VOLUNTEERS AND FOREIGN STUDENTS IN EUROPEAN UNION. COMPARISON OF THE ACCULTURATION PROCESS

This article is a summary of two researches. The main aim was to check what the acculturation process looks like in two groups of young people: European Voluntary Service volunteers and Socrates – Erasmus students. Both the volunteers and the students decide to spend some longer time (up to one year) abroad. Their main aim is to study or work, and on the other hand, get to know the other culture, language and how to live in another country. Despite many similarities between these two groups of young people, their acculturation process can be different. The students are staying mostly in the international environment of other Erasmus students and the volunteers are working in the local organizations with people living in that particular area. Both the volunteers and the students prepare themselves for their projects already in their home country. Despite this their reception of the new culture is still based on stereotypes. But those stereotypes do not influence the degree of acceptance of the new culture, as well as the degree of adaptation to the new circumstances. Furthermore, if the differences between the home and the guest country are bigger, then adaptation problems could be more significant. That is why preparation for such a long stay abroad should be complex.