UNIT: CULTURE SHOCK

READING COMPREHENSION. Read the followin a!ti"le a#o$t C$lt$!e Sho"% and
an&we! the '$e&tion& whi"h follow a""o!din to the info!(ation i)en in the te*t.
C$lt$!e Sho"%: A +i&h O$t of ,ate!
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Kalvero Oberg was one of the first writers to identify five distinct stages of culture shock.
He found that all huan beings e!"erience the sae feelings when they travel to or live in
a different country or culture. He found that culture shock is alost like a disease# it has a
cause$ sy"tos$ and a cure.
%henever soeone travels overseas they are like &a fish out of water.& 'ike the
fish$ they have been swiing in their own culture all their lives. ( fish doesn)t think
about what water it is in. 'ikewise$ we often do not think too uch about the culture we
are raised in. Our culture hel"s to sha"e our identity. *any of the cues of inter"ersonal
counication +body language$ "oliteness e!"ressions$ tone of voice$ etc, are different in
different cultures. One of the reasons why we feel like a fish out of water when we enter a
new culture is that we do not know all of the cues that are used in it.
-sychologists tell us that there are five distinct "hases +or stages, of culture shock.
.t is i"ortant to understand that culture shock ha""ens to all "eo"le who travel abroad$
but soe "eo"le have uch stronger reactions than others.
/uring the first few days of a "erson)s stay in a new country$ everything usually
goes fairly soothly. 0he newcoer is e!cited about being in a new "lace where there are
new sights and sounds$ new sells and tastes. 0he newcoer ay have soe "robles$
but usually acce"ts the as 1ust "art of the newness. 0hey ay find theselves staying in
hotels or with a hoe2stay faily that is e!cited to eet the foreign stranger. 0he
newcoer ay find that &the red car"et& has been rolled out and they ay be taken to
restaurants$ ovies and tours of the sights. 0he new ac3uaintances ay want to take the
newcoer out to any "laces and &show the off&. 0his first stage of culture shock is
called the &honeyoon "hase&.
4nfortunately$ this honeyoon "hase often coes to an end fairly soon. 0he
newcoer has to deal with trans"ortation "robles +buses that don)t coe on tie,$
sho""ing "robles +they can)t buy their favorite foods, or counication "robles +1ust
what does &5hill out$ dude$& ean6,. .t ay start to see as if "eo"le no longer care
about your "robles. 0hey ay hel"$ but they don)t see to understand your concern
over what they see as sall "robles. 7ou ight even start to think that the "eo"le in the
host country don)t like foreigners.
0his ay lead to the second stage of culture shock$ known as the &re1ection
"hase.& 0he newcoer ay begin to feel aggressive and start to co"lain about the host
culture8country. .t is i"ortant to recogni9e that these feelings are real and can becoe
serious. 0his "hase is a kind of crisis in the )disease) of culture shock. .t is called the
&re1ection& "hase because it is at this "oint that the newcoer starts to re1ect the host
country$ co"laining about and noticing only the bad things that bother the. (t this
stage the newcoer either gets stronger and stays$ or gets weaker and goes hoe
+"hysically$ entally or both,.
.f you don)t survive stage two successfully$ you ay find yourself oving into
stage three# the &regression "hase.& .n this "hase of culture shock$ you s"end uch of
your tie s"eaking your own language$ watching videos fro your hoe country$ eating
food fro hoe. 7ou ay also notice that you are oving around ca"us or around town
with a grou" of students who s"eak your own language. 7ou ay s"end ost of this tie
co"laining about the host country8culture.
(lso$ in the regression "hase$ you ay only reeber the good things about your
hoe country. 7our hoeland ay suddenly see arvellously wonderful: all the
difficulties that you had there are forgotten and you ay find yourself wondering why
you ever left. 7ou ay now only reeber your hoe country as a wonderful "lace in
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which nothing ever went wrong for you. Of course$ this is not true$ but an illusion created
by your culture shock )disease.)
.f you survive the third stage successfully +or iss it co"letely, you will ove
into the fourth stage of culture shock called the &recovery "hase& or the &at2ease2at2last
"hase.& .n this stage you becoe ore cofortable with the language and you also feel
ore cofortable with the custos of the host country. 7ou can now ove around
without a feeling of an!iety. 7ou still have "robles with soe of the social cues and you
ay still not understand everything "eo"le say. However$ you are now =0> ad1usted to
the new culture and you start to reali9e that no country is that uch better than another ?
there are 1ust different lifestyles and different ways of dealing with the "robles of life.
%ith this co"lete ad1ustent$ you acce"t the food$ drinks$ habits and custos of
the host country$ and you ay even find yourself "referring soe things in the host
country to things at hoe. 7ou have now understood that there are different ways to live
your life and that no way is really better than another$ 1ust different. @inally$ you have
becoe cofortable in the new "lace.
Once you have returned to your hoeland you ay find yourself entering the
fifth "hase of culture shock. 0his is called &reverse culture shock& or &return culture
shock&. 7ou have been away for a long tie$ becoing cofortable with the habits and
custos of a new lifestyle and you ay find that you are no longer co"letely
cofortable in your hoe country. *any things ay have changed while you were away
and it ay take a little while to becoe at ease with the cues and signs and sybols of
your hoe culture.
0here is a risk of sickness or eotional "robles in any of the "hases of culture
shock. Aeeber to be kind to yourself all the tie that you are overseas$ and when you
get hoe. Bive yourself tie to ad1ust. Ce your own best friend. .f you do these things$
you will be a uch stronger "erson. .f you do these things$ you will be a citi9en of the
worldD
1. (ccording to the te!t$ culture shock is
a. a disease
b. unavoidable for travellers
c. difficult to describe in any systeatic way
c. all of the above
2. %hich of the following does not fall under the list of cues of inter"ersonal counication6
a. siling
b. knowing when you can and cannot interru"t a conversation
c. a"ologi9ing
d. gesturing
3. %hat brings about the transition between the Ehoneyoon stageF and the Ere1ection stageF6
a. coon daily situations
b. the fact that the natives dislike newcoers
c. the fact that the natives show a total lack of e"athy for newcoers
d. +b, and +c,
4. 0he Eregression stageF
a. is e!"erienced by all newcoers
b. is e!"erienced by those newcoers who have gone hoe.
c. involves newcoers favorably co"aring the hoe to the host culture
d. +a, and +c,
5. Aeverse culture shock
a. is the worst "art of culture shock.
b. always occurs because conditions in the hoe country change.
c. is likely to be e!"erienced after you have gone on vacation.
d. aounts to feeling like a stranger in oneGs own country.
A"ti)it- .. /OCA0ULAR1. CUSTOMS AND 0EHA/IOR. Co(2lete the (i&&in wo!d& in
the followin &enten"e& and definition&. A the&a$!$& (a- hel2 -o$. Noti"e the $&e of
&2e"ifi" 2!e2o&ition&.
1. 7ou c H H H H H H H H H H H soeone on their success or achieveents when you tell the that
you are "leased about the.
2. On eeting$ soe "eo"le hH H +another word is &ebrace&,.
3. 7ou feel awH H H H H when soeone else behaves too forally or too inforally +you feel
ebarrassed,.
4. %hen you are r H H H to soeone$ you showing a lack of res"ect for the and their feelings.
+( synony# impolite.,
5. %hen you eet soeone for the first tie$ it)s i"ortant to ake a good iH H H H H H H H H
;. .f you a"H H H H H H H to soeone +for soething, $ you tell the that you are sorry for doing
soething wrong or causing a "roble.
<. %hen you "ay soeone a c H H H H H H H H H $ you e!"ress reark intended to show
adiration or a""roval for that "erson.
I. .f you have good H H H H H H $ you behave and s"eak very "olitely.
=. ( synony for behaviour# c H H H H H H
10. 7ou send your friend your r H H H H H H J"l.K when you ask another "erson to give your
greetings to your friend.

A"ti)it- 3. /OCA0ULAR1. GREETINGS4 CON/ENTIONAL SOCIAL UTTERANCES
AND E5CHANGES. ,!ite what -o$ wo$ld &a- in ea"h of the followin &it$ation& in an
anlo2hone "o$nt!-.
L!a"le# L!"ress "leasure in finding that your friend has 1ust "assed his e!as.
(nswer# &5ongratulations +on your e!a results,D&
1. 4se a "hrase with the word &en1oy& to e!"ress the wish that your friends will have a good
tie.
2. 7ou want to get "ast soeone. 4se a suitable two2word "hrase.
3. 7ou have stood on soeone)s foot. 4se a suitable word to a"ologi9e for it.
4. 7ou didn)t hear what soeone said. (sk the "olitely to re"eat it. 4se as any e!"ressions as
you can think of.
5. 0hink of different "hrases to tell soeone to wait +including those used when you)re talking
on the "hone,.
;. 4se a not2very2"olite "hase with the word &business& to tell soeone not to interfere
with things that won)t concern that "erson.
<. 0he ost coon word used when answering the "hone is#