Marrying someone from a different country (essay)
Marrying someone from a different country will always be more problematic than marrying someone from your own country.
Nowadays people of different nationalities and cultures can communicate easier than ever before due to the advanced technologies. The Internet helps us get in touch in a blink of an eye, and a plane can take us anywhere on the planet, making cross-cultural communication more dynamic. However, a clash of cultures can get in the way of a carefree family life.
One of the most troublesome issues when marrying a foreigner is the process of moving to another country, getting a residence permit and trying to settle in to a new place. The document preparation can take up much time and be rather nerve-racking, especially if a state pursues a strict immigration policy.
It is quite challenging to get used to another way of life and blend in, given that cultural differences can range from very slight to immense. Different upbringings may cause partners to be at odds over such sensitive subjects as religion, gender relations, social hierarchy or household.
Another important point is language barrier, which impedes communication with fiancée or fiancé’s relatives, creating additional tension and awkwardness. The process of studying a foreign language can last for years and be rather sophisticated. Thus, some immigrants, especially housewives, end up being secluded from the rest of the community and feeling lonely.
Some people claim that love smoothes over the differences and overcomes any obstacles. And yet, it is evident that “la vie en rose” will not last long, if the partners do not respect each other’s national traditions and values.
To sum up, I firmly believe that marrying a foreigner causes additional obstacles that are non-existent for mono-national families. Not only trust and empathy, but also cultural tolerance and flexibility are required to build up a relationship and settle down in a new country.
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Marrying someone from a different country (essay)
Marrying someone from a different country will always be more problematic than marrying someone from your own country.
Nowadays people of different nationalities and cultures can communicate easier more easily than ever before due to the advanced technologies. The Internet helps us get in touch in a blink of an eye, and a plane can take us anywhere on the planet, making cross-cultural communication more dynamic. However, a clash of cultures can get in the way of a carefree family life.
One of the most troublesome issues when marrying a foreigner is the process of moving to another country, getting a residence permit and trying to settle in to a new place. The document preparation can take up much time and be rather nerve-racking, especially if a state pursues a strict immigration policy.
It is quite challenging to get used to another way of life and blend in, given that cultural differences can range from very slight to immense. Different upbringings may cause partners to be at odds over such sensitive subjects as religion, gender relations, social hierarchy or household duties.
Another important point issue is the language barrier, which can impede impedes communication with one's fiancée or fiancé’s relatives, creating additional tension and awkwardness. The process of studying a foreign language can last for years and be rather challenging sophisticated. Thus, some immigrants, especially housewives, end up being secluded from the rest of the community and feeling lonely.
Some people claim that love smoothes over the differences and overcomes any obstacles. And yet, it is evident that “la vie en rose” will not last long, if the partners do not respect each other’s national cultural traditions and values.
To sum up, I firmly believe that marrying a foreigner causes additional obstacles that are non-existent for mono-national families. Not only trust and empathy, but also cultural tolerance and flexibility are required to build up a relationship and settle down in a new country.
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Privet Olga. I agree with most of what Nissa has already said. Notice: "The document preparation can take up much time" might be better - "Paperwork can take up a lot of time." We are talking about paperwork in general, so we don't need the article, "the". Also, instead of secluded, better to say isolated. Secluded sounds like a nice cottage in the middle of the forest, so quite positive, where isolated has more of an idea of being apart for negative reasons.
"one's fiancée or fiancé's relatives" is not wrong, but using "one's" sounds very oldfashioned, or like the Queen of England. It is common nowadays to say "your" in a general way.
Apart from that, I'm married to a Spanish girl, and there haven't been any cultural problems. We just need to learn to accept differences in others, whether it is nationality, religion, race, Republican/Democrat voter, etc. One of the interesting things about teaching on italki, is finding that although we have different ideas, we are all more-or-less the same!
Keep practicing! Simon.
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Thank you for commenting on my essay and giving your opinions ^^ I do agree that there are a lot more positive aspects than I've listed. Had I not been restricted with word limit, I would've mentioned them as well!
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Very interesting essay! As someone who is married to an Australian, I can totally confirm the administrative difficulties regarding documents/immigration. But I think there are many positives in intercultural relationships and ultimately, despite there being these "additional obstacles" as you say, you both grow and gain a lot from the experience.
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That's a very interesting essay and good insights on the cross-cultural/ cross-national marriages. I think one must be fully open-minded and accepting of his/her partners, including culture, religion and languages before deciding to marry. On the positive note, I think one can try to push or motivate himself/ herself to be independent by putting himself/ herself out there to learn and get a whole new lifestyle. It may not be easy but I believe, they will definitely have some character growth in them. What I think is important, is that both sides must have similar outlook on life and personal values no matter your race or religion. I will be interested to see what other people thinks :)
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