How to Meet People in a New City: 6 Tips for Socializing

Tips for making friends and meeting people when moving to a new city.

Arriving in a new city and knowing how to adapt to an unfamiliar urban environment is always a challenge. However, something we often overlook is that when we move to a new city, we not only move to a new place; we also move to live with new people.

Therefore, knowing how to meet people in a new city is something important; being able to have a circle of friends and acquaintances, or even someone with stronger love ties, is part of the adaptation process that will allow us to enjoy a normal life.

That is why, in this article we will see a series of recommendations and tips about how to meet people in a new cityhabits and specific actions that will allow us to get in touch with groups of people with whom we may have a lot in common.

How to meet people in a new city?

Follow these tips to expand your network of friends and regular contacts wherever you go, something very useful when moving or going to another city to work or study for a few months.

1. Take into account the language factor

If we are going to live in another city, the first thing to do is to anticipate and find out well about if there is a language spoken there that you do not know.. In some cases we may be surprised to discover that in addition to the language we already speak, there are other minority languages in that region but with many speakers.

In this case, starting to learn even the basics of this language is very useful to meet new people: it shows interest in the local culture and helps us to get to know the social complexity of the territory.

2. Get rid of prejudices

Many times, the fame of a region or city precedes it, so that when we enter that region, we perceive what happens there, judging everything from stereotypes and prejudices. from the stereotypes and prejudices we have internalized.

Although this type of beliefs about the inhabitants of a city may seem harmless or simple unimportant details, they are not at all, since without us realizing it, they can make us fall into biases that are offensive or revealing of our ignorance.

Small unfortunate commentsIn turn, they can cause others to cling to their stereotypes about us as outsiders as well; after all, no one is free from being guided by prejudice from time to time; what we should do is minimize the likelihood of their constant expression by focusing on what we share with others (wherever they are from).

3. Take advantage of the Internet

Far from being a machine that encourages people to isolate themselves in their rooms, as is often implied, the Internet is a tool that allows us to meet people with whom we have a lot in common, regardless of where we live.

If we add to this the fact that it is becoming increasingly common for virtual meeting points to appear virtual meeting points for the inhabitants of a city are appearing more and more frequently.If we add this to the fact that virtual meeting points for city dwellers are appearing more and more frequently, we will see that social networks, forums and certain websites are a good place to meet people in a new city before or after moving.

For example, you can look for Facebook groups of people your age who live in the neighborhood you have moved to, hobby enthusiasts who live near you, etc.

4. Attend cultural events

Cultural events have their raison d'être in facilitating the generation of contacts between the inhabitants of an area; that is to say, that they favor social cohesion.

Music festivals, book clubs, talent shows, fairs? Any of these events take place in a festive atmosphere that encourages integration into groups of people having a conversation.

5. Bet on honesty

If you think about it, moving to a new city makes it much more understandable and easier to understand if you start a conversation with someone you don't know or introduce yourself to a group; you just have to say that the city is new to you and you don't know anyone or almost no one. Just by revealing that information, others will probably adopt a friendly predisposition and help you make friends. and help you make friends.

Be aware of the cultural factor, though. In some areas, for various reasons, outsiders generate distrust, although in most medium or large cities in Western countries this is not the case.

6. Practice assertive communication

Working on assertiveness in your communication style is very important; if you express your interests and opinions in a direct way, it is very important to be assertive, without doing it as something that creates awkward and embarrassing moments, you will have an easier time and embarrassing moments, you will have a much easier time connecting with people living in the new city. It's about treating your ideas, interests and opinions with the same respect you treat others'.

Part of the process of meeting people is about generating situations in which everyone feels comfortable, and to do this it is important not to be predisposed to any mistakes or imperfections in communication being seen as humiliation.

Bibliographical references:

• Hurrelmann, K. and Bauer, U. (2018) Socialisation During the Life Course. London/New York: Routledge.
• Patricia A. Duff, Nancy H. Hornberger. 2010. Language Socialization: Encyclopedia of Language and Education, Volume 8. Publisher Springer.