Culture Shock
Best advice for intercultural communication?
• Study English• Study English hard• Study English like crazy
English is the “global” language
• It’s your best chance• So study like crazy!• Even if you eventually live in a country where
they people don’t speak English …• …learning English now will help you learn
another language later• Language is probably the most difficult part of
any foreign culture
Language is the best tool in intercultural communication
• But it’s not the only consideration• What other things do you need to think
about?
Culture shock
Culture shock is a form of stress
Response to a challenge
A kind of overload
Language skills will help you deal with it!
So study hard
Culture shock pattern
Culture shock pattern
Culture shock
Honeymoon phase
Exotic!!
And magical!!
Colorful!
Nothing but good
Everything is romantic
Everything is wonderful
Everything is so exciting …
And it IS really exciting
My experience in Japan
• So many new things• Nice, polite hosts• People speak English• Hosts genuinely enjoy visitors who find
everything exciting• So new visitors are popular• So people are even nicer …
So there are certain dangers
Be aware that this happens
Like with a real marriage …
• … maybe you shouldn’t start a family too early• … your feelings may change later• … even so, you SHOULD enjoy it• Why not?
Probably only lasts a few weeks
Next stage: anxiety
Novelty wears off
Negotiation with reality
• Compare the old and the new (maybe the new doesn’t seem so good)
• The rhythms of the new culture may not suit you
• You start to realize that you are not communicating so well
Just about everyone experiences this phase
Comedown to anxiety
You may feel real negativity
Real anxiety
Real miscommunication
Real dislike
But it’s all pretty normal
From too high to too low
Everything is fantastic!!
No, everything is awful!!
Before …
• The locals are so nice• They are so polite• Everyone speaks English!• Great!!
After
• They are insincere• They only want to practice English• They are stopping me learning
Before
• Everyone likes you because you’re excited• Everything is new, magical, and exciting
After
• No one likes you because you’re cynical• And boring• And everything seems like it DOESN’T FIT• And you feel like YOU DON’T FIT
So you need to keep an open mind
Realize that everyone has these feelings
Don’t lose opportunities by being too negative
It’s just another phase
Don’t worry
Be happy
But it IS difficult
Everyone becomes a LITTLE negative
It’s just normal
It’s frustrating
You feel powerless
And after a while …
… you start to come back
… and feel better
You stop feeling so hostile …
… and feel a bit more at home
Maybe your language skills aren’t perfect
Maybe you’ll never have native speaker pronunciation
But you can accept it
Maybe there are some things you STILL don’t like …
But it’s OK
You can accept it
• Some people change completely• 100% adaptation to the new culture!
• Some people don’t change completely• Keep some parts of the old culture• Try to keep the positive parts
• Some people don’t really change at all• Surrounded by foreigners• Remain in the old culture
Gulliver realizes the horses are better
He starts to dislike his old culture
Last stage
REVERSE culture shock
Mandalay
Rudyard Kipling
Home culture seems boring
British soldiers coming home from southeast Asia
The British in Burma
1834 - 1948
Soldiers go home to Britain
Longing to return to Asia
Feel bored
Wasting their time at home
Want to go back
But can you really go back?
A Buddhist culture
Completely different from Britain
Is it possible to REALLY adapt?
My experience after living in Sudan for a year
Living on the river Nile
I went home to South Wales
Went into a supermarket
Surrounded by all the goods
All the chocolate bars!
I felt panic!!
I wanted to run away!!!
Anyway … REVERSE culture shock
Can’t get used to your old culture!
Everything is dull and boring
Everything feels wrong
I suppose everybody overcomes REVERSE culture shock, too
But I don’t know
Because I never did!!