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!!