The 4 Stages of Culture Shock
Culture shock. You’re lost, standing confused in a new place, unable to tell left from right, up from
down, phone booths from trash cans or con-artists from friends. But this image of sudden shock
isn’t quite right.
In reality, culture shock is a phenomenon that can take months to develop.
Culture shock tends to move through four different phases: wonder, frustration, depression and
acceptance.
1. Wonder. This phase, also known as the “Honeymoon Phase,” is usually the first phase
experienced. It's often very positive. You're fascinated with the language, the people and the food.
The trip seems like the greatest thing you’ve ever done. It's an adventure and you enjoy everything!
2. Frustration. This is a difficult stage of culture shock, familiar to anyone who has lived abroad or
traveled for a long time. You don’t understand gestures. You get laughed at or you offend a little old
lady without knowing why. You feel angry often and miss your own culture.
3. Depression. This is the worst stage of culture shock. You are homesick and sad all of the time. It’s
hard to be so far away, especially if you’re all by yourself. It feels like nothing will ever be OK
again until you get on that plane home.
4. Acceptance. After weeks and months of struggling through a thousand different emotions,
acceptance finally arrives like a warm bath at the end of a hard day. Acceptance does not mean total
understanding – it’s almost impossible to ever completely understand another culture – but involves
the realization that you don’t have to “get” it all. You find what makes you happy and content in
your new surroundings.
1) Vocabulary
1. Con-artist - a. extremely interested by something or someone
2. Sudden - b. to accept a situation which cannot be changed
3. Phenomenon - c. a stage or a number of changes that will occur
4. Phase - d. a feeling of sadness that makes you think there is no hope
5. Wonder - e. someone who tricks people in order to get money from them
6. Fascinated - f. fighting to win when you are losing
7. Frustration - g. happening quickly
8. Gesture - h. more importantly, in particular
9. Offend - i. something that is unusual or difficult to understand/explain
10. Depression - j. moving a part of your body to show meaning or feeling
11. Especially - k. understanding something that you had not understood before
12. Acceptance - l. a feeling of amazement for something new to you
13. Struggle - m. happy and satisfied
14. Realization - n. to make someone angry by doing or saying something rude
15. Content - o. the objects, buildings, nature, etc.. around a person
16. Surroundings - p. a feeling of being upset because you can't control something
2) Questions
1. What is this article about?
2. How many stages of culture shock are there? Describe each stage in your own words.
3. Have you or someone you know ever experienced any of these stages of culture shock? Talk about it.
4. How would you help a friend or family member who was experiencing culture shock? What would
you say or do to make him/her feel better?
