simple Fiona...go to where you feel comfortable...i'm here in turkey and ,judging by forum response, a popular destination but you will love what you know and if that is cyprus then enjoy....

I would need to give Turkey another go- I think I just picked the wrong destination in Gumbet!
Does anyone speak the language when they make the move? I'm not sure I would feel confident living somewhere where I couldn't. ( used to love going to Greece but failed miserably trying to learn the language!)

Fiona, I didn't speak any Spanish at all when I made the move to Lanzarote I lived in a tiny village, no-one spoke English, and even shopping was a nightmare for me, as the local shop kept everything in freezers etc in a back room. If I couldn't see it, and point to it, then we didn't have it Not knowing the language didn't put me off at all then, but now, if I do think about moving again, I don't think I would want to have to start all over again learning yet another language, especially one with a completely different alphabet

so was it easy enough to pick up the language Sue- especially as everyone round about you did not speak English? ( Spanish strikes me as seeming to be an easier language to learn than others- but of course I haven't tried it myself :lol:)

gumbet isnt the best place to judge turkey by... i learnt a bit of the lingo before i went, but i live in a village and therefore had to use the language ... us brits are naturally lazy when it comes to learning another tongue!

gumbet was in my pre HT days!

Fiona, I must admit I didn't find it easy, but as spanish is phonetic, I did ask people to write words down for me, and then learned them off by heart. Yes, it did help that there were no Brits around so I HAD to learn (and I made some very embarrassing mistakes in the beginning!! But people were kind and I did find that I understood much more than I could speak in the beginning.

I must say, the thing I still find the most difficult, is not being able to have an "in depth" conversation in spanish. If you think about talks you have with good friends, in English, so much is left unsaid, you instinctively know what the end of a sentence is going to be, etc etc. I can't do that in spanish, so although I have good friends, the intimacy isn't there.

Thanks to both of you for your comments on learning the language. Sue- that is an interesting observation about in depth conversations.

Pleased you understand Fiona. Getting "feelings" across is very difficult, and can make me feel very lonely at times. Yes, of course, I can communicate that I am angry/sad/cross/happy etc etc, but only on what I feel is a very basic level! Though my spanish mates do say they know where I'm coming from

My children make me feel very humble, as they are completely bilingual, and I am constantly saying I will take more courses and get better.........but

Hi Sue.
Very interesting that you understood Spanish more than you could speak it.
For me, it's the other way around, I have difficulty sometimes understanding, especially when they throw the different dialects into the conversation.
I suppose that's a bit like here, I can't understand the Brits sometimes.

I agree with you 100% that the only way to learn is to be thrown in at the deep end and either sink or swim.
I deliberately speak Spanish, even when English is widely used in certain resorts and it would be so easy to not bother.

My personal thoughts are that to fully integrate with the community, then you have to make an effort at learning the language, and I find it so disheartening when people move to Spain, live in the little ex-pats communities and never speak a word of Spanish, even after several years.

Spanish isn't easy to learn, there are certain sentences that just cannot be translated back to English, but like Sue says, the people are kind and once you attempt the language, then I found that their whole demeanour changes towards you.
I've never yet met a Spaniard who hasn't been proud to help you with the language...once you actually try and speak it.

Besos Sue

Sanji

I do wonder how many people make the move and then regret it- for the reasons you have given ( and of course for family etc)

I suppose sanji, if you think about it, understanding a language before you speak it is the "normal" way. When I think back to when the children were toddlers, I would say things like "I'd like a cup of coffee, let's go to the kitchen and get the cups out" (or whatever) and they would pick up on the words cup, coffee, kitchen, and therefore "know" what was going to happen. The words I'd like, and let's go are actually superfluous in that context.

Fiona, I wonder that too, as I have seen people come and go from here very quickly, IMO I have always tried to immerse myself in whatever country I have lived in, and funnily enough, the one I really can't integrate into is the UK!!!! I think too many people want to keep that little Brit enclave abroad, and that just doesn't appeal to me!!!

My personal thoughts are that to fully integrate with the community, then you have to make an effort at learning the language

these are my thoughts too Sanji- pity I like Greece so much!

Fiona, a friend of mine has at last taken her Greek 'O' level, and passed it!! It has taken her many years, and I am thrilled for her!! I just know I couldn't have done it! She knows she doesn't speak the language, but it has given her the confidence to talk to people, and that is all you really need I think

I agree that being able to communicate in the language of your host country is just about the most important thing you can do. Us Brits are not the best in the world at learning languages, but it can be done. I got an E in my O level French 25 years ago and never bothered with languages since, even though my work meant that I was working abroad for 6 years. When I decided to move to Spain I didn't speak a word even though I had worked here two years previous. It took me some time to learn, but five years later, here I am with a business where all my customers are Spanish (well, apart from a few who are German, Russian, Portuguese and Brazillian). In fact many new customers enter the shop and ask "Are you 'el Ingles'?". I still struggle with the subjunctive but that doesn't seem to be too much of a problem.
I found reading to be the easiest, I always bought a newspaper and tried to read it. Understanding spoken Spanish came next, then speaking. The hardest thing by far, for me, is written Spanish. It may be just because that I know my mistakes will be preserved for ever on the paper, who knows, but it takes me ages to write anything.

As for Greek, once you decifer the Greek alphabet, it isn't that different to Spanish or Italian.

I've been told by a language teacher that Spanish can be learnt in 6 weeks. According to her it it's a very easy language to learn.

J

I would seriously doubt if any language can be learnt in six weeks. You might learn the rudiments of the language and a very basic vocabulary, but no way in six weeks would you be able to hold the kind of conversation to which Sue referred.

I've been trying with Spanish for a long time now and still speak only in the present tense. I believe that I'll pick it up properly once I eventually move there, as that is the best way to learn, especially in relation to local dialects and their idiosyncracies.

In my opinion, Sanji is right when he says it is sad to see Brits congregate in little ex-pat groups, rather than learning the language and mixing with the local people.

Hiya Jay Jay

I'm a she, but no problem

when he says it is sad to see Brits congregate in little ex-pat groups, rather than learning the language and mixing with the local people.

IMO: Do you know what is even sadder,? some of the ex-pats who critise the Asians for coming here ,never learning English and forming their own communities, who then leave the UK and do exactly the same to the Spanish...or wherever.

I've been told by a language teacher that Spanish can be learnt in 6 weeks. According to her it it's a very easy language to learn.

Oh dear, I'd be interested how you are going to learn all the verbs, including all the tenses and the irregular verbs in 6 weeks to be able to conduct some form of a meaningful conversation.
Me thinks your language teacher tells porky pies

SanJi x

I have lived in Germany for 35yrs and didn't speak a word of the language when I first came, I worked in an English speaking environment and OH is English and I found the language really difficult. After a while I found I could understand lots of what was said but my spoken German was atrocious so I gave up my job and went for a month to a residential language school and finally learned the language and left with certification that said my German was good enough to study at University. Learning a language is nothing to do with intelligence though, some people have a talent and can pick it up really quickly and having the confidence to try and speak even if you make lots of mistakes is very important. I hated to speak the language incorrectly so I often kept quiet which meant it took longer to learn.
There were some absolute beginners in lower level of classes and at the end of their four week course they could understand and speak the language to a level where they could hold simple conversations so I would think that after 6weeks they would have been able to speak the language pretty well. Though to speak fluently would take a lot longer. The course was pretty intense though up to six hours per day plus homework.