Living in a country where you have to speak a foreign language can cause serious social problems, as well as practical problems. Do you agree or disagree?

Living in a country where you have to speak a foreign language can cause serious social problems, as well as practical problems. Do you agree or disagree?

Surviving in an alien environment without knowledge of local language can pose severe hurdles in various paradigms: 

·         Knowing about local customs and ways of life can become a difficult job; thus, never allowing migrants to effectively integrate with surroundings 

·         Youngsters find it harder to settle down since they are unable to mingle with their native peers and often are subjected to slur 

·         Finding work can become an extremely arduous job 

·         Surviving in alien surroundings can be an onerous task: finding directions, knowing about places 

No issues arise today   

·         Virtual interpreters can help a great deal in overcoming linguistic barriers. 

·         Systems like GPS and google maps can help people find directions

·         Migrants go well prepared to handle such issues and try to overcome               the barriers using their intellect with enthusiasm

A chance to reside in another country, although is an exciting opportunity, it can result in a fiasco, creating social and  practical issue, if one moves to a location where natives use an alien tongue, as many suggest. However, to others, such a scenario seems to be a remote possibility.

Those who fear that alien surroundings where languages endemic to those surroundings are used can precipitate into unwarranted circumstances for migrants: they will find it hard to adapt to the local host surroundings. Furthermore, one may have to struggle to find employment in alien locations if they are unfamiliar with the native dialects: the local employers and businesses always prefer those who can interact with their surroundings and customers without any barriers including linguistic.  

Having said that, others challenge the former opinion vehemently, they feel that such assumption holds true for those who lack  knowledge of the language spoken locally in the destination society, whereas, if one has even a fair level of understanding of the host tongue can conveniently make inroads into the native society. They can easily forge friendships and establish amicable relationships with the locals. This can pave way for their successful integration with the natives.   

On top of that, such apprehensions seem to be lacking substance in an era when one has virtual interpretation and translation facilities available at their disposal, making communication effortless between cultures and helping eliminate misunderstandings. What one needs a positive attitude towards facing and surmounting challenges surfacing while immigrating to a foreign location.

Overall, I fail to completely subscribe to this notion and feel that only those are forced to grapple with the difficulties, who lack knowledge of the host language, whereas once having proficiency and language competence can surmount every imaginable challenge.