A. What advice would you give to a friend suffering from culture shock?

• Being in a different country doesn't mean you have to take on a different personality. If you're naturally shy at first, don't beat yourself up about it.
• Be friendly, and people will respond.
• Respect your feelings, too - don't expect to fall in love with a country and its hole-in-the-ground toilets immediately
• Take your time and allow yourself to appreciate it at your own pace.
• Also, Being open to new experiences will be helpful. Explore and get off the tourist track. Take an interest in the culture, ask questions, and be enthusiastic.
• Don’t be alone, find someone to talk and for share time. Take the initiative to make new friends.

B. What personality traits do you think could help prevent culture shock?

Certain personality characteristics can help foreign people feel better in another country. Be open and receptive to learning the norms of new cultures and try to understand the visitors.
Initiate contact with host nationals, to gather cultural information, and to handle the higher amounts of stress associated with the culture shock.
Be friendly and sociable.
Help foreigners with information about the culture of your country.

C. What variables might make culture shock more or less severe?

Culture shock is feeling lost or uncomfortable in new surroundings. I think that before travel you have to help yourself by being prepared for your new world and getting an idea of what to expect - read up about the country or speak to an adviser, that will make culture shock less severe.
I think that language is one of the things that makes culture shock more sever; it will make an enormous amount of difference to you if you learn a little or as much as possible of the local language before you leave.
Food can be another severe reason of culture shock, it probably will make you feel sick and miss your home food.
Personal traits have a big responsibility on culture shock impact, the way people trait you will mark a big difference making it more or less severe.

A. Why is culture important in studying language?
I think that culture is an invisible rope, which ties people of an specific place together...Language is the most important component of culture because much of the rest of it is normally transmitted orally. It is impossible to understand the subtle nuances and deep meanings of another culture without knowing its language well.

B.What aspects of your culture are most interesting for foreigners?
Costa Rican cultural is very interesting, in my opinion Costa Rica is attractive fot its hospitable culture.
Also I have hear that the food is another interesting aspect of our culture.
Costa Rica is a clean country with lots of nature, the culture of preserve this nature is other thing that is attractive for tourism.

C.What aspects of your culture are most challenging (difficult) for foreigners?
Something that represents a challenge for foreign people is the language.

D.What do you like best/least about American culture?
Somethings that I like about american culture is the technology advance, the accesible of it for citizens, the social economy is stable so it is good for culture.
On the other hand, I dislike american food, and the diet of this country I think that this culture aspect is killing lots of people.

E.What do you like best/least about Costa Rican culture?
I really like Costa Rican typical food, also the nature and how some people take car of it. I diskile "ticos" punctuality.

F.What would you change about Costa Rican culture if you had the chance?
As I said the punctuality.

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