AUSTRALIA - BRISBANE

First language: Swiss German

Second language: German

Third language: French

Fourth language: English

When I first arrived in Australia, I was nearly not able to communicate in English. The change from Switzerland to Australia was hard for me. The Australian slang is still interesting and brings some interesting outcomes and new words. It is like another English language I have never heard before. Nevertheless, there are some techniques they work for me when I am abroad and do not have the same possibility to communicate as in Switzerland. I like to speak with my hands, feet, and face. Absolutely naturally I communicate with my body to approach my goal in different situations. After a few weeks, my English has been getting better and better. I was easily able to communicate in school, with friends or even with businesspeople. The boost I get from it was great and nice for my self-confidence. Unfortunately, I do not speak a lot when I do not feel comfortable in a language. I know by myself that it is most important to speak as much as possible to learn during conversations, but I do not like it. As I already mentioned, the point I get self-confidence was my game changer. Since then, I speak to everybody and in every situation. Even though I know that it is not perfect, but the context is understandable, and it is quite fluent.

There are three different techniques I learnt in Australia to handle communication barriers:

1. Just do it! It is worse to not speak. Speak, communicate and having interesting conversations with all kinds of people. They are happy when you try to speak, does not matter if it is perfect or not. Even though the fact that English is not my first language. I mean the Australians are quite impressed how many languages I speak.

2. Use your body. Hands are very useful to communicate. I mean if you want to say for example: I am hungry. That is so easy saying it with the hands. They will tell you how it is called in English or any other language. Especially in the beginning it helps a lot.

3. Hear English music, watch English TV and Netflix series and do not communicate in your own language. Just surround in English language to get the English thinking as soon as possible. It was a nice process by myself when I suddenly thought in English. That is such a nice feeling when you realise that your thinking is in a foreign language.

As soon as I thought in English, Luc arrived in Australia. I was able to make jokes in English, like good jokes. I was able to speak about my feelings, I was able to speak about the universe and so on. It is such a nice feeling when you can speak without thinking what to say.

I am pretty sure that the feeling of not being able to speak a lot and the way you would like to help me to find techniques for the future. Especially, the thing to just speak without overthink is such an important point. As I already mentioned before, I like to speak and communicate and staying probably in the middle of a crowd (sometimes). It is just possible when you can speak easily and without thinking. The fluent speaking is important and spends self-confidence for myself, my future, and the time abroad.

I feel good in Australia, the people are kind and I like to live here. If I could change something here: It would be the accent. It is still a challenge to understand all the different types of Australian accents.

Cheers Luc Fitz