Language/Culture Acquisition Model

I've hit on a metaphor I'd like to use in one or more of the planned videos.

In second language acquisition, a beginner and often intermediate speakers are constantly translating from their first language into the target language. This increases language processing time while decreasing fluency. Eventually, the learner starts to think in the target language, and utterances become more natural, fluent, and expressive.

My postulation is that there is a similar process in "culture acquisition." When you first arrive in an unfamiliar culture, you view everything as an outsider, from the standpoint and values of your own culture. At first the host culture may seem exotic or exciting as you notice the differences. But as culture shock sets in, these difference start to annoy the hell out of you. "Why do the DO that?" Eventually, just as the language learner begins to think in the target language, you start to acquire aspects of that culture. And you might not even realize it. You might not realize it until you return home and find yourself still thinking "like a Korean." This reentry culture shock is the result of cultural assimilation, which is a process as much as learning a language is a process.

One of my favorite examples of re-entry culture shock is my first full day home after a year in Korea. My friend took me to the grocery store. I didn't dare drive - hadn't driven in a year and was scared to death to get on the highway. At the time I was living in Columbus, OH, which is all highway. Anyway, as soon as we entered the store, it felt as if I was being buffeted by a strong wind. There was English EVERYWHERE, and my brain, not accustomed to having to process so much extraneous information, was in fifth gear processing all the input. When you don't understand 80-90% of what's being said around you for a year, your brain relaxes and doesn't try to "hook" into idle language.

I was set on buying Nestle Toll House cookies that come in the freezer case. I made a beeline past ALL the dozens of varieties of everything and headed to the cookies. There was a woman standing in front of the case, and without thinking, I reached in front of her to grab the cookies off the shelf. She glared at me, and I realized "Oh God, I'm not in Korea any more." Welcome back to the 3 feet of American personal space! I'd become so accustomed to the lack of personal space in Korea that I hadn't realized it didn't even bother me any more. And that very lack of personal space was one of the things that drove me nuts in my first couple of months!

These are the kinds of experiences and ideas I'd like to explore in the video(s). Using the language/culture acquisition model makes a lot of sense, I think.