Are you living and working abroad in a country you didn’t grow up in? If not, have you ever thought about what it might be like to be immersed in a different culture and language for a long period of time?

In this episode, we talk about the advantages and the drawbacks of life as an ex-pat in Spain and we’ll give you some advice about how to make life a bit easier for yourself as an immigrant.

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Living Abroad – AIRC291 with Emilia, Nick and their daughter Lucia. https://inglespodcast.com/291

Working abroad – https://inglespodcast.com/303

In this podcast, we spoke about:

The advantages of living and working abroad
Improve your English and take it to the next level
Knowledge of other local customs, work habits and ways of doing things
Gaining insight into the workplace dynamics of a different country and culture
Independence (accommodation and day to day living)
Broader awareness of the world and its variety of people and cultures
Adaptability and embracing change
Many people might find you interesting just because you’re foreign!

The drawbacks of living and working abroad
Missing friends and family (and food!)
Culture shock and adapting to new culture and customs
Red tape and work visas – can take a long time
Risk of being exploited
It takes longer to get used to foreign ways of doing things
You might have to deal with racist discrimination from some people

Vocabulary

What’s the difference between an ex-pat and an immigrant?
Both live outside their native country.
These two words are similar. An ex-pat tends to move abroad for professional reasons or to retire. There’s an idea that they may return to their native country.
An immigrant may not necessarily return and is often looking for a better life than they had before.

A migrant moves from one place to another.

Honeymoon period
Homesickness
Language barrier
Adaptation
Integration
Assimilation
to settle in/down
to blend in
to stick/stand out
to go/step outside your comfort zone
to learn the ropes
to be a fish out of water
to apply for residency – to obtain residency (in a country)
to be resident (in a country)

Discussion

What motivated you to move abroad in the first place?

What was the hardest thing you had to deal with when you first arrived? How did you overcome your initial challenges?

Have you gone through different stages as an ex-pat in Spain?

What are the best and worst things about living here now after so many years?

…and now it’s your turn to practise your English. Have you ever lived and worked abroad? Tell us about it. If you haven’t, which country would you like to move to and what would you like to do there?
Send us a voice message. https://www.speakpipe.com/inglespodcast
Send us an email with a comment or question to [email protected] or [email protected]

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In next week’s episode: Tips and advice for the Cambridge B2 First, C1 Advanced and C2 Proficiency Speaking tests

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The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called ‘See You Later’