On the next two pages, you can find out about Federico's experiences of working abroad. Most of his experiences are listed under the same headings as the programme titles. If you want to know more about these different issues then visit the appropriate programme page.

As you listen to Federico, think about your own culture and how different things might be for Federico if he was to work there. And how different do you think it would be for you to work in England or Germany.

Language
I was expecting that most people spoke English because Germany has a very good standard of English, so I really expect this to happen. I didn't expect that I would have so much trouble outside (of the job) because of different reasons. Some people do not speak English not because they don't know it but because they feel shy or they think that they do not speak that well. Some people do not speak to you in English because they don't like it, even for political reasons they do not like speaking in English

I do have language problems. For example, this was going to the canteen and having something to eat. I was asking for a piece of meat, for a steak, and she said 'English oder Deutsch?' which is English or German. And I thought she was asking me whether I spoke English or German and I said, 'English of course, Spanish as well'. Yeah, here English means that the steak is almost raw. I couldn't eat it later, especially being Argentinean.


THE EXPERIENCE: PAGE 1 OF 3     NEXT


IN FEDERICO

PART 1: THE PERSON
PART 2: THE JOB
PART 3: THE EXPERIENCE