{"id":4322,"date":"2015-03-17T21:03:49","date_gmt":"2015-03-17T21:03:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/?p=4322"},"modified":"2015-03-25T10:12:39","modified_gmt":"2015-03-25T10:12:39","slug":"find-out-what-languages-your-host-country-speaks-and-the-level-of-english-spoken-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/find-out-what-languages-your-host-country-speaks-and-the-level-of-english-spoken-there\/","title":{"rendered":"Find out what languages your host country speaks and the level of English spoken there"},"content":{"rendered":"

Speaking the language of the host country is\u00a0on every international school teachers’ mind.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0229\"
\n<\/a>
\nHow great to speak the language of the host country well enough so that you are able to\u00a0have some local friends who may or may not know English! \u00a0You might say that is every<\/strong> international school teachers’ goal when they move abroad. \u00a0Communication is the key, and knowing the language will also give you direct insight into the host country’s culture.<\/p>\n

Many international school teachers do their best to fit in. Meeting new friends or going on dates in your new country\u00a0is\u00a0difficult,\u00a0if you rely only on English language capabilities\u00a0of the locals.\u00a0That is why taking\u00a0language classes and dedicating some of your\u00a0weekday evenings to attending them is very advisable. Until you reach a comfortable level of proficiency when you can converse with the locals (at the market for example), it is important to find some of them that might speak English, especially during the first few months.<\/p>\n

Everyone marks well in their head, their very first successful conversation in the new language. It is a tremendously liberating experience, which is inspiring one to pursue their way to a high-level speaking\u00a0fluency and understanding without stuttering and asking people to speak slower.<\/p>\n

Out of the 60 comments topics on each school’s profile page, there is one specifically about languages. It is called: “Languages of the host city and the level of English spoken there.<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot
\n<\/a>From the\u00a0Hong Kong International School<\/a>\u00a0(62 comments) school profile page.<\/em><\/p>\n

Currently we have 150+ submitted comments in that comment topics on a number of school profile pages.<\/p>\n

Here is a sneak peek at a few of them:<\/p>\n

“The level of English here is intermediate I would say. Some taxi drivers know a lot and some don’t know very much. The people working in stores know an intermediate level of proficiency. People speak Italian here, but that is not to say that there aren’t people speaking other languages. There are many dialects of Italian that people speak.”<\/em> –\u00a0American School of Milan\u00a0<\/a>(Milan, Italy)<\/span>\u00a0–\u00a023 Comments<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Spanish is the main language but you can get by with very minimal language skills. Most restaurants have English menus. Many taxi drivers can understand some English. In the markets the venders are usually indigenous and speak Spanish as a second language so speak slower and use more limited vocabulary.”<\/em> –\u00a0The American International School of Guatemala (Colegio Maya)\u00a0<\/a>(Guatemala City, Guatemala)<\/span>–\u00a040 Comments<\/strong><\/p>\n

“With basic level of Chinese it’s easy to manage. With zero Chinese it’s also possible but lots of things will be missed and at times it’s tougher to deal with everyday issues.”<\/em> –\u00a0Western International School of Shanghai\u00a0<\/a>(Shanghai, China)<\/span>\u00a0–\u00a0162 Comments<\/strong><\/p>\n

“English is spoken only in the school. Korean is the dominant language, and many, many fewer people speak English than in places like Seoul, but there are still plenty of people who can help you communicate. Many menus are in English too even if the staff does not speak English.”<\/em> –\u00a0Global Prodigy Academy\u00a0<\/a>(Jeonju, South Korea)<\/span>\u00a0–\u00a048 Comments<\/strong><\/p>\n

“You will enjoy your stay here much more if you can learn at least some basic conversational Japanese. Although they study English in high school, very few Japanese on the street that you might approach for directions will be able to speak to you in English.”<\/em> –\u00a0Hiroshima International School\u00a0<\/a>(Hiroshima, Japan)<\/span>\u00a0–\u00a064 Comments<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Speaking the language of the host country is\u00a0on every international school teachers’ mind. How great to speak the language of the host country well enough so that you are able to\u00a0have some local friends who may or may not know English! \u00a0You might say that is every international school teachers’ goal when they move abroad. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4325,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9],"tags":[1255,433,1256,2080,1377,2074,2079,2075],"class_list":["post-4322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-discussion-topics","tag-english","tag-host-country","tag-language","tag-language-is-important","tag-learning-languages","tag-level-of-english","tag-speaking-the-host-language","tag-what-language"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/IMG_0229.jpg?fit=1280%2C853&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2flVT-17I","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2191,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/new-teacher-orientation-must-haves-at-international-schools-beginning-level-host-country-language-classes\/","url_meta":{"origin":4322,"position":0},"title":"New Teacher Orientation Must-Haves at International Schools: Beginning-level host country language classes.","author":"ISCommunity","date":"August 11, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In this blog series we will talk about the ins and outs of an excellent new teacher orientation programme at an international school.\u00a0 A new teacher orientation programme can really play a very important part to the start at your new school, in your new host country.\u00a0 What are all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Teacher Orientation Must-Haves"","block_context":{"text":"New Teacher Orientation Must-Haves","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/category\/categories-new-teacher-orientation-must-haves\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/class_veronique.png?fit=802%2C602&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/class_veronique.png?fit=802%2C602&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/class_veronique.png?fit=802%2C602&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/class_veronique.png?fit=802%2C602&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8723,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/learning-the-host-country-language-and-locals-level-of-english\/","url_meta":{"origin":4322,"position":1},"title":"LEARNING THE HOST COUNTRY LANGUAGE and LOCALS’ LEVEL OF ENGLISH","author":"ISCommunity","date":"April 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"In this article, ISC would like to highlight some of your recent thoughts and experiences on the topic of learning the host-country language and the level of English of the locals living there. Many seasoned international school teachers want to learn the host-country language and put their best effort into\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Discussion Topics"","block_context":{"text":"Discussion Topics","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/category\/discussion-topics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/writing-g0b4d480f7_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/writing-g0b4d480f7_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/writing-g0b4d480f7_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/writing-g0b4d480f7_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/writing-g0b4d480f7_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":726,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/new-survey-how-important-is-it-to-be-able-to-communicate-in-the-local-language-in-your-current-placement\/","url_meta":{"origin":4322,"position":2},"title":"New Survey: How important is it to be able to communicate in the local language in your current placement?","author":"ISCommunity","date":"May 19, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"A new survey has arrived! 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We all dream of becoming fluent in the local language of the place at which we are living, but it is not as easy task\u2026well for most\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Surveys"","block_context":{"text":"Surveys","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/category\/surveys\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/05\/screen-shot-2012-05-19-at-11-48-30-am.png?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1274,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/highlighted-article-which-languages-are-the-hardest-to-learn\/","url_meta":{"origin":4322,"position":3},"title":"Highlighted article: Which languages are the hardest to learn?","author":"ISCommunity","date":"June 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"A look at which languages are easiest and most difficult for English speakers to pick up. \"The foreign service institute of the United States Department of State compiles learning expectations for many languages based on the amount of time it takes a native English speaker to achieve speaking and reading\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Highlighted Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Highlighted Articles","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/category\/highlighted-articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/06\/screen-shot-2012-06-12-at-10-39-19-pm.png?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9793,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/what-is-the-ultimate-language-learning-app-for-teachers-abroad\/","url_meta":{"origin":4322,"position":4},"title":"What is the Ultimate Language Learning App for Teachers Abroad?","author":"ISCommunity","date":"January 22, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Embarking on a journey as an international school teacher is both thrilling and challenging. 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