phrasal verb · informal
go native
UK/ɡəʊ ˈneɪtɪv/US/ɡoʊ ˈneɪtɪv/GO·NA·tive
to adopt the local customs and lifestyle, often to the point of losing one's original cultural habits
Examples
“After five years in Bali she really went native and rarely visited her home country.”
“When you live abroad long enough you can suddenly find yourself going native.”
“Some travellers fear they'll go native and stop being objective.”
Band 8 sentence
“Having lived with the villagers for two years, he eventually went native and spoke the dialect fluently.”
Collocations
- go native + after/living in + place
Word family
Common mistakes
She became native after living there.→She went native after living there.
Say it for a higher band
5become used to→6assimilate→7+go native
Synonyms
assimilate
Easily confused
assimilate
“Immigrants often assimilate into the dominant culture over time.”
Related words
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