LATVIA - RIGA

After just over two months in Latvia, the routine has become established and the daily routines have adapted to the previous ones. I recently had an interesting conversation with another exchange student about life here compared to home. At the beginning, in the first few weeks, everything is new and exciting. But after a while, you do most of the same things as at home, just in a different environment. In our case, it was university/studying, sports and meeting/partying with friends. That's not a bad thing either. We just noticed that our preferences and hobbies remained the same in a different country.

This conversation, like all the other conversations I have here, took place in English. It works very well and the language improves over the weeks. At least I think less when I speak. This is very important when speaking and communicating. At the beginning, I was still too worried about whether it was grammatically correct. But once I realized that the others weren't native speakers either and that they were sometimes even happy if you didn't speak perfect English yourself, I gradually got over it. After a few beers at the latest, there is no longer an inhibition threshold. Another reason why I speak a lot in English is that most of the people I am in contact with are not from Latvia. In general, I have noticed at the university that there are not only many exchange students but also many people from abroad who study here regularly. There are also many Germans among them. The saying that Germans are everywhere in the world fits very well. That's why I'm occasionally tempted to speak German with people.

I've only come into contact with the local language very occasionally so far and then only a few words. To be honest, I have already forgotten them, as the Latvian language is very different from German and English and I find it difficult to memorize the words and build mnemonic bridges. The locals I came into contact with were all fluent in English, so communication was never difficult.

I only noticed a language barrier during two relatively similar encounters with a local grandma. We were standing at the bus stop waiting for the bus. Both times the grandma spoke to me in Latvian and probably wanted to ask something like when the bus was coming. But as I didn't understand anything, I asked if she could repeat it in English. At both moments, the old lady just made a pff and turned around. As with us in Germany, the language barriers are greater for older people than for us younger people who have learned English at school.

Speaking English in general and as a matter of course has really enriched me and also my self-confidence. It has shown me that no matter where I am in the world, I can communicate with people everywhere. Even with my hands and feet in an emergency. I can also take these skills with me and transfer them to my future career. Speaking of the general economy or companies, there is virtually none that does not also deal with companies from neighbouring countries. The language of business is English. The ability to communicate, to express yourself and your feelings, thoughts and opinions is very important. Otherwise, people can misunderstand you and problems can arise due to poor communication.

I am also looking forward to being able to communicate better with the locals and other holidaymakers on my next vacation and probably experiencing and perceiving the trip in a completely different way as a result. So far, I have been rather reserved when talking in English on vacation, but this will change in the future!