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TheUnitedKingdom’sinternationalorganisationforeducationalopportunitiesandculturalrelations.WeareregisteredinEnglandasacharity.‘cultureshock’anditisimportanttounderstandandlearnhowtocopewithcultureshockifyouaretoadaptsuccessfullytoyournewhome’sculture.Firstofall,it’simportanttoknowthatcultureshockisnormal.Everyoneinanewsituationwillgothroughsomeformofcultureshock,andtheextentofwhichtheydoisdeterminedbyfactorssuchasthedifferencebetweencultures,thedegreetowhichsomeoneisanxioustoadapttoanewcultureandthefamiliaritythatpersonhastothenewculture.Ifyougo,forexample,toaculturethatisfardifferentfromyourown,you’relikelytoexperiencecultureshockmoresharplythanthosewhomovetoanewcultureknowingthelanguageandthebehaviouralnormsofthenewculture.Therearefourgeneralstagesofculturaladjustment,anditisimportantthatyouareawareofthesestagesandcanrecognisewhichstageyouareinandwhensothatyouwillunderstandwhyyoufeelthewayyoudoandthatanydifficultiesyouareexperiencearetemporary,aprocessyouaregoingthroughratherthanaconstantsituation.Thefirststageisusuallyreferredtoastheexcitementstageorthe‘honeymoon’stage.Uponarrivinginanewenvironment,you’llbeinterestedinthenewculture,everythingwillseemexciting,everyonewillseemfriendlyandhelpfulandyou’llbeoverwhelmedwithimpressions.Duringthisstageyouaremerelysoakingupthenewlandscape,takingintheseimpressionspassively,andatthisstageyouhavelittlemeaningfulexperienceoftheculture.Butitisn’tlongbeforethehoneymoonstagedissolvesintothesecondstage–sometimescalledthewithdrawalstage.Theexcitementyoufeltbeforechangestofrustrationasyoufinditdifficulttocopewiththeproblemsthatarise.Itseemsthateverythingisdifficult,thelanguageishardtolearn,peopleareunusualandunpredictable,friendsarehardtomake,andsimplethingslikeshoppingandgoingtothebankarechallenges.Itisatthisstagethatyouarelikelytofeelanxiousandhomesick,andyouwillprobablyfindyourselfcomplainingaboutthenewcultureorcountry.Thisisthestagewhichisreferredtoas‘cultureshock’.Cultureshockisonlytemporary,andatsomepoint,ifyouareoneofthosewhomanagetostickitout,you’lltransitionintothethirdstageofculturaladjustment,the‘recovery’stage.Atthispoint,you’llhavearoutine,andyou’llfeelmoreconfidentfunctioninginthenewculture.You’llstarttofeellessisolatedasyoustarttounderstandandacceptthewaythingsaredoneandthewaypeoplebehaveinyournewenvironment.Customsandtraditionsareclearerandeasiertounderstand.Atthisstage,you’lldealwithnewchallengeswithhumourratherthananxiety.Thelaststageisthe‘home’or‘stability’stage–thisisthepointwhenpeoplestarttofeelathomeinthenewculture.Atthisstage,you’llfunctionwellinthenewculture,adoptcertainfeaturesandbehavioursfromyournewhome,andprefercertainaspectsofthenewculturetoyourownculture.Thereis,inasense,afifthstagetothisprocess.Ifyoudecidetoreturnhomeafteralongperiodinanewculture,youmayexperiencewhatiscalled‘reversecultureshock’.Thismeansthatyoumayfindaspectsofyourownculture‘foreign’becauseyouaresousedtothenewculturethatyouhavespentsolongadjustingto.Reversecultureshockisusuallyprettymild–youmaynoticethingsaboutyourhomeculturethatyouhadnevernoticedbefore,andsomeofthewayspeopledothingsmayseemodd.Reversecultureshockrarelylastsforverylong.Page2of2Dothefollowingstatementsagreewiththeinformationgiveninthearticle?Inboxes1-10onyouranswersheetwriteTRUEifthestatementagreeswiththeinformationFALSEifthestatementcontradictstheinformationNOTGIVENifthereisnoinformationonthis1)Somepeoplewillfindtheprocessofadaptingtoanewcountryeasierthanothers.2)Knowingaboutthesefourstageswillhelppeopleadjusttoanewculturemorequickly.3)Peoplecaneasecultureshockbylearningaboutthelanguageandcustomsbeforetheygotothenewculture.4)Cultureshockisanothernameforculturaladjustment.5)Thefirststageisusuallytheshortest.6)Inthefirststage,peoplewillhaveaverypositiveimpressionofthenewculture.7)Manypeoplewillleavethenewculturewhiletheyareinthesecondstage.8)Bythethirdstage,peopledonotexperienceanymoreproblemswiththenewculture9)Inthefourthstage,peoplespeaknewlanguagefluently.10)Reversecultureshockisasdifficulttodealwithascultureshock.