Cultural Adjustment And Its Effects On Society

In my own opinion, culture shock refers to the symptoms produced when a person is subjected to a dissimilar environment. Traveling to a foreign country is an extreme example of a time and place where one might experience these symptoms; but they can occur from slight changes too. For example, starting a new job, traveling to a neighboring state or town within the state you live. I personally remember feeling these emotions when I left for college.

With the largest number of Chinese students among the international student population, Zhang and Zhou (2010) surveyed 54 Chinese

A sudden change in one’s surroundings can result in culture shock. Culture shock refers to the anxiety and surprise a person feels when he or she is discontented with an unfamiliar setting. The majority of practices or customs are different from what a person is used to. One may experience withdrawal, homesickness, or a desire for old friends. For example, when a person goes to live in a different place with unfamiliar surroundings, they may experience culture shock. Sometimes it is the result of losing their identity. In the article “The Phases of Culture Shock”, Pamela J. Brink and Judith Saunders describe four phases of culture shock. They are: Honeymoon Phase, Disenchantment Phase, Beginning Resolution Phase, and Effective

Moving to a different country is a great adventure that can bring pleasure and distress being a new immigrant. Many would have difficulty dealing with the culture shock that goes along with moving into a foreign country. This is unavoidable because of the unknown surroundings, unfamiliar customs and different behavioral formalities and structure. The four stages of Culture Shock may stop it sooner once they notice the patters. The four stages of Culture Shock are: honeymoon, negotiation, depression and adjustment. The first stage of culture shock is often positive, during which immagrants become infatuated with the language, people and food in their new surroundings. The follow stage negotiation is probably the hardest stage, after sometime in the new enviroment you start to feel the cultural differences. The culture may seem confusing or frustrating. You may blame your frustrations on the new culture and

Pederson (7) explains that there are stages of culture shock, which he identifies as the honeymoon, negotiation, adjustment, and adaptation. In the honeymoon phase, a person is likely to get excited about being in a new place, meeting new people, tasting new foods, and acquiring new habits. However, as time passes by, they get into a phase of negotiation, where the differences between the culture one is used to and the one they find themselves in start to become apparent. Feelings of anxiety, anger, and frustrations start to take shape as unfavorable events perceived as strange come in the way of the person 's life, especially if a person does not feel accepted in the new culture (Mukherjee 273). Loneliness may set in, and the urge to go back to the familiar culture strongly comes into play. However, as time goes by, adjustment sets in, usually within six to twelve months, and one gets accustomed to the culture and also comes up with a routine. By this phase, one knows what is expected of them, and life once again becomes ‘normal.’

One of the most obvious difficulties for an international student is culture shock. Culture shock is the result of moving from an environment that is familiar to one that is not. Adjusting to new food, people, environment and

Finally the last stage is referred as the “acceptance stage,” according to one foreign student. After some weeks or months we are noticing improvement within ourselves after have wrestling with the emotional stages. The final stage of cultural shock doesn’t mean that the new cultures and environments are completely understood, it signifies realization that complete understanding isn’t necessary to function and thrive in new surroundings. During this stage, travelers have the familiarity and are able to draw together the resources they need to feel at ease.

Ethan Watters exemplifies a unique phenomenon in his work on the idea of cultural change in Japan. Watters essay discusses how a nation was altered for the benefit industry through the use of marketing. The stance that Watters takes in his essay is the implications of marketing and marketing techniques which can be used to change the thinking of a whole country. Karen Ho’s essay “Biographies of Hegemony” focuses on how the leaders of investment bankers market the ‘success’ in investment banking in an attempt to make students get involved in the banking career. Both of these ideas were joined together by the constitution and techniques used in marketing, a system evident in Ho’s essay. Before scrutinizing how marketing influences different

Maureen Andrade article, “International students face academic and social transition issues in their first year of university” (P.135), so, students will face hard times at the beginning because they came from different countries which have different traditions and believes so, they will need time to adjust with the new environment depends on the student’s personality if he or she is extroverted or introverted. Accordingly, social adjustment issues present an obstacle for the international student; they face new life style, and sometimes the social support they get is less than what the domestic students get. Language proficiency can be the biggest obstacle for the international students, sometimes they feel shy speaking to native speakers because

Studying in abroad is one of the greatest social and academic challenges for international students as they have to adjust in new culture and live with completely new people. Studying abroad is a decision which should be considered carefully and you should take this decision about completely understanding the social and academic challenges that one could face in a new culture (Wendroff, 2016). When I took the decision of coming to the United States of America and to study in a completely different environment and culture, I knew that I would have to go through a lot of social and academic problems and challenges. which needs a lot of patience and understanding to adjust in new culture. In this paper, I will discuss my social and academic challenges and how anyone can going through those challenges and deal with them. Major challenges that will be under discussion in this research are: how can you understand the American culture? How can you become more independent in everyday life? How can you improve your speaking and listening ability?

America is traditionally a safe country of immigrants. Literally engaged in a modern culture and perhaps an advanced language as well. It can also be a time of confusion as you try to learn how to respond appropriately to cues that can seem foreign, and to "do the right thing" culturally.

In 2010, as my sisters-in-law and their families prepared to immigrate to the United States (U.S.), my husband and I did all we can to advise and assist them in getting ready for their long journey from Nigeria to the U.S. To our surprise, contrary to every advice we gave them, in preparation for life in the US, they started out with trying American fast foods of different kinds. Culture shock is expected for anyone who immigrates to the US, regardless of where they come from. The type(s) of help the person(s) gets on how to overcome it and their adherence, most often, determines the future outcome of life in their new country of residence.

Adjusting to a new government, similar to adjusting to a new culture requires learning and adapting to new rules and norms. Dealing with this kind of change comes with new lessons, new understandings of life and new perspectives. Individuals have to learn things from scratch, learn to understand the culture and most importantly, people have to stop making assumptions. Moreover, a new culture requires a new level of open-mindedness. This is not always an easy process to go through. However, through education, creating valuable relationships and a positive attitude, it is possible to gradually get used to the new environment.

International students face many different challenges when studying abroad. This is due to many factors. First, they are living in a country very far away from their own. The country they are studying at has a very different way of life than theirs. Further more, the laws in that country are much different than the laws in their own country. Due to that they face a lot of problems trying to adapt to this new culture. Me personally as an international student in the US studying at ASU, have faced three particularly difficult challenges that I was able to overcome through time. In this essay I will explain how international students can overcome tough challenges and situations.

Learning about a new culture is very common now days. Most people immigrate to other countries looking for different goals in life. Some people immigrate for safety purposes; some people are looking for better opportunities and different quality of life. For some people adjust themselves to a new culture is easy; the younger they are the easiest is to adjust to a new different culture and a different way to live. However, there are many people who struggle every day trying to learn about a different culture.