The focus of this study is to explore the relationship between the linguistic and cultural learning processes that four female Chinese university exchange students perceived in Japan over one academic year. Two data collection instruments were employed: participants' diary entries and follow-up interviews with the four participants during the study-abroad period. A grounded theory approach was employed for data analysis. The main finding was that none of the Chinese sojourners' experiences during their study abroad represented the models of conceptualizing adaptive changes (Lysgaard, 1955; Oberg 1960). Furthermore, at a linguistic level, the sojourners experienced language shock at the initial arrival stage while at the cultural level, they came to develop negative attitudes towards their hosts over time. In the perceptions of linguistically- and culturally-specific restructuring processes in the host environment, with the impact of rich formal classroom instruction and learning in the home country, the sojourners were constructing dual identities negotiated with age and gender (cf. Ting-Toomey, 2005). On one level, they wished to celebrate their youth with hosts of the same generation by becoming involved in similar linguistic usage. On another, they wanted to behave in a polite manner like elderly women at linguistic and cultural levels. This study also discusses theoretical implications for diaries as a base research tool and methodological implications for future research.