An analysis of Culture Shock among Chinese Language Volunteers in Thailand :A case study of volunteers in Thailand from 2021 to 2022

Abstract

The Center for Language Education and Cooperation, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education in Thailand, has been carrying out the International Chinese Language Volunteer Program for over 20 years. With the increasing number of Thai students learning Chinese, the number of international Chinese language volunteers sent to Thailand has also been growing annually. However, culture shock remains a significant issue that affects the volunteers' work and daily lives on a yearly basis.

Through a literature review, the author has summarized culture shock as the anxiety, surprise, fear, and even anger experienced by individuals when they lose familiar social symbols from their original social life and communication in a foreign culture. Therefore, this article takes the Chinese language volunteers in Thailand from 2021 to 2022 as an example to analyze and study the phenomenon of culture shock. By analyzing the data, the degree of culture shock experienced by the volunteers in Thailand, their cultural adaptation, and interpersonal communication are examined. Furthermore, some corresponding solutions are proposed.