It can be really hard to move overseas. This is especially true if you are moving to a country with a different culture than your own. If you want to move to the UK from another country, you need to know a few things. This article talks about culture shock, which is something you might feel if you move from another country to the UK.
Most people would think it wouldn't be a big deal to move from the US to the UK. After all, English is spoken there, right? But because of this way of thinking, many people have terrible culture shock when they move to the UK.
Let's begin with the language. Many people think that the language wouldn't change much if they moved to the UK. But not many people know that different words have different meanings in the UK.
Let's use the classic example of the potato snack: a chip in the US is called a crisp in the UK, and a fry in the US is called a chip in the UK. See how hard it can be to understand? Because of this, you should learn more about how words are used in Queen's English. You need to learn not only how to use words in a formal way, but also how to use them in a casual way. You need to learn how to figure out what people say by looking at the whole situation.
Moving to the UK from another country is hard enough without having to learn a whole new way to talk. Be sure, though, that if you spend a lot of time with English people, you will quickly learn to adapt to the language. Who knows, if you live there long enough, you might even pick up an accent!
People who move from other countries to the UK also experience culture shock because the laws are different. Let's look at something like driving. When Americans move to the UK, it usually takes them a while to get used to driving on the left side of the road. Some people may find this very shocking at first, and it may take them a long time to accept that driving on the left is the right way to drive.
People who grow up doing things a certain way tend to think that those ways are the right ways. People who move often experience culture shock because they expect everything to be true.
Yes, you did have Thanksgiving in the United States. But you need to know that if you move to the UK from another country, you can't take your vacation with you. When it comes to culture, there are no hard and fast rules. People need to realise that moving to the UK means adapting to a different culture.
Not being ready enough is another reason why people have culture shock. They should know from the start that the UK is very different from the US. Because of this, they should know that they need to make some changes. Moving to the UK from another country requires a lot of planning and giving up.
It can be hard to move from another country to the UK. But you'll do fine if you keep an open mind and think of it as a whole new adventure.
