How to adapt to studying abroad?

After investigation, it is found that many foreign students spend a lot of time on cultural adaptation after going abroad, which not only affects their studies, but also causes unnecessary waste. Then the experts here suggest that before going abroad, you need to prepare some information about the destination country in advance, understand the local customs and humanistic environment through inquiry and study, and at the same time, you need to receive certain cross-cultural communication training in necessary classes.

Everyone needs to have an idea that cultural differences are a natural phenomenon. As we all know, any country will have cultural prejudice against foreigners. Figuratively speaking, culture is a pair of colored glasses, and we always use our own cultural standards to evaluate the behavior of foreigners. This is a natural phenomenon. Moreover, one of the characteristics of cultural prejudice is typification. No matter how many foreigners we deal with, we always "foresee" him with this cultural concept in our mind before we really know him.

The French are very romantic. This is a Frenchman. He must be very romantic. And interestingly, if we find that this person's behavior is different from what we think, we are more willing to understand him as special. If consistent, it will strengthen the prejudice against the whole culture. The result is often misinterpretation or conflict, and it is impossible to make a correct evaluation of different cultures.

For example, as long as individual illegal immigrants from China are found in some countries' media reports, local people will think that China people want to immigrate illegally. At this time, individual behavior has become a representative of a culture. Under the guidance of this belief, their "views" on China students can be understood.

Then, as an international student, when we come to a very different culture from China, we can realize our cultural foundation. We will become very sensitive to our own cultural prejudices, especially the xenophobia of some local people. But not all cultural prejudices will produce xenophobia and behavior. Most of the local people we met abroad are very friendly. Although they are biased, they have the desire of cross-cultural communication. As long as we are friendly and decent, we can all be friends.

In most countries studying abroad, there are few extreme xenophobic activities, and common ones are incomprehension and disgust in daily life. Due to the differences in diet, daily life, communication and other cultural customs, some behaviors of foreign students will make local people feel puzzled. For example, some landlords are unwilling to rent their houses to students in China, because the cooking habits of China people will make the kitchen greasy. Therefore, when we study abroad, we must first learn to adapt.

According to the investigation, everyone who studies abroad for the first time will go through three stages: excitement, cultural collision and habit. According to each person's psychological quality, education, age and language ability, these three periods can be long or short.

People who go abroad for the first time often feel very excited when they just set foot on a foreign land. At this time, just like a new tourist, he has no real contact with the local society, so he has a high tolerance for cultural differences. Generally speaking, if there is no friendly guide, the honeymoon period will soon pass, followed by disappointment and loss-lost in a strange environment, you must learn from scratch. The collision of cultures begins with the little things in life, but its influence lies in people's thoughts.

When we gradually understand and get used to the host country's code of conduct and consciously or unconsciously move closer to the local culture, then we enter the adaptation period. We no longer feel at a loss, we are no longer curious about the local lifestyle, we also feel natural, and we have gradually formed our own circle.

However, it is worth noting that long-term cultural integration will inevitably affect one's study. So why do some people have a long period of cultural adaptation, while others can adapt to life abroad quickly? It depends on many factors. These factors are both subjective and objective. For example, our ignorance of the host country's culture, worldly wisdom and customs; Can't get rid of their "cultural colored glasses" and so on. Objective factors include age, language communication ability, geographical environment and so on.

Generally speaking, the younger you study abroad, the stronger your language ability and the easier it is to adapt.

Experts studying abroad once again advise students who are about to go abroad to be as prepared as possible in language and culture. For example, contact as many foreigners as possible in China and ask them to introduce their cross-cultural experiences in China and their living habits abroad. When going abroad, you should also make bold friends with local people and try to "do as the Romans do" in terms of lifestyle and code of conduct. This is an effective means to eliminate cultural barriers. Desperate to "go your own way", you can only become "alone" in the end.

One is xenophobia, the other is obsequiousness. Both are manifestations of extreme cultural prejudice.

Cross-cultural communication, we should temporarily put down our own standards to understand others. But it doesn't mean giving up one's own cultural values and completely westernizing. In fact, differences are not a bad thing. Experience tells us that differences often attract the attention and curiosity of others. If we can turn differences into communication motivation and strengthen communication with curiosity, then we can make many friends.

There are only differences between different cultures, not advantages and disadvantages. The correct attitude of cross-cultural communication should be modest and studious, neither supercilious nor supercilious, treat each other with courtesy, and don't use your own standards to evaluate other people's behavior. We should also learn to protect ourselves and safeguard our national pride. Denying one's national self-esteem will never win the respect of others.

In addition, people living in small and medium-sized cities are curious, simple and easy to make friends with foreigners. People in big cities have great work pressure, many foreigners gather, and the distance between races is also large, which makes people feel indifferent. Therefore, it is a wise choice for people who put the language and culture adaptation period in small and medium-sized cities.