I'm a serial immigrant with immigrant ancestry, and I just don't have the ability to bond with people who live in the city which they were born in the same way other people with immigration backgrounds get me. Due to the housing crisis, I moved to a country where English isn't the language and the immigrants here largely only speak their native language and the local language. I miss my life before I was forced to move, I miss my friends, but I see no way to go back as the pay there is super low and the rental units are scarce and vastly overpriced, so I'd like to try to maintain my sanity by making life for myself here.
Any tips on how to find English speaking immigrants open to forming a new friendship? I honestly have no clue. :c
- This isn't about online friends, I need in person contact.
I can't stress enough, learning the language of the place that you live is a ridiculously OP skill.
You can usually find English movie showings. Either in proper theaters, or sometimes in public centers, game cafes, etc. You can look those up on ig/fb/local boards. From my experience people there are pretty open to socializing. Smaller shows for international bands can also work. And just stuff that's not too reliant on language in the first place - gym, sport activities/events, food festivals.
If you are experiencing alienation that strongly, there are definitely other people who are in the same boat and are looking for new connections.
maybe too obvious, but try talk and ask locals if they know some other english speaking immigrants or places where to find them.
and i think "irish pubs" are sort of popular nearly everywhere in the world (well, at least most of the countries i visited) and i've never seen an irish pub without english speakers for the least. There are rumors that the irish like to make new friends, could be worth a try.
Shooting blind as I have no first-hand experience with this, but you may find people in a similar "isolated immigrant" situation in language courses for the local language.
They'll probably not all be native English speakers, but it's usually the Lingua Franca in these things.
It also depends on the country and your range of interests, but universities usually tend to have a significant number of foreign students (specially if they're free). Maybe you could look into university-related events and programmes that are open to the general community.
