Resources: Notes on Life and Language in the United States

Getting ready for a move to the United States?

Being a graduate student is tough. Being an international graduate student is even tougher.

Moving to the United States for work can be scary and exciting at the same time! What was the transition like for you?

What risks have you taken in the last three months as an expatriate? How could your life in the United States be different if you took more risks? Would you learn more? Meet more people? Would you get closer to your goals of speaking English fluently? Would you have new career opportunities? I bet you would! I am not an expert on risk-taking and I won't pretend to be an expert. However, I know a few things about crossing cultures and lately I have been thinking more and more about how important risk-taking is for our success while we are living in a new country. So, I teamed up with Norman at Everyday Expat Support Center to bring you a webinar on how to take more risks as an expat! The webinar was held on Wednesday May 16th but you can still get a recorded version! Keep reading for more details.

Are you an expat in NYC or Boston, wondering about that strange and confusing American custom called tipping? When it comes to tipping at restaurants, in taxis and at the hair stylist, it's pretty straightforward, right? However, what about that friendly man who opens the door for you everyday at your apartment building? Maybe he even knows your name. Sometimes he offers to carry your groceries and he usually hails you a cab on a rainy day. If you are like some of our students, you may be wondering how much and when you should tip your doorman. There are no rules written in your lease and it might be an awkward question to ask your neighbor, so you are stuck! In this post, you will learn how much and when you should tip your doorman in New York or Boston.

What challenges are you running into as you adjust to life in Boston? A lot international professionals struggle with American customs such as tipping. Other people have a hard time with their English skills including understanding sales assistants while shopping or doing other everyday tasks. Some graduate students get anxious about their English when it comes to participating in an interview, attending classes or writing a paper. These are all common experiences for newcomers in Boston and they can be very stressful! The good news is, there are solutions for all of these problems! In today's video, listen to stories from newcomers in Boston as they talk about what they struggled with when they first arrived. Also, get some advice on how to deal with these problems if you are experiencing the same thing!

So you are in New York or Boston and you need to improve your English. You aren't sure if one-to-one English lessons or group English classes are the best choice for you. The correct choice is different for everyone. It all comes down to your priorities. Do you have a lot of time in your schedule or very little time available? Are you more concerned about paying a low price or getting a good value? In this post, I will show you 5 key differences between group classes at the large language schools and one-to-one English lessons with a private tutoring company.

Do you know what a Boston English accent sounds like? If you have recently moved to the United States to work or study English in Boston, maybe you are trying to improve your pronunciation and develop an American accent. But the Boston accent is a bit different from what you might consider a "typical" American accent. The most obvious sign of a local Boston accent is when someone drops the "R" sound. The famous saying "Park the car in the Harvard Yard" is pronounced with a Boston accent in this way: "Pahk the cah in the Hahvahd Yahd". If you have ever watched Good Will Hunting or other movies that are set in Boston, you have heard the Boston accent. However, because Boston is a world famous center for academia, medicine and technological innovation, which attracts an international population, you might not hear a thick Boston accent every day or in every part of Boston.

The best way to learn more about the ways in which culture impacts our lives is to talk to people who have experienced the life challenge of moving to a new country to live, work and/or study.  A few weeks ago, I sat down with Rodrigo, a Bolivian law student who moved to Boston about a year ago, to talk about his adjustment to life in the United States. During our conversation about culture, we talked about what was challenging for him about moving to the US, differences in communication styles here and what it's like to be interviewed for graduate school in the US. We would like to hear about your experiences as well.  If you would like to share your thoughts about life in the US and US culture and help us with our latest project, please contact us and we will arrange an appointment.

What are the 6 stages of culture shock and how do they affect you, as an international professional or student in Boston or in another part of the United States?