Students who immigrate to a new culture typically undergo four stages of cultural adaptation:

Euphoria: The honeymoon period. Students at this stage experience much stimulation, fascination and excitement with the new culture. Some may look distractible and unfocused. They may experience the silent period of second language acquisition. 

Culture Shock: The awareness of such differences may be disorienting to the individual. Culture shock usually causes anxiety and lasts from several weeks to several months. Students at this stage may experience difficulties with self-esteem, depression, withdrawal, inattention, or hyperactivity. Moreover, some may feel fear or loneliness. Students at this stage are often perceived or erroneously diagnosed as having Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorders.

Anomie is also referred to as culture stress. Students at this stage may experience an identity crisis, where one feels neither bound firmly to the native culture nor yet adapted to the new culture. 

Adaptation: Culturally and linguistically diverse students who have reached this acceptance stage, take a course of action in one of two ways: Acculturation: The student reacts positively towards both cultures and no longer feels the need to hide his/her linguistic and cultural background. Assimilation: The student usually overidentifies with the host culture, denies and hides his/her cultural and linguistic background. This action can have negative implications for the student’s family. Students who move in this direction experience negative self-esteem.