In a binational relationship? Here’s how to solve that dreaded language barrier!
There’s nothing quite like finding that special someone you want to spend the rest of your life with, is there? But when that someone is from a completely different country to you, there might be a few hurdles to overcome. The world is always adapting, and we are always relocating and moving around the globe to find new homes, so it’s only natural that some of us fall for people we meet along our travels. If you happen to have found yourself in a binational relationship, there might be a few things you’ve found a bit more difficult than your other relationships – it’s completely normal. We’re going to go step-by-step through the challenges binational couples face, and show you how to overcome them!
Meeting the parents
A big step in your binational relationship and certainly a nervewracking one, meeting the parents can be daunting for many binational couples. If your partner’s parents can speak your language, or you can speak theirs, then you’ll only have the standard things to worry about. If you can’t speak their language, however, you’re in a sticky situation. Of course, you will want to impress your partner’s loved ones and so learning a few phrases in their native tongue would go down splendidly. With the MyJuno app, you can access hundreds of sayings and phrases in seconds and without signal, so you can keep practising your speech on the way there! For the most part, you’ll want to do some proper chatting to let your potential in-laws get to know you better, and for that, a phrasebook just won’t cut it. You could let your partner be the interpreter if they’re fluent in your language, but that could be a bit tiresome for them. MyJuno, however, can act as your interpreter by turning your smartphone into a translator! You can use the app on just one phone by using the solo translate feature, or you can download MyJuno on several phones and all use your own. To translate, it’s as simple as setting the languages, tapping and holding the button, and speaking into your phone’s microphone – it’s voice-to-voice translation with transcripts for added accuracy!
Culture shock
If you or your partner chooses to relocate to the other’s country, you’ll experience some form of culture shock. There isn’t much getting away from this one, but there are ways of coping with and managing it. You might find yourself feeling alone or isolated, as you don’t know the people or the language, and even more so if your partner has their friends or family around them. MyJuno can help to ease you into your new location, as you can find and speak to others on the app from anywhere in the world. Having friends there for you can be extremely comforting, and so having an app where you can find new friends could make your moving experience a lot smoother. Alternatively, you could connect with people from the country or city you are moving to and ask them questions about the place and culture. To give you an extra helping hand to binational couples, MyJuno will show you personalised ads depending on your needs and location, so could help you find new places to explore. Although this won’t fix your culture shock, it will make you feel better as you surround yourself with amazing places in your new country. If you want to know more about what exactly culture shock is, click here.
Broken English and the dominant language
It’s extremely likely that either yourself or your partner has to communicate in a language that is second to you. In some cases in binational relationships, both parties will speak in a second language that both of you are familiar with, like English. The other alternative is that one of you will compromise and speak in their partner’s language. It can be frustrating having to speak in a language that isn’t your own, and sometimes you’ll find yourself struggling to find the correct translation for what you want to say. To avoid the confusion and to try and eliminate the dominant language that binational couples have to agree on, there are only a few solutions. You could try to learn a whole new language, or you could use MyJuno. Now we’re not saying to use MyJuno for every conversation you and your partner has, as that wouldn’t be very natural, but using MyJuno to message each other instead of SMS texting, for example, will help. As long as you set your preferred language, any messages you receive through the app will be instantly translated for you, so you and your partner can message each other in your native languages. Both of you will get a break from having to think and write in a language that you aren’t 100% familiar with – both you of will come out of the situation happy!
Family and friend group chats
Most families and friends like to keep in contact with each other by having group chats. If you’re lucky enough, you’ll get added into your partner’s family and friend group chats, which means you’re doing something right! But, it’s hard to get involved in a conversation if you don’t understand the language that’s being used. To escape the awkwardness of trying to talk to your partner’s foreign relatives via Whatsapp or Facebook, we suggest taking all your multinational group chats to the MyJuno app. Not only will you finally understand the messages being sent your way by your partner’s family, but you’ll be able to reply and hopefully impress them enough to land their approval! Although MyJuno makes binational relationships and family communication so easy, we still would advise you to try learning the language in the long run! Even if you do know your partner’s language or everyone can communicate in a second language, nothing quite beats the language you’ve grown up speaking. Sometimes sticking with what you know is best!
If you want to eliminate the language barriers in your binational relationship, or if you keep finding yourself in environments with overpowering language issues, sign up to download the MyJuno app! It won’t help to fix a broken relationship, but it could definitely be the start of a better, more open and communicative one!
