How to adapt to the life of studying abroad more quickly when studying in the United States

Crossing Qianshan Mountain and studying in a foreign country will inevitably lead to loneliness and strangeness, because in a foreign country, everything is different from China, including language, living habits, cultural customs and so on. How can we integrate into American study life as soon as possible? Let's take a look at how to integrate into American study life.

Overcome language difficulties

Even China students with high scores in TOEFL and SAT will still face great challenges in listening, speaking, reading and writing in American universities. Take reading as an example. Most American courses are discussion classes. Professors like to arrange a lot of reading before each class, which puts great pressure on American students, not to mention China students whose English is not their mother tongue and their reading speed is slow. But reading before class is the basis of participating in class discussion, and discussion is the time for professors to help students understand and expand their thinking. If you don't study before class, it is difficult for students to participate in the discussion, and the degree of participation in general discussion will become part of your grade. If you don't speak in the discussion class, your grades will definitely not be high. In view of the reading challenges faced by students in China, this paper puts forward some suggestions on the five-step reading method:

1. Read and master the main contents quickly and write a summary in your own words;

2. Add notes and underscores to the text;

3. Communicate with the author and think critically about the whole article or book (main content, evidence adequacy evaluation, evidence source evaluation, and logical relationship between evidence);

4. Think with your own experience;

5. Look up the dictionary and accumulate professional vocabulary.

Another major language difficulty for China students is writing. When I first entered the university, every school would require non-native English speakers to take an English proficiency test and grade them. Students need to choose English classes at corresponding levels. This kind of English class is a good way for China students to improve their writing level. The teacher will find out every grammatical mistake in the article and make comments. Students can also score by taking specialized courses? Writing intensive (a lot of writing)? Class to improve your writing ability. In this specialized course, the professor will usually arrange several papers to comment on your articles. The writing center in the school will also be a good helper for international students to improve their writing ability. There will be special counselors in the writing center to comment on students' articles and put forward suggestions for revision. If American universities want to write good papers, investigation and critical thinking are the key. Suppose the professor assigned a paper "Comment on the Effectiveness of Education Reform in Bush Period", and the first thing the students should do is to conduct an all-round investigation and study on the education reform in Bush Period. Policy content, official data and expert comments are the basis. In addition, students can also interview principals, teachers and students of nearby middle schools, and then analyze their positive and negative aspects on the basis of obtaining detailed information, and come up with measures that can be improved, so that they can write papers with detailed contents and sufficient evidence.

Actively and effectively interact with professors.

There are two kinds of universities in the United States, one is a teaching college of arts and sciences, and the other is a research university. In the college of arts and sciences, small class environment will make professors and students have more interaction, and even each student has his own academic advisor. Introverted students will get more attention from teachers in liberal arts colleges. But in a research university like the University of Utah, the professor's job is to conduct research and expand the width and breadth of the academic field. In fact, it is difficult for students studying in research universities to get in touch with professors, because professors are very busy, but they are not without opportunities. Here are some practical suggestions for students to seize the opportunity to communicate with professors:

1. Seize the time in class and between classes to ask the professor questions;

2. At the professor's house? Office hours? Come to the door with sorted questions;

3. For less urgent questions, please contact the professor politely by email;

4. Take the initiative to apply as a professor's research assistant. Opportunities to communicate with professors are precious. Don't waste time and opportunities on questions that you can find the answer by looking up the information yourself.

Contact School China Students and Scholars Association

Students who come to the United States for the first time may have various problems, and the information on the Internet may not meet your needs, so you should contact the China Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) for help in time. Sororities generally provide pick-up and temporary accommodation services for freshmen. Many schools also have information exchange platforms, including renting houses, second-hand books and making friends. Please contact the relevant responsible students for information. At the same time, all schools' fraternity organizations keep close contact with embassies and consulates in China and provide temporary protection and help when necessary.

Learn more and communicate more with others.

Students studying in the United States tend to be younger and have a weak sense of safety. Their self-care ability and self-reliance ability are relatively poor, and their ability to communicate with others and adapt to society is also relatively low, which directly leads to students not knowing how to deal with problems or disputes and contradictions with others abroad. Therefore, it is best for students to consciously learn how to communicate with others before going abroad to improve their ability to adapt to foreign life and solve problems.

We should adjust to the environment.

Many students are full of longing and longing for studying abroad before going abroad, dreaming of the infinite beauty of overseas life. After the dream of studying abroad came true, I found that there was a big gap between my dream and reality and I couldn't adapt to life abroad. Not acclimatized? Phenomenon. It is reported that an anonymous student prepared for studying abroad for seven years, but after studying abroad for seven days, she went home crying. The reason is that after going overseas, I can't adapt to the daily diet overseas at all, and I only eat instant noodles brought from China every day. After eating instant noodles, I still couldn't accept foreign food, felt unwell and was forced to return to China. In fact, this is a problem that many international students will encounter when they first arrive overseas. Some students may envy eating western food when they are in China, but when they are abroad, they have to live on western food every day, so they can't adapt. Even McDonald's and KFC, which love to eat in China, will feel tasteless after eating for a while and begin to miss domestic food and home cooking. Remind everyone that if you live in a host family, you can communicate with the parents of the host family and express your thoughts. If you happen to be able to cook, you can cook with your host family. In this way, you can not only eat delicious food, but also increase your feelings with your host family and quickly integrate into local life. If you rent a house in a school apartment or outside, you can also try to cook some meals yourself. Cooking materials and seasonings are very easy to buy in Chinatown or some supermarkets in the United States. If you are good at cooking, you can also invite foreign classmates and friends to share your skills. I believe this will help you make some good friends.

The way of learning should be changed.

China students' diligence and assiduousness in their studies can be said to be universally recognized. Accustomed to the exam-oriented education in China, many students in China are at a loss about the way of free discussion in American classrooms. Therefore, some American media commented on some China students. Silence in class, holding a group after class, many problems in study? . China students are taciturn in American classes, so quiet that even some American university professors are uncomfortable and don't know how to adjust their teaching methods. Remind the vast number of international students that since they choose to study in the United States, they should learn to change their class habits developed at home and try to adjust themselves to the foreign education model. American classrooms attach great importance to cultivating students' creative thinking and practical ability. Therefore, it is very beneficial to actively interact with professors and classmates in class and bravely express their views and opinions on the problem for quickly adapting to American education. In addition, often participating in school or social practice activities after study is also an effective way to expand the local circle of friends and quickly integrate into the overseas environment.

Make a time management plan

Different from China's education system, American universities put more emphasis on the ability of self-study. Generally, American college students need to spend at least twice the classroom time on self-study after class. American universities require each student to take at least 65,438+02 credits per semester, that is, 65,438+02 class hours per week, plus extra-curricular self-study time, and each student has to pay at least 36 hours per week to study. However, the study life in the United States is not just study, but also extracurricular activities, social activities, travel, daily chores and so on. How to arrange the time reasonably is the first challenge for students in China. Remind everyone that we must make a good plan, prioritize and plan our monthly, weekly and daily trips according to the syllabus given by the professor in the first week of school. Because the syllabus will not only include the teacher's weekly teaching content and quiz arrangement, but also include the proportion of grades, which can help students to be more scientific when making timetables.

Understand the daily life and cultural differences between China and the United States

For international students, apart from the change and adjustment of learning methods, the biggest challenge they face is to adapt to the new environment and cultural differences between China and foreign countries. It is necessary to know more about the daily life and cultural differences between China and the United States if you want to integrate into the United States as soon as possible. When interacting with local people, it is best to know more about local cultural traditions and some daily taboos. When many international students come to the United States, they often find a very realistic problem. Their English level in China is quite good, and IELTS and TOEFL scores are amazing. However, when they communicate with native Americans, they find that the words and expressions they have learned in books are sometimes useless. Moreover, because the United States is an immigrant country, many people have accents or dialects of their own countries or regions, and there will be some obstacles in communication. It is suggested that when communicating with local people, try to learn local language expressions. I would like to remind you that some foreign students think that the United States is very free because they don't understand American society and culture, and they can say whatever they want, and even bring some bad habits developed in China to the United States. For example, some students feel that they are familiar with foreign students after getting along with them for a period of time, and they begin to make some unscrupulous jokes. As we all know, Americans? Freedom? This is relative. Although Americans are relatively open and free, they also have their own life and cultural taboos, such as personal privacy and beliefs.

Understand the local security, medical care, etc.

Before studying abroad, you should know all kinds of safety knowledge through various channels and take the initiative to ask the school for relevant safety information, manuals and emergency contact numbers to prevent problems before they happen. When you arrive in the United States, you should know the security situation there as soon as possible. Once the residence is determined, it is necessary to ask the local residents about the surrounding environment and pay attention to whether there are safety measures, such as building alarms and roadside free call for help. When you arrive at school, you should know the specific locations of emergency alarm organs, emergency rooms and medical stations to avoid panic in an emergency.

Abide by American laws and regulations

In China, people are used to running red lights when crossing the street, disobeying traffic rules, making loud noises or smoking in public places. In America, these bad habits are absolutely unacceptable. In China, it is common for pedestrians and cars to grab roads. In the United States, when driving, we should respect pedestrians and let them cross the road first. When pedestrians pass smoothly, cars will move forward carefully. In addition, in order to drive safely, especially when the ground is slippery on rainy days, drive more carefully. In addition, foreign students should be reminded that studying in the United States should not only understand the differences between Chinese and American cultures and life, but also learn more about law, so as not to unintentionally violate the laws of that country.

Portable help mode

American students should strengthen their ties with China's embassies abroad. In school, you should know where the emergency alarm organs, emergency rooms and medical stations are; Take the emergency phone number of the school, the alarm phone number near the residence and the phone number of the local embassy or consulate in China with you, so as to seek help in time. In case of emergency, send out a distress signal as soon as possible and get quick and timely assistance.

Know the number 9 1 1.

Unlike China, the United States has only one emergency number: 9 1 1. The emergency system in the United States is very powerful and provides all-round help. If you have a phone when you are in trouble in the United States, you should dial 9 1 1 quickly in case of emergency. Call 9 1 1 for all calls, including unpaid public telephones. Generally speaking, the police's response is very fast, and they can arrive in a few minutes, which can help deal with all kinds of difficulties.

Cultivate critical thinking

Unlike China's education which focuses on knowledge and memory, the American education system focuses on cultivating students' independent thinking ability. In American universities, critical discussion of reading materials in discussion classes and argumentation and evaluation of various evidences in writing papers all require critical thinking. Remind everyone that critical thinking is a skill that American college students must master, which is not only of great help to their studies, but also affects their future work. Similarly, bosses will appreciate employees who come to conclusions after market research, data and evidence analysis more than employees who come to conclusions directly.