How to make new international friends while living abroad?

Tips for Building International Friendships While Living Abroad

Living abroad by yourself can be isolating. However, there are numerous ways to help you easily make friends with people from other countries, so you will no longer feel alone.

Thai students continue their studies, Episode "5 Ways to Make New Friends Abroad"

Friendship is also important when living abroad. Having friends with us will make us feel warm and not alone in a crowd of people we don't know. Those who will study alone may be concerned about this issue, and many may have questions such as, "Can we find friends?" or "Will we get along with our friends there?" Today, IDP has some small tips to make finding international friends easier and less challenging.

Open to international friends' interest

Of course, when we go to live in another city or country, we will have to encounter different cultures and interests. Being open-minded, accepting, and willing to learn about the culture and society of the city we are going to will make us have similar interests to the locals, and having something in common will make it easier for us to make new friends. We may take a greater interest in the popular sports in the area and go watch the matches together with our new friends. Doing this will make us closer to our friends because we share common interests, and we won't have to worry about what to talk to them about.

Join a club

Whether it's a university or a school, there are all sorts of clubs available. Joining a club is another way to meet new international friends who share the same interests as us. Whether it's joining a football club or a choir, we're sure to meet people who share the same interests as us. The more clubs we join, the more opportunities we have to make friends from these clubs.

Don't be introverted

Sometimes, staying to ourselves might be the reason we don't have any friends. Try going out and talking to new people and accepting invitations from friends, and you might open up opportunities to get to know more people and even improve your relationship with your current friends. You could even try striking up conversations with people sitting next to you. Who knows, they could end up becoming close friends one day.Don't just limit yourself to university, though. While universities are great places to make friends, that doesn't mean we can't make them outside of them. Special interest groups or workplaces are also places where we can make friends. So try to take advantage of those opportunities as well.

Try learning a language

If you're someone who lacks confidence in speaking English, try asking someone to teach you. Don't be embarrassed about not being good at it because foreigners respect those who make an effort to speak their language, just like we admire foreigners who speak Thai. Practising the language with friends can also make us closer and improve our own language skills. Or maybe we can even become language teachers ourselves; taking turns teaching each other can be a fun way to learn and make friends.Apart from these 5 methods, there are many more ways to make friends from different countries. All we need to do is open our hearts and not be afraid of feeling lonely when we travel to another city or country.

Making friends from different cultures is one of the best parts of living abroad. It helps you grow, learn new perspectives, and create lifelong connections. Let IDP guide you through your journey abroad, from choosing the right university to adjusting to your new environment. Start your adventure with us today!