This study investigated adult learners’ experiences with the language of their new living environment. Migrants and refugees’ personal goals for language learning in their specific life situations were captured in in-depth interviews conducted as part of ethnographically oriented field studies in Finland and Germany. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was chosen as a structured approach to scrutinizing complex lived experiences. The process reveals common experiences among participants: language contributes to a sensation of getting closer or being pushed away and to balancing active participation in society, and it is a necessity for building personal futures. The findings indicate that language is essentially involved in subjective well-being but also, more fundamentally, in every aspect of existence itself. Therefore, the findings extend the potential implications beyond the two European research contexts. © The Author(s) 2024.

DOI: 10.1177/07417136241266215
ISSN: 07417136