ESL Questions Cultural Shock
Cultural Shock
Whether you've experienced it or witnessed it, these 75 questions explore cultural shock, adaptation, displacement, identity, and what happens when your world shifts.
Beginner
What is culture shock?
How do you feel in a new country?
Is culture shock a happy or a sad feeling?
Do you miss your home when you travel?
Is the food in the new country very different?
Do people speak a different language there?
Are the rules for driving different in your country?
Do people say "hello" in a different way?
Is the weather too hot or too cold for you?
Do you feel tired when you arrive in a new place?
Is it difficult to make new friends?
Do you like the music in the new country?
Are the shops open at different times?
Do you feel "homesick" (missing your family)?
Is it hard to understand the jokes in English?
Do people wear different clothes in the new country?
Is the money easy or difficult to use?
Do you like to try new food?
Is the time zone different from your home?
Do you feel "lonely" sometimes?
Is it okay to feel confused in a new place?
How can you feel better when you have culture shock?
Does calling your family help you feel happy?
Is culture shock shorter if you speak the language?
Do you think culture shock is a good way to learn?
Intermediate
Do you think culture shock is temporary?
Have you felt culture shock?
Would you move again?
Do you think shock affects everyone?
Have you noticed stages?
Would you prepare differently?
Do you think humor helps?
Have you felt anger?
Would you learn language?
Do you think shame is part of it?
Have you felt superior or inferior?
Would you seek community?
Do you think it's weakness?
Have you questioned your values?
Would you embrace strangeness?
Do you think some adapt faster?
Have you felt caught between?
Would you support someone struggling?
Do you think it creates growth?
Have you noticed privilege in adaptation?
Would you go back home?
Do you think it's temporary or permanent?
Have you felt changed?
Would you advise others?
Do you think time heals?
Advanced
Why do we call shock inevitable instead of examining systems causing it?
When you don't belong, is adaptation necessary or self-erasure?
Can you maintain identity while adopting new culture?
Why does cultural shock feel like personal failure?
Is adaptation survival or selling out?
Why do some adapt while others resist?
Can you return to original culture after change?
Why does culture shock feel like betrayal?
When moving between worlds, who do you become?
Is culture shock grief or just discomfort?
Why do we romanticize cultural shock as growth?
Can you be tourist and immigrant simultaneously?
Why are some cultures easier to adopt?
When you assimilate, what do you lose?
Is culture shock inevitable or can it be prevented?
Why do we measure adaptation speed?
Can you honor both cultures equally?
Why does change feel like death?
When home becomes foreign, where do you belong?
Is culture shock about place or about you?
Why do we expect people to adjust alone?
Can culture shock be shared or only individual?
Why does returning home feel strange?
When identities conflict, which one is true?
Does understanding culture reduce shock or just change it?