Create an Untethered Life Overseas
So you’re planning on living overseas — do you really need to learn the language of your adopted country? I have a simple, two-word answer for you: it depends. Don’t learn the language: If you plan to live, work and play among other expats If you’re not interested in immersing yourself in the local culture [...]
Future Expats, what can I do to help you move closer to your expat goals during the coming year? Please choose up to three topics below to let me know what you’d find most helpful. I’ll let this poll run for a couple of weeks, then share the responses with you. You can also contact [...]
In my recent scouting trip to Panama, my Spanish language skills were tested to the max. Now, I’ll be the first to admit it’s not a high hurdle. I figure my Spanish is at about the level of a bright two-year old’s. All my verbs are present tense and my vocabulary is severely limited. Think, [...]
When you imagine a different life for yourself overseas, do you hear yourself speaking English, or do you visualize yourself conversing with the local people in their own tongue? Should you learn a new language when you move? That’s a question only you can answer, and that answer will depend on several factors. What kind [...]
The Complexities of Communication in a Foreign Language Guest Post by Heather Merkel Heather Merkel, CPC is a Culture Transition Specialist who helps Expatriates and their families feel at home anywhere in the world through a core set of strategies designed to help you overcome the social, personal, and professional related issues that arise when [...]
The New Global Student: Skip the SAT, Save Thousands on Tuition, and Get a Truly International Education by Maya Frost. Maya Frost has written a rather astonishing (to me, at least) how-to book. While her focus is ostensibly on how living and studying overseas is a powerful alternative to the standard US educational path, it [...]
No.
If you are going to live in an expat enclave surrounded by your fellow countrymen and –women, you don’t need to learn the language. If you are not an Adventurer or a Cultural Expat, but an Escapist,
Yes! Learning the language is vital to the success of your move. That is, if you’re a cultural expat.
As a cultural expat, you are motivated to bring your culture, or a specific aspect of it, to the people you’re living among (missionary expat), or you are a student of the new culture.
Today’s cultural students come in all shapes and sizes. Of course, there are the ubiquitous junior-year-abroad 20-ish college kids. But the students category of cultural expat includes so much more. A student can be one who takes a formal course of study at a college or a university, or someone who comes to a country purely to immerse himself in the language and the culture.
There are those who combine studying another country’s language and culture with volunteerism. And there are people whose studies are less formal, but no less formative, who simply go and live among the native residents and absorb their language, culture, cuisine and art.
If you're one of the 80% of readers who will have to earn a living overseas, this book's for you!
There’s a ton of information about different regions, countries and cities of the world. There’s lots of investment advice and information about protecting your wealth.
What I haven’t found is basic information on how to accomplish your overseas move, and how to support yourself once you arrive.
There aren’t any road maps.
This website zeros in on two areas: Prepping the Move and Portable Careers [Read More …]
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