Cutting down the c-shock

Nipon Maniar, brainchild of C-Shock - a game for the mobile phone to help overseas students cope with the culture shock of Britain. (Credit: Russell Sach)

Getting used to the UK way of life is one of those things that can really hit you hard as an overseas student.

Now, with the help of a new mobile phone game developed by the University of Portsmouth, it could be a thing of the past.

An interactive game for your mobile

C-shock is an interactive game for mobile phones to help international university students cope with the culture shock of life in Britain.

Whether it's knowing about 'pub etiquette' or about how Brits display affection in public, the game will give you an idea of what to expect while living in the UK.

Your personal "e-mother"

C-shock — which has already been described as an "e-mother" or "mobile mummy" — follows the life of an international student arriving in Britain for the first time.

The aim of the game is to reduce your culture shock rating from a default of 100 to zero by performing a series of tasks on a university campus that introduce culture shock-inducing incidents and images.

By clicking on images along the journey, the player is warned about what culture shocks to expect - for example, it is acceptable for students to drink alcohol and it is okay for people to display affection in public.

Novel British culture

"I thought it would be great to have a learning vehicle or device to help people overcome the culture shock because if you have not experienced such things before, it's hard to know how to react or behave appropriately," explained Nipon Maniar, brainchild of C-Shock, games technology expert and academic at Portsmouth University.

"I found some aspects of British culture very novel, and certainly things such as interacting socially with others, say, in a pub were very different to what I was used to in my own culture in India."

Communicating with students

Nipon was faced with the challenge of getting used to British life after arriving in the UK as an international student from India five years ago.

With his personal experience, Nipan and his research assistant, Dr Emily Bennett, developed the prototype of the mobile phone game after consulting the University's International Office and the British Council.

The game, which also includes important information such as police and emergency telephone numbers, is a classic example of how mobile phone game technologies can be used to communicate with students.

New concept limitless potential

"C-Shock could be used to guide students through events such as registration as well as help them with basic information like getting to a bank or ATM that's closest to them. You could incorporate a whole city guide into the game so, in effect, the new student has this interactive learning tool to quickly settle into a new city very quickly," Nipan said.

He adds: "Using mobile phone games to communicate with people and educate in this way is a new concept and the potential is limited only by one's imagination."

Plans are in place for C-Shock to be available for download from the Portsmouth University website later this year.

改进C-Shock

Nipon Maniar，C-Shock的发明者。C-Shock是一款手机游戏，可以帮助海外留学生应付初到英国时遇到的文化冲击方面的问题。 (图片提供： Russell Sach)

如果你是一个来自海外的留学生，那么如何适应英国的生活方式，对你来说，一定也是个问题吧？

现在，有了朴次茅斯大学开发出来的一款手机有戏的帮助，可能这就不算是什么问题了。

一款互动手机游戏

C-shock是一款互动的手机游戏，可以帮助国际留学生应付英国生活方式带来的文化冲击。

无论你是否知晓英国的“酒吧礼仪”，或者是否懂得英国人如何表达自己的感情，这款游戏将会带领你了解在英国生活可能会遇到的各种情形。

你的私人“电子管家”

C-shock被称为是“电子管家”或“手机保姆”，它可以指导第一次到英国的国际留学生跟上英国生活方式的节奏。

该游戏的目的就是降低你所受到的文化冲击，游戏环境选择在大学校园内，玩家通过完成一系列的任务来通过从100到0的关卡， 从而来了解自己可能会遇到的事情和人物。

通过点击一路上出现的人物，玩家就会得到将会遇到什么样的文化冲击的提示。比如，学生是许可喝酒的，人们可以在公共场合表达自己的感情。

“异常”的英国文化

“如果你以前并没有经历过文化冲突的话，那么在遇到这种情况的时候，你可能就不会知道该如何反应。所以，我认为这款游戏将是一个很好地帮助人们克服文化冲突的工具，或者说是发明，”Nipon Maniar解释说。他是朴次茅斯大学的游戏技术专家和理论学者。

“我发现，英国文化的许多方面都是异常的，有很多社交方面的事情，以酒吧为例，都和我所习惯的印度文化不同。”

与同学们交流

Nipon是印度人，五年前来到英国，刚到英国后他面临着如何习惯英国生活的挑战。

根据自己的经历，再加上对朴次茅斯大学国际部和英国文化协会的咨询，Nipan和他的助手 Emily Bennett博士开发出了这款手机游戏的雏形。

该游戏还包括一些重要的信息，如警察局电话和紧急情况电话号码，它很好地展示了手机游戏技术如何应用在学生交流上。

蕴含无限潜力的新概念

“C-Shock可以用来指导学生顺利的完成一些事，比如报到注册，同时还能告诉他们一些基本的信息，比如如何去最近的银行或是自动提款机。你可以把全市的信息都综合到这款游戏中来，这样它就能很有效地发挥作用了。一个新生可以利用这个互动学习工具来很快适应在新城市里的生活。”Nipan说到。

他又补充说：“运用手机游戏来与别人交流和学习，这种方式无疑是一个全新的概念，而且它的潜力也是无限的，只要你能想象的到，它就能完成。”

今年晚些时候，可以在朴次茅斯大学的网站上下载C-Shock的有关计划。

滴答网在此感谢英国驻广州总领事馆提供稿件