SCOTLAND - GLASGOW

Before I came to Scotland, I thought a lot about whether I would understand the Scottish accent. My level of English is B2 but I hadn't really used the language for a long time, so I was worried that I wouldn't understand and be able to express myself. My worry was partly justified and partly unjustified.

When I arrived at the airport, I didn't had to talk much, just showed my passport and got on the bus to get to the city centre, so I wasn't really confronted with the language yet. Afterwards, I met directly with a fellow student whom I got to know via What's App and there was no confrontation there either, as she is from Austria. Apart from a few minor things, the first time I had the chance to talk and discuss in English was when the university started, as the lecturers gave us a group assignment for five weeks. I had a really hard time communicating with the other two at first. My English was rusty and I didn't know many of the words we use in technical terms in English. Sometimes you feel a bit stupid. You search and search for the right expression, but you can't find it, you start stuttering or you just give up. But the others were very understanding and gave me enough time to find the words and with every meeting it became easier for me to express myself. I just started to paraphrase the words I didn't know and learned more and more. Our main lecturer was perfectly understandable as he is originally German. But not the rest. I mean, I still understand them, it's just very exhausting because you have to concentrate so hard to understand what they're saying. At the university, people at least talk a bit slower because they know that there are many international students athe the university here.

But as soon as you get on the bus, go to Tesco (supermarket) or want to order a coffee, worst case, you can't understand anything at all. However, you eventually remember what they are mumbling and know for the next time what they are trying to point out. What was also strange at the beginning was the Scots' choice of words. I think this is especially true of the Glaswegian people. Normally, when you say thank you, the other person says, you are welcome. But not in Glasgow. You always get 100% the statement "No Worries". The same goes for thank you. Here they usually "Cheers". This can also be used as a substitute for No Worries. When they say hello to you, you always hear a "hiya". We are not fully sure but we interpret it as hello you, hello y’all or hello there. But the funniest word for me is "Wee". As you see in the title. It's a very common word in Glasgow and is used everywhere instead of little. In the meantime I only use these words in my expression. I think they fit and it's fun to pick up a bit of the Scottish.

In our flat, I have the chance to speak German from time to time, as one of my flatmates is from Austria and an other from Germany. At the beginning I was worried that this would affect my learning of English. However, we also have someone from Israel, France and Russia in our flat. Which is quite good, so I don't completely fall back into German.

The whole exchange is a very interesting experience for me. Linguistically, a lot has improved. Unfortunately, writing in English hasn't really improved yet, but that's because we don't need it much. But I think that will change as soon as we have to hand in our essay.

I will take a lot with me linguistically for the future. I am firmly convinced that the best place to learn a language is where it is the main language. So make a wee trip to Spain, Italy, Scotland, Norway or whatever language you want to learn and learn it from there.