Master Programme: Etudes Sociolinguistiques et Culturelles
Module: Langue Etrangere: anglais
Pr. M. Daoudi
Unit I. Being in a Foreign Country
Living in a Foreign Country: How to Adapt?
Living in a foreign country is hard enough as it is, with all the cultural and administrative issues you have to deal with.
But if you don’t want to get stuck in the expatriate bubble, you’ll need to learn to adjust to life in a foreign country.
While living in a foreign country sounds exciting and romantic, it does have a catch. When foreigners tread on
unfamiliar ground, they tend to stick to what is familiar to them. Thus, many expatriates never make the transition from
expatriates to compatriots. After all, becoming a part of the local culture is probably the hardest part of life abroad. It is
tempting to share your experiences of living in a foreign country exclusively with other expatriates. Nobody else will
understand your hesitation to try the local food, your problems with adjusting to the pace of life and your ambivalence
towards social customs as well as those who are in the same boat. However, in order to get the most out of your
expatriate experience, you need to break out of your comfortable little cocoon after a while and try to immerse yourself in
the local culture. If you let go of false impressions and stereotypes, then you have already taken the first major step.
Living in a foreign country can then become a truly life-altering experience.
It is not as easy as it seems to adjust to life abroad. The process of making the transition from living like an expatriate to a
more local life-style takes time. Culture shock is part and parcel of living abroad and hits all of us eventually. The trick is
not to let it get the better of you. After all, it takes some time for all international travelers and expatriates to get used to
their new environment. For most people who live in a foreign country, many aspects of the local culture seem strange at
best. This might appear exciting at first. The initial reason for moving
abroad is after all often the wish to explore foreign cultures. However, after living in a foreign country for a while, little
things that you initially considered charming may begin to annoy you. You will remember how everything ran on schedule
back home, how clean your former hometown was, or how much more relaxed and friendly everyone seemed. Everybody
who decides on living in a foreign country needs some time to adjust to their new environment. Lina (32) felt that way when
she moved from Sweden to Ecuador. Everything seemed different from her home town Gothenburg, and after the burst of
initial excitement, those differences started to get to her. However, after a while, she began to accept that things were simply
not the same in Quito. Until you get to this point, try to be respectful, patient, and humble. After all, you are a guest living
in a foreign country, at least until you have made the transition from expatriate to compatriot.
Read the above text and using complete sentences, answer the questions below:
1. Which obstacles is an immigrant likely to face in the host country?
2. Explain the right attitude that an immigrant should adopt and say why.
3. Based on the above passage, discuss at least five reasons why you would
adapt yourself to new cultures if you found yourself in a new country (city).
With close reference to the passage, explain the following words:
a. … adjust … b. … unfamiliar ground c. ... ambivalence … d. … life altering …e. ...transition …
Writing: Imagine yourself in a foreign country where everybody behaves in a way you are not familiar
with. They cannot speak your language, their beliefs are different from yours. Tell your classmates how
you would react in such a situation.