The article deals with the problem of error-oriented motivation of Turkish students during the adaptation process to a foreign university (on an example of a Ukrainian university). Research was conducted on two samples of first year students: 45 Turkish and 61 Ukrainian students. An error-oriented motivation questionnaire and survey were used to identify strategies for student response to mistakes and the main problems of adaptation. It was determined that Turkish students are more likely to use a Learning from mistakes strategy and are more exposed to such adaptation problems as communication problems with the administration, difficulties in adapting to the new social environment, and emotional problems.