AUSTRALIA - ADELAIDE
The language spoken in Adelaide located in Australia is of course English. However, it should not be forgotten that the native Australians have a strong accent and many slangs. Before I came here, I had a lot of respect for the language, as I had dealt with this subject before and knew that it is sometimes not so easy to understand. However, dealing with the language has also changed my perspective on cultural understanding and communication.
When I arrived here, I quickly realized that I understood most of it. Especially the young people don‘t really have that strong accent anymore. I had the most trouble at university in the architecture studio. Here I had a professor, who had an extremely strong Australian accent. So when I watched my online lectures at home, I sometimes didn‘t understand anything and had to keep asking questions. However, as the people here are very helpful and open, they always understood as soon as I said that I wasn‘t local.
You also learn this new language, as it is very close to English. That‘s why I didn‘t really have any problems after 2 months in Australia. Perhaps this is also because I knew how different things work. In addition, at the beginning I often simply noticed that I wasn‘t confronted with new facts straight away. I also improved my listening skills because I sometimes had to listen much better to adapt to the way people spoke. I also got to know a few friends from Australia who were able to help immediately with communication problems.
The exciting thing is that the Australian students at the university are usually not interested in exchange students and so the exchange students make friends with each other. In my group of friends, for example, we are all students from Europe. For this reason, we all speak the same English and therefore have no communication problems. I was even amazed at how good my English was compared to other students from other European countries. I also quickly realized that my English was improving from week to week. Because I am forced to speak English every day, at a certain point you don‘t even notice that you are speaking English and not German. My brain already translates it on its own, so I don‘t have any problems at university either.
English is certainly a language that I can use in all countries. It can also be very helpful for my future career. Of course, it also means that I now understand and can use all the terminology in the field of architecture. But it also has a lot to do with personal development. A language is a culture and can tell you something about a country. This culture will certainly always remain a part of me because I spent my 6 months here. But not only that I was able to grow out of myself through the language barrier and experience new situations and overcome them. I was able to learn how to deal with language problems and was able to come out of myself because I had to look for new ideas on my own. It also boosted my selfconfidence because I can be satisfied with myself that I am coping with my life here in another language. Of course, sometimes I can‘t express myself the way I would like to. But it is understood by everyone else and that is the most important thing. Here in Australia I have learned that communication is not just about understanding. It also has a lot to do with how you use gestures and facial expressions to gain context. These facial expressions and gestures, as well as posture and sometimes tone of voice, helped me to better understand what was being said.
In short, the language barrier was one of the biggest hurdles in my semester abroad and yet it was one of the most educational. I had to step out of my comfort zone and improve my communication skills. This will be of great benefit to me in the future. Communication is not about speaking a language, but understanding and connecting with other people on a deeper level.