Outbound - Resources - Prepare for departure - Explore the new culture

Prepare for Departure

Whether this is your first time to live overseas or not, there is much to plan and prepare before departing for the host country. This section provides an outline of the major items to help you with pre-departure planning.

PRE-ARRIVAL MATTERS

Explore the New culture

Learn about the host culture

Before you leave your host country, increase your understanding of your destination country. Learn about their cultural norms and taboos. It helps break down the cultural barrier between you and the locals.  

Find reliable information about your destination country through books, TV and many others. The below links provide quick and reliable access to facts and summaries. Use these to increase your understanding of your destination country.

Economist Intelligence Unit

Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations

 

Learn the language

Your study abroad program might be an English-taught program, and the staff and students in the host institution may all speak English. However, if you are in a country where English is not the primary language of social interaction, it would benefit your study abroad experience greatly if you try to pick up the local language.

It is always good to have some survival phrases in the local language in your mind so to open up the conversations and cultural interactions with the locals.