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eliaino · 05-29-2009, 02:11 AM

Hi,

I have some questions for the forum. Probably I will express them awkwardly, but I'll try my best to tell the truth.

I am 22 years old. I have been living in a foreign country for the last few months. Here they speak a different language that I'm only passingly familiar with. There is a large English-speaking expatriate scene, but, to be honest, my experiences with it have been really disappointing. Many people I've met--not all! but many--seem to go too far in the opposite direction, of getting drunk all the time, being nasty to each other, and talking about other people behind their backs. This sort of thing is really boring to me, honestly.

I'm not sure how to find somewhere or someone interesting to me.

Another problem is that I don't speak the language very well (see above). I've tried to motivate myself to take a language course. But I don't want to take a course!...I can rationally tell myself "You should learn to speak German, it will be very useful" I can't turn that into motivation. At bottom, I'm pretty sure the issue has to do with my experience of education being a confining and destructive force in my life. Being in a classroom brings back all those memories of intellectual isolation and frustration. I can read German, but not speak it, and there's only one way to learn that...and I can't motivate myself to learn that way!

05-29-2009, 02:11 AM	#1 (permalink)
eliaino Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 26	Finding Place in a Foreign Country Hi, I have some questions for the forum. Probably I will express them awkwardly, but I'll try my best to tell the truth. I am 22 years old. I have been living in a foreign country for the last few months. Here they speak a different language that I'm only passingly familiar with. There is a large English-speaking expatriate scene, but, to be honest, my experiences with it have been really disappointing. Many people I've met--not all! but many--seem to go too far in the opposite direction, of getting drunk all the time, being nasty to each other, and talking about other people behind their backs. This sort of thing is really boring to me, honestly. I'm not sure how to find somewhere or someone interesting to me. Another problem is that I don't speak the language very well (see above). I've tried to motivate myself to take a language course. But I don't want to take a course!...I can rationally tell myself "You should learn to speak German, it will be very useful" I can't turn that into motivation. At bottom, I'm pretty sure the issue has to do with my experience of education being a confining and destructive force in my life. Being in a classroom brings back all those memories of intellectual isolation and frustration. I can read German, but not speak it, and there's only one way to learn that...and I can't motivate myself to learn that way!