Living in a country where you have to speak a foreign language can cause serious social problems as well as practical problems To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement

In this age, it is not uncommon for students or professionals to pursue opportunities related to their career and personal growth abroad. The prompt suggests that people living in a foreign country where they have to speak a foreign language can face many problems in their day to day lives. In my opinion, I mostly agree with this statement for two key reasons but I do concede that having a strong command in the foreign language makes adapting to the country more convenient.

To begin, people staying abroad without a strong command in the foreign language will have to face severe difficulties in many social situations. Although basic sentences such as – asking for name, conversations required for grocery shopping are easier to learn. But in situations such as social gathering, communication with colleagues, clients and fellow classmates becomes harder without knowing their language. For instance- a student from Asia pursuing higher studies in Germany without knowing German cannot even communicate with her teachers let alone classmates. In such a situation, she will feel isolated and will not be able to ask for help in studies or other matters.

Moreover, sometimes being proficient in a language doesn’t guarantee that the person can read or write in that particular language. And for such case, an individual will face a lot of difficulty in situations like reading instructions, manuals or package labels. For example- an employee coming from US for a job in India may know and understand Hindi but cannot read or wrote in Hindi. Without such knowledge in Hindi, he will often struggle while buying groceries. As he will not be able to read the expiry dates written on the package of each product without someone’s help.

While living in a foreign country without knowing their knowledge can result in serious implications, I do concede that bilingual people with a strong command in the foreign language will have a smoother transition.

To conclude, people migrating to a foreign country without having sufficient knowledge about their language and culture will face serious problems in both social and practical situations.