Millions of families around the world choose to become expats for a number of years. A working parent in a multinational company can be offered the opportunity to work in an overseas office for 3 or 4 years. The company often pays for the move, local housing, and schooling and provides support to the family before and during the moving process. In this article, we focus on the benefits of an expat assignment for children.
With their natural capacity for adjusting to novel environments, children integrate into new cultures far easier and faster than their parents.
However, expat assignments have numerous benefits that positively impact the development of expat kids.
Expat children tend to mature earlier than those who grow up in a single culture.
They are excellent communicators, with an ability to adapt their conversation styles to the needs of each interaction. Having to adjust socially every time they move means that expat kids are normally confident and outgoing.
Exposure to different cultures, values, traditions, and languages turns children into global citizens. Their international experiences provide knowledge that is much more wide ranging than that of typical teenagers.
As seasoned travelers, they are able to navigate airports and train stations without adult assistance.
This self-sufficient ability to travel at an early age is often a reflection of a greater sense of independence.
Life-long benefits
Immersion in multiple cultures throughout childhood fosters excellent cross‐cultural skills and an ability to effortlessly adjust to new situations. Unfortunately for some expat children, these useful traits come with a cost: many expat children lack experience in their home culture and native language.
It is a known fact that children forge close relationships when in international schools as they depend on people in similar situations to theirs. The interesting part is that these friendships are still going as strong decades later, despite each of these people having been through relationships, marriages, divorces, additional moves, different jobs and building families.
Looking for a life-changing experience for your family?
Expat assignments provide a life-changing experience for many families. If you are interested in pursuing life as an expat, do your research and be well-prepared to make the most of it. There are many websites available to you, with general as well as country specific information that will help you determine whether this is something you wish to pursue and if so, get ready for this exciting adventure!
