New immigrants are often reported as victims of domestic violence in Taiwan, saying that they do not have friends around them to help due to language barriers. From my point of view, I disagree that language disfluency will lead to social isolation or even make one suffer difficulties in daily life.
To begin with, languages are not necessities in connecting with others. Common interests can be found through sharing something which is beyond speech, such as music or paintings. For example, I have a neighbour who is from Vietnam and she always cooks her meal as I prepared mine. The special smell of her exotic dishes spreads through the windows of my house. Once upon a time, I met her outside the garden and asked her for the recipes. This becomes the beginning of our friendship. Thus, it shows that there is some happiness that can be shared without words.
Although some foreigners might get frustrated when they come into a situation that is highly required communication, like describing their illness conditions or explaining the hairstyles they want with accurate words, there are some other workarounds to resolve these problems. For instance, patients who are not fluent in local languages can look up the words in a dictionary in advance. Similarly, foreign customers in hair salons can search for pictures of the particular styles they want to precisely express their needs.
In conclusion, despite some inconveniences in daily life, there are many ways which do not need intimate knowledge of languages to shorten the distances with strangers. After all, what matters is always the friendly attitude behind one’s actions.