Although most of us are only overseas for part of the year, learning at least a little bit of the language in the country in which you are temporarily residing can help greatly in relieving culture stress. I am not always very proactive in this area because it does take time and I often struggle to get motivated to learn something that I may only use for 9 months. But a small investment can reap big rewards in not only making your life a little easier, but also showing respect for the culture in which you are living. Here are a few ways you can go about learning a foreign language.
1. Use a computer based program. We have used Rosetta Stone for Spanish, Turkish and Italian. The program is a bit expensive if you are only going to be using it for a few months, but it proved very worthwhile for us. We were able to borrow the program from friends in order to not buy every language. There are other good programs out there that are not as expensive and could be an option. Ask around to see what others have liked. Another option is finding a free program by searching the internet. I have used the free version of Before You Know It for several languages, just to get the basic phrases down. We have also used the Muzzy program for our children, which they enjoyed and picked up a good amount of language from.
2. Use a Podcast. You can find a number of free podcasts online that can help you in learning a foreign language. Search the internet to find one that you are comfortable with or ask others for suggestions.
3. Take classes from a language school or local university. In Turkey I took language lessons and that was the language I excelled at the most. Having weekly lessons and accountability to do work at home was very beneficial to me. It also helped to have a real person to ask questions to and a native speaker to listen to.
4. Find someone who might be willing to tutor you. Try checking out a local university for a professor who tutors language. You can also check with the basketball club to see if they have a translator who could work with you. You can even see if there is a fan of the team who speaks good English and would be open to helping you.
5. Watch television in the native language. I have talked to so many people who learned English by watching television. You can simply watch or see if you satellite provider has the options of watching with subtitles in English.