So many newbies here don't know that the forum has a local board for their countries, and they find it difficult to interact in their local language for easy understanding. When I first registered here, I didn't know that Nigeria has a local board and it took me three months before I finally saw our local board. I felt overwhelmed and felt at home the moment I visited the board, also it made me feel comfortable to ask questions there and also to contribute on topic been discussed in our local board.
As a newbie, it is important that ypu identify yourself with your local board, because it will enable you to learn in your local language which might help you understand topics being discussed in the forum faster, and it will also make you grow faster, especially those people that English Language is their second language. Local board will make you also have good contact and have new friends from your country because, life doesn't end here in bitcointalk, since nobody knows tomorrow.
You are actually correct; when I first joined the forum, it took me a few months before I was able to interact because I didn't even know where to begin. I did my best to read the rules of the forum and to learn about bitcoin, but I still struggled with the urge to engage in conversation. However, as soon as I saw my country's local board, I realised that their interactions were just like real-world interactions, and my country's local board has since given me more confidence.