On South Goulburn Island, a small and forested island off Australia’s northern coast, a settlement called Warruwi Community consists of about 500 people who speak among themselves around 9 different languages. This is one of the last places in Australia--and probably the world--where so many indigenous(本地的) languages exist together. There's the Maung language, but also one called Bininj Kunwok and another called Yolnu Matha, and Burarra, Ndjebbana, Gunbarlang, Iwaidja, Torres Strait Creole, and English.

None of these languages, except English, are spoken by more than a few thousand people. Several, such as Ndjebbana and Maung, are spoken by groups numbering in the hundreds. For all these individuals to understand one another, one might except South Goulburn to be an island of polyglots, or a place where residents have known well about others' languages, like a sort of “linguistic stone soup”. Rather, they just talk to one another in their own language or languages, which they can do because everyone else understands some or all of the languages but doesn't speak them.

People at Warruwi Community avoid simply switching to a shared language because there are social and personal costs of doing so. Some families insist that their children speak only their language, usually their father's. Languages are associated with particular pieces of land or territory on the island, and races claim ownership of that land, so languages are also considered to be owned by races. One can only speak the languages that one has the right to speak---and breaking this restriction can be seen as a sign of hostility.

This arrangement, which linguists call “receptive multilingualism (接受式多语制)”, shows up all around the world. In some places, it’s accidental. Many English-speaking Anglos who live in the U.S. border states, for instance, can read and understand quite a bit of Spanish from being exposed to it. And countless immigrant children learn to speak the language of their host country while keeping the ability to understand their parents' languages. In other places, receptive multilingualism is a method for temporary situations. But at Warruwi Community, it plays a special role.

Do you think studying in a different country is something that sounds very exciting and great fun? Do you think you would have lots of desirable fun? Certainly, it is a new experience, one that brings the chance to discover amazing things and a feeling of freedom. But do remember that there are also some challenges, for your views may disagree with the different beliefs, norms (社会准则), values and traditions of different countries. This is called "culture shock". The following are the stages of adjusting (调整).

The first stage is called "the honeymoon", where you are excited about living in a different place, and everything seems to be fantastic. You like everything, and everybody seems to be so nice to you. Also, the amusement of life in a new culture seems as though it will have no ending. Eventually, however, the second stage of culture shock appears, "the hostility stage". Everything that seemed so wonderful is now terrible. Usually you protect yourself against the effects of culture shock.

Next comes the stage, "recovery". You start to feel more positive. You recover from the first two stages. Even though the cultures are different from your own, you begin to appreciate it.

The last stage is "fitting in". In this stage, you have reached a point where you actually feel good because you are able to understand the new culture.

Obviously, culture shock is not something you can avoid in a foreign country. When you have completely adjusted to a new culture, you can more fully enjoy it. Furthermore, learning about other cultures and how to adjust to the shock of living in them helps you learn more about yourself.

Pre-school teacher Rosa Ramirez has a special way of asking her students to line up for playtime outside. “Pueden pararse si llevan puesto algo de color amarillo, como una abeja,” she tells them. In English, Ramirez would say, “You can stand up if you are wearing yellow—like a bee.” But this is the half of the school day in which she teaches completely in Spanish.

Students are not confused by her language choice. Most of the four-year-olds wearing yellow stand up as instructed. The pre-school bilingual program at Gates Street Early Education Center in Lincoln Heights is part of a growing number of bilingual education models in California and across the country. Many of them are designed to serve students from Spanish-speaking families, as well as students from other cultures, under growing evidence that learning two languages can help people from all backgrounds become stronger students.

About 3.8 million students in U.S. schools are native Spanish speakers who are not good at English. They make up a large part of about five million students nationwide identified as English language learners. English language learners are the fastest-growing population in schools and the lowest-performing, as judged by achievement tests and graduation rates. Sixty-seven percent of students with limited English skills graduated from high school after four years in 2016, compared with 84% of all students.

Language experts recommend how to improve the situation: more high-quality, long-term bilingual programs can close the achievement gap between English learners and native English Speakers after five to six years, according to research.

The programs can be hard to put into practice. Problems include a debate over the best way to teach English learners, shortages of bilingual teachers, and even the fact that bilingual programs often grow fastest in areas where upper-income parents ask for them. That’s good for children who participate, but it worries people who want to see language-minority students have equal access.

“If we can make children feel more ready and more accepted, then we’ve gone a long way to making them ready to learn, ” says Tara Fortune, an expert in children education.