Due to the trend of globalization, more and more people are experiencing culture shock when living and working or studying overseas. This writing is to help these people to understand more about culture shock by examining some issues such as culture shock stages, suggestions to overcome it and its benefits.
Thông báo Khoa học Công nghệ * Số 1-2014 125 CULTURE SHOCK AND SUGGESTIONS TO OVERCOME IT Master My Tra Hoang Informatics - Languages Center, Central University of Construction Abstract: Due to the trend of globalization, more and more people are experiencing culture shock when living and working or studying overseas This writing is to help these people to understand more about culture shock by examining some issues such as culture shock stages, suggestions to overcome it and its benefits Keywords: culture shock, culture shock’s stages, suggestions to overcome culture shock, benefits from culture shock Definitions of Culture Shock Due to the rapid globalization of world economies, the need for understanding cultural diversity is becoming more and more inevitable and this makes cross cultural communication become a global issue As a result, individual ability to adjust to a new culture is being paid increased attention (Ferraro, 2006) In this process of adjusting to a new environment, newcomers have to face with various obstacles which are called culture shock According to Oxford Dictionary, culture shock is “disorientation experienced when suddenly subjected to an unfamiliar culture or way of life.” Sharing the same point of view, Oberg describes culture shock as psychological disorientation experienced by people who suddenly enter radically different cultural environments to live and work (cite in Eschbach et al, 2001) Culture shock is related to the feelings in the hearers or speakers of “estrangement, anger, hostility indecision, frustration, unhappiness, sadness, loneliness, homesickness and even physical illness” (Valdes, 1995: 35) It can be seen that culture shock is a natural phenomenon happening to people who are in unusual or unexpected circumstances These circumstances are popular when they are in a foreign country or in a different place they are not familiar Stages of Culture Shock There are some different ideas among experts about culture shock stages Although some experts divide culture shock into five stages, some others divide it into six stages; most of experts agree that people experiencing culture shock have to go through four fundamental stages including Fascination, Disenchantment, Gradual Adjustment and Achievement or Independence The first stage is often described as the Fascination or Honeymoon Period, everything you feel in the new country is exciting and positive You are excited about new things, new people and new opportunities here At this stage, most people enjoy new surroundings with fascination You are happy and satisfied with your decision to come there This Thông báo Khoa học Công nghệ * Số 1-2014 period is exhilarating, full of observation and discoveries; unfortunately, it only lasts a few day or weeks to a few months When you set out to study, to work or to live in the real environment, you begin to face with various difficulties and the culture shock begins to affect your life At this time, you have entered the second stage, the Disenchantment or the Distress Stage The difficulties you encounter in this stage often make you angry, uncomfortable, confused, frustrated or irritable and lose your senses of humor You tend to spend excessive amounts of time alone for sleeping or thinking about your old life in your own country You may waste much of time thinking about the decision of coming and living in the host country, you may even think about returning your own country Normally, you spend more time calling and chatting with your family or your friends at home, but you tend to avoid contacting with the local people You feel isolated as a fish out of water and everything is foreign to you Gradually, you develop negative feelings about the people and culture of the host country There are lots of reasons to create these feelings to you such as the absence of the immediate encourages or supports from family or friends, the realization of the differences and the high expectations set during the Honeymoon Period At the end of this stage, your feelings become worse and worse, and then reach the extreme letdown with various feelings such as anxiety, sadness, homesickness, and anger In a consequence, you may 126 change your behaviors such as inappropriate anger, disordered sleep patterns, compulsive eating and drinking, irritability, poor concentration, and unexplainable crying In conclusion, in the second stage, your feelings change a lot, from realizing the differences and difficulties to coming to the top of letdown at which all your feelings seem to be overwhelming Enduring all these feelings is too difficult for you, you may think about returning your home; however it is unable because you have set your life here and everything just starts, you cannot give it up As a result, you tend to change yourself to adapt and adopt the new culture At this time, you come to the third stage, Gradual Adjustment or Adaptation In this stage, you have tried to discover the differences and the similarities and then you try to behave in the same way as people in the host country or at least, to accept all the rules of behaviors and the values in the new surrounding You also try to communicate well in the target language and try to be familiar with the climate and food in the host country Gradually, you begin to understand the surroundings better, and find ways to comfortably interact and work in the new environment Often, in this stage, you adopt a humorous and ironic outlook on the differences between your culture and that of your host country Then, you realize that the people and the culture in the host country are not as bad as you thought You enjoy your new life in various activities with the natives and no longer feel alone or isolated Thông báo Khoa học Công nghệ * Số 1-2014 After the process of adjustment and adaptation finishes, you enter the last stage, the stage of Achievement or Independence At this stage, you can enjoy yourself in the new environment and are able to communicate comfortably with the natives You are familiar with weather and food here, you have some new close friends, your study or work is improving and your relations are broadened You understand people and cultures in the host country as your own country You start to feel at home with the comfort, confidence and relaxation If you visit your home, you will miss your friends and your life here At this stage, the new country has become your second hometown Suggestions for Overcoming Culture Shock It is not easy for you to overcome all the difficulties at the second stage of culture shock You may have to bear the negative feelings for a long time if you not try to get out of them Although a lot of suggestions for those who are suffering culture shock are offered by experts or people ever experiencing it, only practical and useful ones are stated and discussed in this small writing Firstly, the most practical advice to avoid culture shock is to learn and master the target language because language is the key for you to discover culture in the host country Learning language should be started right at the time you give the decision to move or before entering new cultural environment By speaking only some simple sentences, you may feel more 127 confident to go out and to maintain your daily life Your language skills can be improved gradually by taking part in activities such as working, learning or playing with the natives Secondly, mastering the target language does not mean communicating Although you can speak or listen the target language, you may still meet a lot of difficulties in communicating with the natives due to the lack of cultural understanding For this reason, it is necessary for you to a research of the place you are going to come to build up knowledge and collect information related It is advisable for you to look into the customs and traditions in their culture and make notes of anything that is absolutely taboo and try to remember them The research can be done through some ways such as asking people ever experiencing culture shock, reading books or watching films or programs related to the host country However, the fastest and most useful way of researching about one country is through the Internet Thanks to the Internet, you can find any necessary materials such as books, articles, videos, etc Furthermore, you also can enter some forums or chat rooms to contact with people ever living in the country you want to come and receive their sharing Thirdly, learning the language and doing the research can be done before you enter the new surrounding, however, when you really step your feet into the new land, it is important for you to adjust yourself as quickly as possible You have to realize that you have left your own land and are in a new and Thông báo Khoa học Công nghệ * Số 1-2014 strange place with new customs, traditions, norms and rules of behaviours, etc Only by realizing these, you are able to pay attention to the similarities and the differences between your country and the new one and then change your way of thinking and way of life to be familiar with the new one Fourthly, it is better for you to be confident, active, and healthy in the new surrounding In fact, it is not easy for you to have fully confidence, activeness and especially health during four stages of culture shock Generally, when you are healthy, you are confident to anything, however, when you are sick or ill, you cannot maintain your daily life normally and you tend to be lonely, sad and depressed due to the lack of constant caring and love from your family These feelings, to some extent, affect negatively to your new life You can avoid this situation by maintaining a balance life Your eating, sleeping and working or learning habit should be scheduled and followed strictly Furthermore, to be confident and active, you advised to join in some sport activities such as swimming, jogging, tennis, golf, etc or register for an art or music class in the evening or at the weekend Being engaged in productive, social and funny activities not only keeps you healthy but also makes you more sociable, and you also have more chances to learn language and culture here Fifthly, making friends with native speakers or with international people helps you to overcome cultural differences and understand the country 128 more Local people will generally be pleased to introduce you to their culture and willing to answer any questions If you have some local friends, you have more chances to enjoy social activities and tend to shorten your time of culture shock Local friends are regarded as a bridge to connect you to their world and turn you into one part of their society It is also advisable for you to make friends with people from your own country or from other countries in the world living around you Those people not only help you to know more about culture but also share with your difficulties because they understand the feelings you have experienced Whenever you feel isolated or homesick, contacting them is a good choice because they can tell exactly what are happening in your mind and find the right way to help you to overcome these feelings It is good for you to join a group of people coming from your own country once or twice a week in some activities Thanks to them, you love yourself and your life more Sixthly, keeping in touch with your family and your friends from your country is very necessary When you are away from home for some weeks or some months, you are certain to feel homesick Contacting with them frequently can help you to feel like at home You no longer feel lonely or sad because your family and your friends are always beside you Furthermore, sometimes you just need to talk to someone who fully understands you In this case, local or international friends seem to be strange to you; you should contact with one of your best friends in Thông báo Khoa học Công nghệ * Số 1-2014 your home country In terms of the means of connection, each person often chooses their own ways to contact with their family and friends Some people use phone calls and letters, however, calling is rather expensive while letters take too much time For these reasons, many people choose the Internet as the main way of connection Thanks to it, you can maintain contact easily by making voice calls, sharing news, information and photos of your new life Your friends can follow you in every action or feeling by connecting to Facebook and you are the same Although keeping contact with your home is very essential, it becomes bad if you contact them too often Maintaining very regular contact with home can actually make the process of settling in the new country more difficult and longer When you take your time in relationships with old friends, you lack time for new friends and activities in the host country As a result, you have to spend more time and energy in adjusting yourself in the new environment In short, you should keep balance between contacting with local or international friends and your family or old friends Lastly, maintaining a positive attitude always helps you to succeed It is very common for you to be tired, disappointed or stressful when dealing with culture shock If you become depressed and waste your time of drinking, sleeping and staying alone, the process of adaptation and adjustment will take you much of time or you never reach this stage You fail in adjusting yourself and be bored and isolated 129 during the whole time being abroad On the other hand, with a positive attitude, all the difficulties will pass away quickly and you are easy to make friends or take part in activities with the natives You are soon to enjoy the achievement and independence in the new country and consider it your home one day Benefits from Culture Shock It is important to stress that culture shock is entirely normal, usually unavoidable and not a sign that you have made a mistake or that you won’t manage In fact, there are many positive aspects of culture shock After recovering from culture shock, you certainly gain a lot of benefits in terms of understanding new culture in comparison with your own one, being more adaptable and open-minded, developing your communication skill and broadening your view of world Firstly, to adjust to the new environment successfully, you have to acquire wide knowledge of culture in the new country; the knowledge is perceived in comparison with the basic understanding of your own culture In the other word, after the process of adjusting to the new environment, you have understood various traditions, customs, rules of behaviours and values there Furthermore, by comparing all knowledge of culture you gain with one in your own country, you can distinguish the differences and find out the similarities which are very useful for you in the process of working or learning in the future Secondly, you are certain to be more adaptable and open-minded after Thông báo Khoa học Công nghệ * Số 1-2014 the process of adapting and adjusting to the new country It is undeniable that you have tried your best to adjust yourself to be more and more familiar with life there You change your eating habit, your fashion, your hobbies, your way of communicating and establishing many new relationships with various people Although you life changes considerably, you still enjoy it so much To obtain these changes, you must be an openminded person In the beginning, you may be a close-minded person or at least are not tolerable of other cultures right away, then, you are made to change your points of view and your ways of living Without these changes, you are not able to live and work in the new country happily All the difficulties in your new life such as the barriers of language, the lack of cultural knowledge and the effects of negative feelings help you to become an open-minded person and enjoy your life more Lastly, your views of the world and people have been broadened From all difficulties you have overcome and from all cultural knowledge you have gained, your points of view about the world and people are better You know more about the customs, rules of behaviours, values and traditions of the host country and of other countries in the world through communicating with international people in comparison with the ones in your own country This helps you to improve the critical thinking The way you look the world is more optimistic More importantly, the way you communicate and treat people is also improved You have realized that 130 different people have different ways of thinking and ways of living mainly because of the influence of their culture Their behaviours are not true or false; they are different because these people grow up in different countries and inheriting different values, customs and traditions Thanks to these changes in the view of the world and people, you can improve communication skills and establish important relationships with various kinds of people These skills and relationships are very useful for you to become successful in work and life in the future In summary, when you have overcome culture shock, you become an experienced person All the experiences and knowledge you gain will become beneficial to you sooner or later In your work, in your life or even in your family, these experiences may help you to be successful and maintain an enjoying life Conclusion Culture shock is not good or bad, it is a natural process, affecting anyone living, working or studying oversea It may be challenging for you to overcome the second and the third stage of culture shock, but when you succeed you will enjoy your life much in the last stage; when you fail, you have to suffer negative feelings for all the time abroad Culture shock is unavoidable but it can be dealt with in a short or long time depending on each individual If you are suffering from culture shock, you should not stay at home and keep annoying feelings, you had better find ways to get out of this Thông báo Khoa học Công nghệ * Số 1-2014 situation by consulting advices and experiences from others Although culture shock may challenge you at first, it, after that, becomes one of your best experiences in your life After recovering from culture shock, 131 you can learn and gain a lot of benefits which are very useful for your future work and life Thanks to culture shock, many people have changed their minds positively and obtained a lot of achievement in their life REFERENCES [1] Eschbach, D M., Parker, G E., & Stoeberl, P A 2001 American repatriate employees’ retrospective assessments of the effects of cross-cultural training on their adaptation to international assignments, International Journal of Human Resource Management, 2-270; [2] Ferraro, G P 2006 The cultural dimension of international business (5th ed.), New Jersey: Pearson Education; [3] Nguyen Quang 1998 Intercultural Communication, Vietnam National University, Hanoi; [4] Valders, J.M 1995 Culture Bound, Cambridge, CUP; [5] http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/culture-shock; [6] http://blogs.isb.bj.edu.cn/16brettj/2012/08/28/culture-shock-benefits-and-drawbacks/; [7] http://www.tips4students.com/cultureshock.htm ... activities with the natives You are soon to enjoy the achievement and independence in the new country and consider it your home one day Benefits from Culture Shock It is important to stress that culture. .. social activities and tend to shorten your time of culture shock Local friends are regarded as a bridge to connect you to their world and turn you into one part of their society It is also advisable... collect information related It is advisable for you to look into the customs and traditions in their culture and make notes of anything that is absolutely taboo and try to remember them The research