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, “See Spot run” and you’ll have a good idea what my skill level is.

Armed with a pocket Spanish-English dictionary and lots of brazen self confidence, I figured I could manage.

On the whole, I did pretty well. I used the dictionary — a lot — and most people were patient and willing to work with me as I struggled to make myself understood.

What I hadn’t counted on, though, was how difficult it was for me to understand them! The rapid conversational Spanish I heard in David and Las Tablas was nothing like the slow, careful speaking I’d heard in class, on my Pimsleur tapes, and online.

Sometimes I had to admit defeat. “No entiendo,” I would mutter, turning my face away from them in shame.

My husband was no help.

It’s not only that he doesn’t speak any Spanish beyond “hola” or “buenas” or “gracias.” It’s a much bigger problem than that.

You see, my husband is a philosopher and he loves to discuss deep, complicated issues. Not for him the superficial pleasantries and small talk.

“Tell him I really admire the way people here do X or think about Y,” he’d instruct me to say to a new acquaintance.

I tried explaining to him that there was no way, with my limited skills, I could mediate the kind of conversation he enjoys. Finally, in frustration, I turned to him and said, “I speak like a two-year old. How would a two-year old communicate that concept?”

How Do You Say, “Misunderstanding” in Spanish?

Then there was the conversation I had with the ladies at the hotel reception desk in our Las Tablas hotel.

We stayed in the Piamonte, a block away from el centro. Part of the hotel is one one side of the street, and they have a new block of guest rooms upstairs across the street as well. (The ground floor is a cell phone store.)

One of the ladies had patiently tried to explain several times where our room was located. She finally gave up and walked us across the street, through the tiny doorway, up the stairs and down the hall to our room.

A while later, we began wondering if the street door would be locked at night. We tried our room key in it and discovered it didn’t fit, so we stopped by the reception desk to ask.

I was going on and on about “la puerta” (the door) and the key, and the women were staring at me in total incomprehension. Finally I asked my husband to give me the key, one of those old-fashioned big keys attached to a six-inch piece of wood so you don’t forget it in your pocket.

I took the key, I pointed to the door across the street, I mimed turning the key and threw up my hands. “A que hora?” (what time) I asked.

The light dawned, they beamed. Midnight, they answered. Maybe one in the morning.

“Gracias, muchas gracias” I thanked them.

Later I pulled out my pocket dictionary, trying to figure out why they hadn’t understood me initially.

There are two similar verbs in Spanish. There’s “llaver,” to lock. There’s also “lavar,” to wash.

I had been asking them what time the door washed itself at night.

Doh. . .

Needless to say, I think I need more language lessons.

Spanish Study in Panama

There are several Spanish schools in Panama.

Habla Ya in Boquete offers private lessons as well as group and “mini-group” classes. Group lessons have four students, mini-groups have two or three.

They offer a Basic Spanish for Travelers Crash Course, as well as a variety of classes with differing intensity.

While you’re studying with Habla Ya, they can arrange a homestay with a local family for a total immersion experience, or you can arrange accommodations in a local hostel or hotel.

Languages in Action has schools in Panama City and in Boquete. They offer individual and group classes, as well as combinations of the two.

They can also help you arrange a homestay experience.

Spanish Panama is directed by Canadians, and provides Spanish language instruction for employees of the Panama Canal expansion.

In addition to group and individual lessons, they offer a special orientation package for newcomers and retirees called “Panama, My New Home.” It combines an orientation to living in Panama with a survival Spanish course of one, two or four weeks.

A quick online search reveals other schools as well.

An immersion language class, besides helping you understand the local people, can give you a good introduction to your new country when you first arrive.

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 transitioning to another culture. You can learn more about Heather at Culture Transition Coaching.

I’ve been reading a wonderful book called The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein. The story centers around the life of the main character, but in an interesting twist, it is told through the eyes of his dog, Enzo. What caught my attention is the similarities of Enzo’s story to those of us who have every tried living in another country and been frustrated in our efforts to communicate.



First, Enzo understands everything going on around him, but lacks the ability to talk back. When you move to another country, if you don’t speak the language, you may feel a similar frustration, where you understand what everyone is saying, but you just can’t get the words out to reply, or say something, ANYTHING to let those around you know you get it. Enzo is forced to rely on exaggerated gestures in his inability to speak.If you’re in another country, and can’t rely on words, you, too will have to rely on another way to communicate, at least initially. Whether it’s gestures, pointing to a dictionary, silly faces and pantomimes, pointing at things, etc – it may feel a bit degrading as you initially try to get your point across.

Sometimes, Enzo can’t get his point across. There are moments in the story where tragic things happen and Enzo is unable to make those around him understand that he knows what has happened. When words and gestures fail you in another country, the result can be aggravation, and even bouts of depression. It’s enormously frustrating when you need to communicate something important and can’t seem to get your point across.

Enzo harps on humans and their listening skills. There are many instances in the story where Enzo and his master are able to “speak” without words. I can think of many examples in my own life when communication happened without words. Sometimes, even in another country, the ability to listen – really listen – beyond the words, can help you understand a situation.

Frankly, I’ve always been fascinated with how some dogs seem to understand and communicate and they do it without words. It’s in their gaze, the way they place their paw on you, their bark, their ears… I find it amazing that these companions can be so smart, and be an excellent reflection for anyone feeling the frustration of learning a new language.

I feel it’s imperative that you make every effort to learn a new language if you’re moving to a new country. However, let Enzo teach you a few good lessons while you’re at it:

1. Communication can happen without words

2. Gestures can sometimes be as effective as the words you are unable to say
3. You may feel silly while using gestures in place of words, but if you get your point across, isn’t that the most important?
4. Being able to really listen to someone — deeply, even beyond words — can sometimes have immeasurable value. And, if you don’t speak the language, you’ll be able to really tune in to all the other ways of listening!

Share your experiences of trying to communicate in (or maybe despite) another language! Just click the comment link below.

So, you’ve decided you want to live in Asia, to travel to exotic locations, eat incredibly spicy food, and generally enjoy life in a culture that’s completely different from what you’ve grown up with. But you have to be able to afford it.

Previously, we’ve discussed teaching English as a second language as a way to finance your life abroad. Not surprisingly, the greatest demand for English teachers is in Asia. If you have a Bachelor’s degree in just about any subject and some specialized training, you can find a job teaching English in almost every Asian country.

“Young Americans Flock Overseas to Teach English” is the headline of a March 1 article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Job boards for English teachers in China, Japan, S. Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand are bursting at the seams, but if you’re adventurous, you can also find jobs in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. I even saw some listings in Tibet!

First Step – Choose Your Training

While some English-teaching jobs abroad require only that you be a native English speaker, others expect at least a bachelor’s degree in some subject, and the best insist on certification.

And here’s the bugaboo. There seems to be a large difference of opinion as to which types of training and certification are the best. Acronyms like TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language), ESL (English as a Second Language) and TESOL (Teaching English as a Second or Other Language) fly about. Every school promises that its program is the best, the most widely accepted.

A discussion by actual English teachers at Dave’s ESL Café, a favored source of information for all things ESL, casually dismisses all training except CELTA, SIT and Trinity. Unfamiliar with all of those terms, I decided to do some research. Here’s what I found.

CELTA

The CELTA certificate is issued by the prestigious University of Cambridge in England. Although actual courses are offered by many different institutions in different countries, the courses must be validated by Cambridge. Setting CELTA apart from many run-of-the-mill English-teaching courses is the required practicum – students must successfully complete six hours of practice teaching to real English language students, and the overall course is at least 120 hours.

Teaching House offers CELTA classes in New York, Boston, Miami and San Diego. Another CELTA provider is Bridge TEFL. They teach US classes in Denver, CO. Other locations include Central and South America, as well as locations in Europe, Turkey, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Russia and China.

SIT

SIT stands for School for International Training, which offers master degree programs in teacher education and intercultural management. It’s located in gorgeous Brattleboro, VT, but doesn’t offer the English teacher training there. Instead, it partners with other schools, like Global TEFL, which holds classes in locations like Chicago and California and TESOL Training Worldwide, which offers courses in places like Oaxaca and Veracruz, Mexico. They also require 6 hours of teacher training in adult ESOL. According to their website,

“The School for International Training’s TESOL Certificate is a 130 hour course which provides participants with professional knowledge and skills in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) as well as tools for their own reflection and growth as teachers. It is designed to be offered intensively in four weeks or extensively over a longer period.”

Trinity

Trinity refers to another English school, Trinity College, which issues the certificates. This is not a terribly practical choice for a US-based student, as the only courses offered in North America are in Canada. However, if you want to take the course in Malta, Uruguay, New Zealand or Iran, you’re in good shape.

Others

All three programs share the two common requirements of at least 120 hours of course work, combined with at least 6 hours of practice teaching. There are other schools which offer courses that meet these standards, but without the prestigious certificates.

One of these is the ITTO (International Teacher Training Organization), which offers a similar program, albeit with slightly larger class sizes, in the US, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Peru, as well as Prague.

So what’s a prospective English teacher to do? How do you wade through the quagmire of offerings? We’ll explore this further in another installment.

Do you have experience as an ESL/TESL/TEFL teacher? Considering teaching English overseas but have questions? If so, I’d love to hear from you! Just click the comment link below.

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, and especially if you are moving for purely economic reasons, you might handle life in your new country just fine without learning the language. Personally, I would find it very frustrating not to benable to communicate with the people who surround me, but there are folks who are quite happy with that arrangement.

If your idea of a great life is to live less expensively than at home in the US, but surrounded by other North Americans and speaking English, more power to you.

Yes! Learning the language is vital to the success of your move. That is, if you’re a cultural expat.

Learn the Language

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. Either way, you’ll need to speak the language well enough to communicate on the level of ideas and interests, not just on the level of asking for the bathroom or ordering in a restaurant. While there’s a lot of commercial communication that can take place through sign language, pointing, and the like (think of bargaining in a market for something you want), understanding culture necessitates knowing the language.

Language is Culture.

German anthropologist Franz Boas believed that culture and language were inextricably intertwined. Boas believed you could not understand a culture without a deep understanding of its language, and that a language and its culture evolved together. In the process, each shaped the other, so that language, in effect, created culture while culture also created language.

If you’ve identified yourself as a cultural expat, better dust off that foreign language dictionary, take yourself off to class, or fire up that computer software.

So, bonne chance, viel Glueck, buona fortuna, 幸運, boa sorte, удача, buena suerte and 好运.

Students

Rice Research to Production Course

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.

The Center for Study Abroad offers courses in Europe, China, Japan, Vietnam, South America, Mexico and New Zealand, and anyone over 18 is welcome. StudyAbroad.com lists a variety of overseas study, internship and teaching positions, as well as “volunteaching.” Amerispan, which started by offering opportunities to learn Spanish abroad, and has since expanded, features a page on their site outlining the 15 best “Bang for Your Buck” locations. They also offer combination learning/volunteer placements in educational, social work and environmental organizations. It’s even possible to obtain financial aid or other funding for your overseas studies.

Is your interest environmental rather than linguistic? Perhaps The School for Field Studies would be your choice, where you can get involved in environmental field studies in one of five countries. Even UNESCO has gotten into the act, with advice about studying abroad.

Study abroad can be an English lit class at that most traditional of English institutions, Oxford University, or it can be a Spanish-language immersion program in the Andes Mountains of Peru. You can dive in the Caribbean, or schuss down an Alp. You can study a language in the morning, then help in an orphanage in the afternoon. You can tour museums and ateliers. There are as many study abroad programs as there are expats abroad.

Have you engaged in a course of study (formal or informal) in another country? If so, we’d love to hear from you! Please add your comments below, and share some of your experience with us.

One of the big questions when moving to another country is, do I need to learn the language, and if so, when?

Since we have already determined we will move to Central or South America, and since I am already well past the age when language learning comes easily and naturally, I have started to learn Spanish already. This also means I am probably ruling out Brazil as a place to live, since they do not speak Spanish there. I have taken a couple of classes in conversational Spanish at the local community college, and have also been learning through language software.

Would love to hear from those who have also given some thought to this, or taken action.

There are many reasons to live outside of your native country, in my case, the USA. Your job could take you somewhere else. Maybe you have a strong sense of adventure, or you want to really learn another language fluently. Perhaps you want to help those less privileged than yourself. Maybe you want to retire someplace with a slower pace of life. Or maybe it comes down to a simple matter of dollars and cents — the expense of living here has outstripped your means. All of these are legitimate reasons for relocating.

If you have a job that relocates you to a different country, you are in a unique category of expats, and the issues you need to deal with and obstacles you need to overcome in moving abroad are different from mine.

I am writing this for  US or Canadian citizens like me who, for the other reasons stated above — or perhaps some reason not included in my off-the-cuff list — are making the decision on your own to leave your native land for a time. We have a lot of research to do, many decisions to make, and a multitude of tasks to complete in order to make our moves.

But let’s start at the beginning. What reason(s) do you have to consider an overseas move?