I was hospitalized for schizoaffective disorder and given a high dose of liquid medication every night to knock me out. I can’t remember the name of it but I think it originated in Spain. Google isn’t helping me and probably now thinks I am trying to smuggle drugs into the US. Lol.
Two years certainly could be enough, but it really depends what the environment. If OP, like many English speakers who live in France for a couple of years, was teaching English, or studying in an English speaking postgraduate course, and then socialising with a mix of people from different places, who all use English as their shared language… It can be pretty easy to miss out on a lot of immersion.
And the level of language to comfortably phone up a hospital, explain a slightly odd request and be bounced around different departments with the administration… I know plenty of native French speakers who would avoid doing that.
This. And plus, privacy. Would you trust someone phoning you up from another country not speaking the language well enough asking for a medical record with identification they don’t use? Maybe OFII or the social worker who was very close with me could have helped, but the hoops would be not worth the trouble just so I can talk about that one crazy time I was on 500mg of Tercian a night.
I feel like you’re doing something wrong if you live in a non English country and never get exposed to the local language.
Source: am living in a non English country
I have mental issues that severely impact memory. I am proud of my conversational level of French given all circumstances in my life. I can say and read most of it, but have a thick accent and trouble with southern accents in France. Northern french is easier for me to hear. There are so many aspects to language. I suggest Paul Taylor on youtube for a little insight.
I was exposed? Lol
Defintely, it’s a waste of an opportunity. But as someone also living in non-English speaking country, it’s surprisingly a lot of effort to make sure I actually expose my self to the language. If you’re work and social circles are all predominately English speaking, you need to take active steps to have meaningful exposure (and you most certainly should!)
I think it’s different now that in the past, because it’s so easy to live in a bubble and spend a lot of time communicating online. Even back in the ‘old country’ I barely spoke with strangers, beside shop interactions. I have my headphones on, listening to music, watching streaming services, and interacting with my friends and family. Now that I’m abroad, I can do pretty much the same thing, I don’t need to watch the local TV channels I can just watch YouTube, I don’t desperately need to make local friends, because I videochat and game with my buddies back home very easily.
It’s taken a couple of years here to realise that without actively pushing myself, I’m not really picking up much of the language. Now I make myself listen to talk radio in the car, and try to overhear conversations on the train, rather than existing in my normal bubble. It’s absolutely worth it, but if I’d been motivated I could have made myself consume shows, radios, etc in the target language back I the ‘old country’. And while there’s certainly more possible language partners to practice with, if they don’t emerge naturally in your social circle, then it’s not all that much easier than finding someone back home who wanted to improve their English to be my language buddy.
Tldr it’s a waste to not learn the local language, but failing to do so isn’t so much “doing something wrong” as “not actively pursuing a challenging but reward interest”.