Living Abroad

In Chinese culture, the concept of ‘face’ AKA mianzi (mi-an-ze) refers to the amount of “dignity” or “prestige” that are associated with an individual. What is a high-context culture? In China, concepts such as reputation, social hierarchy, and association are incredibly important. Many Asian cultures are generally considered to be high-context cultures, which could be very different than what you’re used to. This means that the people living in these areas tend to place a lot of value on things such as: how others view them, how much they do or do not stand out compared to others, and how they fit into the social structure around them.

With roughly 378 million native speakers worldwide, English surprisingly comes only third to Chinese and Spanish in the most spoken languages all over the world. Despite this, the English language doesn’t come without difficulties, especially when it comes to pronunciation. In reality, foreigners and non-native speakers may encounter English pronunciation mistakes at some point in their conversations. The good news is that people who are just starting to learn English are not alone in this kind of battle. A lot of students who took one-on-one Skype sessions with the English tutors at Preply started out confused but are now fluent in English.

When you’re off travelling and enjoying yourself, it can be easy to lose track of your spending. And the last thing you want to have to do is call your parents to get them to send you extra cash. Sticking to a budget can be even more important when you’re travelling. You’re so far away from home and family, and you’re ultimately on your own for survival. So how do you do it?