Lesson goal: Students can discuss living abroad, cultural difference and identity with nuance, avoiding generalisations through careful, qualified language.
Add the lesson to get your own copies of the word set and exercises; the lesson opens in the builder, where you can adjust the steps and teach it.
Lesson plan
- 1
Warm-up
Questions to get the student talking and lead into the topic.
- What's the most culturally different place you've ever been to?
- Is there something in your culture that visitors often find strange?
- Do you prefer travelling to popular destinations or off the beaten track?
- Have you ever felt homesick?
- 2
New words
Meet the words and practise them in games.
Match the pairsWheel of fortuneitinerary · culture shock · assimilate · etiquette · hospitality · off the beaten track · immerse yourself in · taboo · indigenous · stereotype · a rite of passage · cosmopolitan · homesick · nuanced · a melting pot
All words in the set - 3
Exercises
The lesson's words in context. Only you see the answers.
- Fill the gap
In some countries, asking someone their salary is ___; people simply never do it.
Answer: taboo - Fill the gap
The fastest way to learn a language is to immerse yourself ___ it.
Answer: in - Fill the gap
Leaving home for a gap year has become something of a rite ___ passage for young Europeans.
Answer: of - Fill the gap
To say that all northerners are reserved would be a sweeping ___. (generalise)
Answer: generalisation / generalization - Multiple choice
Which statement avoids stereotyping most effectively?
Many people I met there seemed to value directness more than I was used to.People there are rude and always say exactly what they think.That nationality is famous for being direct. - Multiple choice
A city with people and influences from many different countries is ...
cosmopolitanindigenousprovincialhomesick - Multiple choice
What is the difference between 'assimilate' and 'integrate'?
To assimilate usually means giving up your own culture; to integrate means becoming part of a society while keeping it.There is no difference in meaning.To integrate means giving up your culture; to assimilate means keeping it. - True / false
Read: "Psychologists describe culture shock in stages: an initial 'honeymoon' of fascination, then frustration as the novelty fades, followed by gradual adjustment. Some travellers also experience 'reverse culture shock' on returning home." According to the text, frustration is the first stage of culture shock.
Answer: False - True / false
Read the text again. Returning home can also be a difficult adjustment.
Answer: True - Discussion question
Does travel really broaden the mind, or does it often just confirm the stereotypes we already have? Give a nuanced answer.
Sample answer: It rather depends on how one travels. A week in an all-inclusive resort is unlikely to challenge anyone's assumptions, and may even reinforce them. Living somewhere long enough to experience culture shock, however, tends to force a more nuanced view: one begins to see that local etiquette, far from being arbitrary, reflects values that make sense in context.
- Fill the gap
- 4
Speaking
The student answers using the new words.
- Is mass tourism destroying the places people travel to see?
- Should immigrants be expected to assimilate, or simply to integrate?
- What aspects of your own culture only became visible to you after you went abroad?
- Is there any such thing as an 'authentic' travel experience today?
- How should tourists behave when visiting indigenous communities?
- 5
Review
A quiz on the lesson's words. With a student, it's homework on their link.
Quiz