Penny market

Hi, I'm a British pensioner who has just moved to Austria. Finding it difficult to get to know people. What helped you settle in?

Rete

Hello and welcome to BE

Thanks for stopping in at the Welcome Inn to introduce yourself. While we don't have a sub-forum set especially for Austria, I recommend that you post in the European forum found here, https://britishexpats.com/forum/europe-55/ as I know there are some members in Austria and Bavaria and Germany who might be close to you.

Please have a read of the Forum Rules on the bar at the top of the page and hope that you make new friends in Austria who are natives as well as expats.

scot47

A Germanophile, at home in Northern Germany (Berlin. Mecklenburg,.Brandendburg), I never learned how to cope with Austria and the Austrians

scrubbedexpat142

It's ok Scot, the Austrians still haven't learnt to cope with the Austrians!

dmu

Apart from encountering the frightful dialect when on holiday in Austria, I can't help, except to suggest going along to your Rathaus and getting a list of local Clubs and Associations. You could join one or two and make friends with people with similar interests. If you don't speak Hochdeutsch, then you could look for classes for foreigners and eventually make yourself understood, after which you'll be able to concentrate on learning the local dialect.
May I ask why you have moved to Austria and not to another country where the language is easier to learn?

scot47

One problem of Austria is that we have "Diglossia" - two languages used by the same people. "Hochdeutsch" which everyone undrstands but may not spoeak, and the local forms which are undersood only by locals.

See good entry on Diglossia in Wikipedia

Novocastrian

Of course, the UK has much the same linguistic diversity.

Siouxie

Better to take this to the forum that Rete has suggested please... the Welcome Inn is just for initial introductions.
https://britishexpats.com/forum/europe-55/


Thanks

Thairetired2016

The Steirer are not very outgoing people. Just be patient, be friendly and eventually people will open up. Steirer dialect is rather more exotic than some of the other dialects.
We spent 6 months in Salzburg last year. I'm a German speaker, my husbands speaks enough to do shopping. We visited the same restaurants, cafes, market vendors over 6 months. After 5 months people realized we are not casual tourists. Then curiosity got the better of them and they started to talk. It takes time. We found Austrians to be much friendlier and more helpful and tolerant people than Germans. When standing at the busstop in the morning, people greeted with a "guten Morgen". Just try to integrate, you are new on their turf. It takes time but you will get to enjoy life in Austria. Oh, may be you could join a local club. Where in Steiermark are you? It is a large Bundesland.