KEY VOCABULARY LIST (Unit 11.

2 Culture Shock)

1. culture shock – a feeling of loneliness and confusion felt by someone visiting a country
or place that they do not know
e.g. It was a real culture shock to find myself in London after living on a small island.
to experience / have culture shock
e.g. Almost everyone experiences culture shock when they come to a completely new
environment.
to suffer from culture shock
e.g. When you are in a new country, you can feel sad and lonely. These can be signs that
you are suffering from culture shock.
to deal with culture shock – to try to find ways to overcome culture shock
e.g. To be able to deal with culture shock, the international student should become
familiar with its different stages.
to cope with / overcome culture shock – to deal successfully with culture shock
e.g. One of the ways to cope with culture shock is to learn the rules of living in your host
country.
reverse culture shock – the shock suffered by some people when they return home after
a number of years overseas
e.g. Many long-term employees and international students who return from abroad feel
what is known as reverse culture shock.
2. to be (become) familiar with sth. – to know (get to know) something well
e.g. I’m sorry, I’m not familiar with your country’s customs and traditions.
ant. to be unfamiliar with sth.
e.g. Many older people are unfamiliar with computers.
3. an international student – a student taking a course at a foreign university / college /
school
e.g. More and more international students are coming to study at the Higher School of
Economics.
4. to be (get) separated from sth./sb. – to be kept apart from something or someone
e.g. Morality cannot be separated from politics.
Being separated from family and friends is always a painful experience.
5. to break sth. down into stages – to separate something into time periods
e.g. The history of any country can be broken down into several distinct stages of
development.
at the stage of sth.
e.g. The calculations are rechecked at every stage of the construction.
6. to be different from sth./sb. – not to be the same as sth./sb.
e.g. When I finally met him he was completely different from his photograph.
She is entirely different from her sister.
ant. to be similar to sth./sb.
e.g. Her ideas are quite similar to mine.
The twins are very similar to each other both in appearance and behaviour.
differences (social, psychological, cultural, etc.)
 to encounter / face differences – to experience differences
e.g. Could anyone give me some advice on how to deal with the cultural differences I may
encounter while working in a foreign country?
to accept differences – to agree that differences exist and you can do nothing about it
e.g. It’s not our differences that separate us - it’s our inability to accept them.
ant. similarities
e.g. The book has several striking similarities to last year’s bestseller.
7. to be intriguing – to be extremely interesting because of being unusual or mysterious
e.g. This job offer is very intriguing.
to be / feel intrigued by sth. – to be very interested in something because it seems
strange, unusual or mysterious
e.g. Throughout history, people have been intrigued by the question whether there is
intelligent life elsewhere in the universe.
8. to distress sb. - to make someone very upset or worried
e.g. It distresses him to think that he is unable to cope with culture shock.
to be distressing – to be upsetting or worrying
e.g. The television reports about the famine were deeply distressing.
to be / feel distressed by sth. – to be / feel upset or worried
e.g. She was deeply distressed by the news of his death.
9. to confuse sb. – to mix up someone’s mind or ideas, or to make something difficult to
understand
e.g. The city’s road signs confuse most guest motorists.
to be (get) confused by sth./sb.
e.g. Sorry, I’m a bit confused – do you mean you want us to keep the vacancy open for
you or not?
adj. confusing – something that makes you confused
e.g. The London Underground can be confusing if you’re not used to it.
confusion over/about sth.– a situation when people do not understand what is happening
or what they should do
e.g. There seems to be some confusion over who is actually giving the talk.
To avoid confusion, the twins never wore the same clothes.
10. to be (get) hostile to / towards sth./sb. – to be unfriendly or not to agree with something
or someone
e.g. The Senator was openly hostile to our suggestions and refused to discuss them.
The local community was hostile towards the plan to build a new motorway in the
area.
n. hostility to / towards sth./sb. - unfriendliness or anger towards something or someone
e.g. They showed open hostility towards their neighbours.
11. to have / make an impact on sth./sb. – to have a powerful effect on something or
someone
e.g. The anti-smoking campaign had quite an impact on young people.
syn. to affect sth./sb. – to have a strong effect on something or someone or cause them to
change
e.g. The divorce affected every aspect of her life.
It’s a disease which affects mainly older people.
12. to be an old hand (at sth./doing sth.) – to be a person who has a lot of experience in
something
e.g. My grandpa is an old hand at fishing.
An old hand at photography, Tim has been shooting wildlife as a hobby for the last 13
years.
13. to enjoy sth./doing sth. – to get pleasure from something
e.g. I really enjoyed that film.
I enjoy meeting people and seeing new places.
adj. enjoyable – something that gives you pleasure
e.g. an enjoyable evening / film / game / trip, etc.
14. to be (get) used to sth./doing sth. – to have experienced something so that it no longer
seems difficult or strange
e.g. When we first came to Scotland we weren’t used to the cold weather.
I don’t think I could get used to living in the States although it’s a great place to visit.
syn. (formal) to be (get) accustomed to sth./doing sth.
e.g. He was accustomed to a life of luxury.
I’m not accustomed to being treated like this.
15. to put up with sth./sb. – to accept something or someone unpleasant in a patient way
e.g. I can’t put up with your rudeness anymore – leave the room.
He’s so moody – I don’t know why she puts up with him.
16. to fit in – to be accepted by a group of people (a culture, an environment, etc.) because
you are similar to them
e.g. It’s no surprise she’s leaving the company – she never really fitted in.
17. to be / feel like a fish out of water – to feel confused because you are in a situation that
you know nothing about or are not used to
e.g. The switch to the local life and customs may be stressful and distressing – you feel
like a fish out of water.
18. to offend sb. – to make someone upset or angry by saying something rude or showing no
respect
e.g. They avoided saying anything that might offend their audience.
to be (get) offended
e.g. I think she was a bit offended that she hadn’t been invited to the party.
n. offence (Br.) / offense (Am.) – something that causes a person to get upset or angry
to give / cause offence – to offend
e.g. I really didn’t mean to cause any offence – I was just speaking my mind.
to take offence (at sth.)
e.g. Do you think he took offence at what I said about his hair?
adj. offensive – upsetting; causing offence
e.g. He told some really offensive sexist jokes.
19. to get (be/keep/stay) in touch with sb. – to communicate or continue to communicate
with someone by using a telephone or writing to them
e.g. Can I have your phone number in case I need to get in touch with you?
I met him when I worked in Madrid, and I’ve kept in touch with him ever since.
to lose touch with sb. – to stop communicating with someone, usually because they do
not live near you now
e.g. We lost touch with our neighbours after they moved.