Language Life of Japanese Expatriates in Non-English Speaking Countries: The Cases of Barcelona and Madrid

Starting from the question of whether expatriates can survive a temporary stay in the host society without any knowledge of the local language, this study explores the language life of Japanese expatriates in Barcelona and Madrid. The relationship between language competence, language needs, and the degree of communicative satisfaction and satisfaction with life in general was analyzed. The result suggests that use of the local language in a Non-English-speaking country is very important and can be one of the factors determining the degree of communicative satisfaction, but not necessary satisfaction with life in general.