Facing The Language Barrier

Looking past the language barrier is the one thing I would advise to anyone wanting to study abroad. The idea of hopping on a plane by yourself and flying to another country that may not speak your language can be a little daunting. And yes, I understand that a large amount of people from around the world can speak English, but that is not the point. It is the idea of facing the unknown. The “what if?” scenario. That's the whole point of studying abroad, right? It's to experience and put yourself into situations that will enable your learning curve to skyrocket. Well, that's the whole plan for me at least.

When I first started to think about studying somewhere around the world, I naturally drifted towards English speaking countries. Which is probably normal for me since I would not be considered bilingual. I had even gone as far as to apply to English speaking places and be accepted. Then, one day, I was searching through the IES Abroad website and I started looking at the most obscure places possible just for fun. For whatever reason, I decided that I needed to throw myself into a scenario that was more foreign to me aka not speaking the host country's language. Get out of the ole comfort zone, ya feel? So, instead of focusing on one of my majors, I decided to focus on my minor. Sustainability then brought me to Freiburg, a really cool town in southern Germany.

CAVEAT: If you’re not a fan of impressive medieval architecture, mouthwatering food and breathtaking landscapes… your two paragraph journey stops here. You may exit the blog on your left; watch your step.  

I am a fan of literature and have read many of the classics; however, photography can translate an unspoken language onto a page unlike any word. It also speaks an international language that everyone can understand. That’s the beautiful thing about photography: it leaves no one out. Every picture has a story, this blog’s story is pictures and these pictures will tell my story. Well, my story will be about Freiburg.

I’ll be flooding this page with pictures next time you hear from me. For now, here are some random ones I’ve taken.

Danke,

Nathan