When my wife and I had our son born two years ago, it was only then that we realized how difficult it is to stand being unable to respond to someone's needs when you don't even know what he's crying out for. Needless to say that he was an infant who obviously couldn't utter a word at that time. Parents' instinct and advices from "had-been parents" had saved us those days. Thank God, it wasn't too long before my son learned to speak up and communicate. Why am I telling you this? I don't intend to put my son into the limelight here but cannot think of a more vivid but simple experience, that most of you can relate to, to emphasize the power of communication.
One of the challenges in our migration to Australia is English communication. Coming from a country where English is used only second to our native tongue, adjustment was not as easy as compared to those who had English as their first language. What are the issues here? At start, speaking with the locals of Australia had been very intimidating. First, you've got to make sure you understand them. Accent and speed can make your head turn up side down. We were not used to hear their accent from back home as we did adapt more on the American one. We have never been to America but basing on some stories from our fellows who migrated there, it is a lot easier I reckon. More so if they speak too quick, as most Australian men do, that will make it more difficult as you are not only catching up with the accent but the speed as well. Aussies have their own slangs or the popular colloquial terms which can be read upon on books published solely to provide reference to these terms and definitely can also be learned through time. Second, you've also got to make yourself understandable. Think about this, If we sometimes find it hard to comprehend them because of the accent, they would also be in the same boat as you, wouldn't they?
With all these, how do you think we are coping with this challenge. Honestly, before migrating, we never thought that it will be a challenge as we thought that for as long as we know how to speak the language, we will be perfectly fine. However, for people like me and my wife who are not only after earning money but rather who wants to treat Australia as the new home, we would truly want to be "one of them". To do this, we realized that we should figuratively speak the same language. This means that we need to learn how single English word is used in Australian way. We took a few actions to improve ourselves without having to attend formal studies as we knew that practice is the greatest training. We try to learn from what we overhear from people's chat wherever we are. In this way, words and accent will get into our senses slowly but naturally. We also try to speak the language with some body gestures to make our body movements in tune with what we say. We also try to join some groups on lunch outs and different functions . Didn't we hit two birds in one stone here? I believe we did. We did not only mingle with others but we did practice the language as well. Beyond speaking the language, it is important that we are confident in conversing as it will add more impact to what we say and will make us appear to be someone who has been in the country for years.
We strive to do our best to overcome any fear that we may have and get on with the battle by continuing to converse with the locals. It won't be easy, we know, as we did accept the fact that TIME is what keeps us apart from our goal of effective communication. We shouldn't stop from fighting back the fear because in doing so, we are only delaying what needs to be done. We migrated to a foreign country and that decision had came together with the will to live by it.
Now, where are we at? After a year, we could say that we have gone far and had improved a lot. Not too close to perfect, though. We are still learning and practicing but with lesser pressure and stress, I guess. So, you guys out there who are in the same situation or fearing to be on this situation, I hope this article has given so much encouragement and wisdom to all of you.
One of the challenges in our migration to Australia is English communication. Coming from a country where English is used only second to our native tongue, adjustment was not as easy as compared to those who had English as their first language. What are the issues here? At start, speaking with the locals of Australia had been very intimidating. First, you've got to make sure you understand them. Accent and speed can make your head turn up side down. We were not used to hear their accent from back home as we did adapt more on the American one. We have never been to America but basing on some stories from our fellows who migrated there, it is a lot easier I reckon. More so if they speak too quick, as most Australian men do, that will make it more difficult as you are not only catching up with the accent but the speed as well. Aussies have their own slangs or the popular colloquial terms which can be read upon on books published solely to provide reference to these terms and definitely can also be learned through time. Second, you've also got to make yourself understandable. Think about this, If we sometimes find it hard to comprehend them because of the accent, they would also be in the same boat as you, wouldn't they?
With all these, how do you think we are coping with this challenge. Honestly, before migrating, we never thought that it will be a challenge as we thought that for as long as we know how to speak the language, we will be perfectly fine. However, for people like me and my wife who are not only after earning money but rather who wants to treat Australia as the new home, we would truly want to be "one of them". To do this, we realized that we should figuratively speak the same language. This means that we need to learn how single English word is used in Australian way. We took a few actions to improve ourselves without having to attend formal studies as we knew that practice is the greatest training. We try to learn from what we overhear from people's chat wherever we are. In this way, words and accent will get into our senses slowly but naturally. We also try to speak the language with some body gestures to make our body movements in tune with what we say. We also try to join some groups on lunch outs and different functions . Didn't we hit two birds in one stone here? I believe we did. We did not only mingle with others but we did practice the language as well. Beyond speaking the language, it is important that we are confident in conversing as it will add more impact to what we say and will make us appear to be someone who has been in the country for years.
We strive to do our best to overcome any fear that we may have and get on with the battle by continuing to converse with the locals. It won't be easy, we know, as we did accept the fact that TIME is what keeps us apart from our goal of effective communication. We shouldn't stop from fighting back the fear because in doing so, we are only delaying what needs to be done. We migrated to a foreign country and that decision had came together with the will to live by it.
Now, where are we at? After a year, we could say that we have gone far and had improved a lot. Not too close to perfect, though. We are still learning and practicing but with lesser pressure and stress, I guess. So, you guys out there who are in the same situation or fearing to be on this situation, I hope this article has given so much encouragement and wisdom to all of you.
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