For five weeks now we’ve been back in Aix in France in a conference centre. We’re chipping in with all sorts of practical jobs to help polish our French. If we thought we knew France before, we were mistaken: only now we are getting to know it for real. For here we are totally immersed…
I know I am going to stay in a foreign country for longer. I know what to roughly expect. I am excited and happy but also nervous. That is normal. But, how do I prepare myself for the inevitable culture shock? How do I stop any emotional irritation? Do I do a lot of reading…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Anna sometimes felt she had missed something because she’d never been at university. Le voilà, as the French say, what do you know, then it happened: Anna is sitting at her desk and writes her first thesis on Guy de Maupassant’s illnesses. And take an expert’s word for it: that was certainly university level,…
We already emphasized: Shock is the wrong word, irritation is better. The internal control of our behavior is disturbed. You have to re-learn what is right and wrong, how to behave in certain situations, what is polite and what is not, how to greet and say good-bye, how to mourn with others and how to…
We should have known: The moment we arrive in another country, some health problem arises and we have to figure out an alien healthcare system. Anna probably already had a mild flu when she boarded the plane. Now the unfamiliar climate and the stress have triggered it again. Anna asks around among our colleagues and…
When you move to a new, fascinating region, first you are pleased. Many new things are usually perceived as exciting, assuming you came voluntarily. If you were someone persuaded to relocate or had to travel, this phase of honeymoon may not happen. The so-called culture shock consists of four steps: Honeymoon Frustration Adjustment Mastery After…
We landed in Africa and everything, but really everything was different. We had expected some, but so many differences. Uncomfortable border officials who wanted an address which we didn’t have. An incredible number of control: luggage, passports, with body scanning and all alike. Within a short time we were totally intimidated. After a few weeks…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] We haven’t been in Aix-en-Provence for two weeks yet when Mike wants to take some photos of our house to show them on the home page later. So he takes the elevator from the 8th floor down to ground floor and ambles across the square, half of which is a parking lot, the other…
Ask someone what the hardest language in the world to learn is, and they’ll probably tell you something like Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, or another language vastly different from English. Yet the truth is that there is no one “hardest” language. The difficulty of a language depends on the learner and his or her linguistic background:…
In Algeria, as in all Arabic countries, there is Standard Arabic, which is the official national language. In addition, there are many other dialects spoken, dialects of Arabic and also several Berber languages. In Algeria there must be around 15 minority groups of Berbers, but no one knows exactly how many. About 30 people live…