I’ll go out my way to make you feel comfortable in the UK and help you out where I can
I’ve been helping this Turkish girl on my course settle in but the vast majority of the time she’ll stick to the group of 7 ish Turkish students.
Same situation with the Greek ones.
The only international students I’ve seen make an effort to socialise with us Brits are the Americans and Australians. However, that then brings in the potential reason to their social exclusion being they aren’t confident to speak English to native speakers.
International students seem to stick to their own people and don’t really ever socialise outside it.
If someone is an international student, I’ll go out my way to make you feel comfortable in the UK and help you out where I can
I’ve been helping this Turkish girl on my course settle in but the vast majority of the time she’ll stick to the group of 7 ish Turkish students.
Same situation with the Greek ones.
The only international students I’ve seen make an effort to socialise with us Brits are the Americans and Australians. However, that then brings in the potential reason to their social exclusion being they aren’t confident to speak English to native speakers.
Hahah I am from Greece
Im glad that i received so many positive messages about this topic. I want to stay in the UK after my graduation, I always wanted it, and i have realised that its up to you if you choose to be friend only with your students from your country or not, as my friends who study there have told me all these things which i mentioned above about British people etc. i have come to a conclusion that they have chosen not to be socialised with British students!
My best mate in college was Albanian.
Original post by KittyN
I don't think this is true. My friendship group is a mix of British and EU/international students (I'm British).
The only thing is - I probably wouldn't approach a group of people all speaking another language. Like there's a group of girls in most of my lectures who are all Italian or have Italian parents, and they always speak Italian to eachother. While I've chatted with most of them individually, I wouldn't try to join in a group conversation with them all or anything (because I'd feel like I would be being rude by forcing them to speak English when they wanted to speak Italian). So if you go around always speaking your first language, people may assume you don't want to speak English with them.
The only thing is - I probably wouldn't approach a group of people all speaking another language. Like there's a group of girls in most of my lectures who are all Italian or have Italian parents, and they always speak Italian to eachother. While I've chatted with most of them individually, I wouldn't try to join in a group conversation with them all or anything (because I'd feel like I would be being rude by forcing them to speak English when they wanted to speak Italian). So if you go around always speaking your first language, people may assume you don't want to speak English with them.
You would not be rude!
So but they are rude, i would never speak my mother tongue in front of a British or a foreigner even though he/she was from my country. You re in the UK at least in front of others speak english! It sounds like I am strict but its the truth hahah
Original post by iamjames2001
I will start uni this September and a friend of mine who has already studied in the UK has told me that British people do not make friends who are international students because they do not have an accent or they cannot understand them. Is this statement true? As an international student i wanna have British friends because i believe that you learn a country better through its people.
Plus: I know that i will always have unknown words or make some mistakes because its not my mother tongue but is this a real barrier of being friend with British people?
Plus: I know that i will always have unknown words or make some mistakes because its not my mother tongue but is this a real barrier of being friend with British people?
This is the biggest bs claim I’ve ever heard tbh
I am british and not at uni yet but my best friend is indian and i have european and american friends. Nationality shouldn't be what you think about when making friends with someone
I don't think that's true at all, I have a lot of international students in my class and I live with 2 international students and there's been no problems with them making friends with British students and I get along really well with all of them.
What do you mean?
Quick Reply
Related discussions
- Offer withdrawn after change in fee status to UK
- Why is UCL medicine no longer available for international students?
- I don't know what to do with my life missed offer
- Msc Public Health Oxford or LSHTM best choice?
- GMC approved medical schools outside of the UK
- Applying to Cambridge from 1st year at an overseas (non-UK) university
- KCL vs Edinburgh?
- Woman using shady tactics?
- UCL or Durham?
- Applying for a Chemical Engineering degree with no Physics A-level : Good move?
- HKU / CUHK medicine non-jupas 2023
- Westminster 2023 entry-the exact time of sending the emails&queen's scholars
- Any singaporeans studying in leeds?
- Study dentistry abroad
- Rejected by UCL, KCL, LSE (Law) and feel like an imposter
- Can immigration actually been controlled?
- LSE segregation or not?
- Funding for DClinPsy?
- New vision university
- Getting on a degree course in Computer science
Latest
Trending
Last reply 3 weeks ago
Got a third in my second year and the highest I’ve achieved in third year was 55%Trending
Last reply 3 weeks ago
Got a third in my second year and the highest I’ve achieved in third year was 55%
