Lack of linguistic competencies can be a big obstacle for immigrants. People who have been forced out of their country for any given reason need to find a place to stay. When choosing another country, although English can be a big help in the beginning, it is essential to surpass that obstacle and learn the local language.

For a lot of people, it is difficult. An adult and in particular an adult of a certain age cannot learn a new language as fast as a young person. Therefore a large number of older immigrants give up fast. At the same time, younger migrants who want to learn the language are not given the right motivation or help to proceed.

There are of course a lot of simple ways for a person to start learning a foreign language and being located in the origin country of the language will certainly make things easier. Applying some simple methods will speed up the process and will make the integration process easier for immigrants.

Daily Communication

Starting off, daily communication is key to the process. Immigrants form bonds with each other. Staying close with your family, friends, or just people that come from the same country creates a safe place. A lot of migrants are looking for a safe place.

However, this also creates a problem, seeing as a large number of migrants refuse to interact with natives, usually because of fear that they will not be able to communicate properly as well as the fact that their effort will not be received properly. Daily communication might be scary but it is essential and a great way to slowly learn a new language.

Language programmes

The migration influx in Europe over the past few years has made it necessary to create more free language programmes for migrants. Local organizations, universities, schools, public bodies, and many more are creating programmes with only one purpose. To help migrants integrate by learning the local language fast.

Migrants can register and go through language training for free or by paying a very small fee. That way they are slowly going to develop language competencies, train with professional language teachers and start to understand the very

Language tools

Seeing as technology is evolving daily, education could not miss out on the opportunity. Therefore we notice an explosion of free and paid language learning tools specifically created to teach foreign languages easily, without the help of a teacher. Although in most cases those tools are not able to help a person become fluent, they are a great way to start.

Seeing as almost everyone has a smartphone or access to a computer these days, these tools, either online or offline, can give migrants the boost they need.

• Online tools include language learning apps such as Duoling which also has a web version or Busuu. People can choose the language they want, start completing stages, competing with friends, and so on.
• Offline options are also available of course. Some language learning apps have an offline version that allows users to interact and learn the language they desire. 50LANGUAGES and Memrise allow users to practice wherever they are, with or without an internet connection.

Seminars and Webinars

Similar to language programmes but a lot faster, seminars and webinars are being implemented all around, trying to teach people the basics of foreign languages. That can help migrants learn some important communication phrases and start to understand how they should communicate with the locals. After all, we must never forget that communication is not just about the language. It is about local idiosyncrasies, body language, and tone of voice. Everything is important when communicating.

European Projects

To strengthen local communities as well as help migrants integrate, the European Union is allocating a lot of budget in projects focusing on helping migrants integrate on the way or the other. As a result projects such as IntegrAction: Action for socio-economic integration of refugees and asylum seekers are focusing on helping migrant integration through language learning.

The main results expected at the end of the project are:

• Activation of forms of lifelong learning in refugees/asylum seekers.
• Greater awareness among refugees and asylum seekers of local, national, and European labor market mechanisms and greater opportunities to open their businesses.
• Increase citizens’ awareness of refugees and their problems and minimize the feeling of xenophobia.
• Development of more effective and closer cooperation between the authorities, organizations, and institutions operating in the areas of migration and the integration process.

One of the most important actions that the project partners are going to take, will be to map and create a database of all the potential technologies (apps, online tools, etc) that can help migrants learn the language of the local communities.

If you want more information on the project as well as access to this very informative catalog, stay tuned with all the latest updates.

Simple Tips to learn new languages

Whether you are a migrant trying to learn a foreign language or just a person interested in expanding your horizons through language learning, there are always some tips that you need to follow, to make the learning process smooth and easy.

Set milestones

It is important to remember that setting goals and milestones will help you a lot in the process. There is more than enough time for you to learn a language and you must not try to reach your ultimate goal within a few weeks or a couple of months. No one can learn a language this fast.

Instead set weekly milestones and daily goals. They will be easier to follow and must more likely to boost your confidence.

Use the language every day

Make sure that you are going to use the language you are learning every day. Whether you talk to natives, read books and magazines, or simply try to translate all your through, in your mind. The more you as a migrant use the language the more likely you are to start learning it out of experience. That alone is enough to allow you to be able to communicate within just a few days.

Start from the things that interest you the most

Everyone has hobbies and things they like to do. No matter who you are or where you come from. Learning a language by focusing on the things you like the most, you will make the entire process a lot more pleasurable. That way not only will you be able to communicate with people faster but also talk about the things you like the most.

Conclusion

It is important to remember that the language barrier needs to be removed for people to perfectly adapt to a new country. Nowadays people have so many different means and tools to work with and learn to speak a language.

This is a remarkable opportunity for everyone. Learn how to speak the languages you want or need today and surpase the communication obstacle today!