Helping our students deal with cultural differences they may encounter.
This very simple lesson is designed to stimulate conversation about cultural differences. It should also help students see cultural differences from a point of view other than their own and stimulate empathy and tolerance for cultural differences they experience. It is based on a short video exemplifying the effect of every day cultural misunderstandings and a list of advice for foreigners coming to Korea found on the ever awesome blog of @michaelegriffin
Level - Intermediate, Advanced
Age - Teens -> Adults
Skills - Speaking, listening. reading, writing
Time - 50 -> 60 minutes
Language - Advice Giving
Materials
- Activity sheets (optional)
- Short video (below)
- Government advice for foreigners.(below)
Warm Up
- Ask your students 'if you were a foreigner living in (insert the country you are in here), what part of (country) cultures do you think you would find the most difficult?'
- This question of course depends on a lot of factors, but that is fine as it will help to stimulate conversation in the group.
- Once the groups are done brainstorming collate their answers on the board.
Video Work
- Now ask students to think about a time they have made a cultural mistake, if they have never been abroad or interacted with foreigners ask them what kind of mistakes they worry about making. Collate the answers.
- Tell the students they are going to watch a video about an American man eating dinner for the first time with his Japanese wife's family. Ask the students to note down as many of the problems he encounters as they can.
Level - Intermediate, Advanced
Age - Teens -> Adults
Skills - Speaking, listening. reading, writing
Time - 50 -> 60 minutes
Language - Advice Giving
Materials
- Activity sheets (optional)
- Short video (below)
- Government advice for foreigners.(below)
Warm Up
- Ask your students 'if you were a foreigner living in (insert the country you are in here), what part of (country) cultures do you think you would find the most difficult?'
- This question of course depends on a lot of factors, but that is fine as it will help to stimulate conversation in the group.
- Once the groups are done brainstorming collate their answers on the board.
Video Work
- Now ask students to think about a time they have made a cultural mistake, if they have never been abroad or interacted with foreigners ask them what kind of mistakes they worry about making. Collate the answers.
- Tell the students they are going to watch a video about an American man eating dinner for the first time with his Japanese wife's family. Ask the students to note down as many of the problems he encounters as they can.
- This can then be used to lead into any number of discussions such as whether the Japanese family should have been more understanding, whether the American guy had a bad attitude and should have tried harder to fit in with Japanese culture, what the students would have done if they were in his position and the Japanese families position. Also, students could make a role play in which the American man and the Japanese father argue about what happened and who should have been better mannered.
Cultural Tips
- Split the students into groups. The students are going to receive a list of advice written by the Korean government for foreigners going to South Korea. Half the students will get list A. the others list B. I have my students work in groups to decide:
- the three most important pieces of advice
- the three least important
- the strangest
- the funniest and the most surprising.
Of course, you could have the students categorise them in any way you want. (You should be aware there are mistakes in this list as it was written by a Korean person)
Cultural Tips
- Split the students into groups. The students are going to receive a list of advice written by the Korean government for foreigners going to South Korea. Half the students will get list A. the others list B. I have my students work in groups to decide:
- the three most important pieces of advice
- the three least important
- the strangest
- the funniest and the most surprising.
Of course, you could have the students categorise them in any way you want. (You should be aware there are mistakes in this list as it was written by a Korean person)
- Once they have done this in their groups pair the students up and have them share their information with one person from the other group before creating a master list on the board.
- Put the students back in their groups and have them discuss what we can learn from these tips about how Korean people view foreigners and what type of foreigners these tips seem to be aimed for.
- Now ask the students what they think about the language used to give advice, would they have phrased any of the advice differently? (the answer will hopefully be 'yes') This is a good opportunity to look at the differences between strong advice and weak advice and how that relates to perceived politeness.
- Finally, have the students work in groups to make a list of advice they would give foreigners coming to (country).
Wrap Up
- As a final wrap up, I gave my students time to ask me questions they had about Western/British culture and my experiences of cultures around the world. Tod o this I put the students in pairs and gave them 5 minutes to prepare questions. The students came up with incredibly interesting questions ranging from topics such as homosexuality, dating, family roles, proms, etc.
I hope your and your students find this lesson as interesting as we did.
- Put the students back in their groups and have them discuss what we can learn from these tips about how Korean people view foreigners and what type of foreigners these tips seem to be aimed for.
- Now ask the students what they think about the language used to give advice, would they have phrased any of the advice differently? (the answer will hopefully be 'yes') This is a good opportunity to look at the differences between strong advice and weak advice and how that relates to perceived politeness.
- Finally, have the students work in groups to make a list of advice they would give foreigners coming to (country).
Wrap Up
- As a final wrap up, I gave my students time to ask me questions they had about Western/British culture and my experiences of cultures around the world. Tod o this I put the students in pairs and gave them 5 minutes to prepare questions. The students came up with incredibly interesting questions ranging from topics such as homosexuality, dating, family roles, proms, etc.
I hope your and your students find this lesson as interesting as we did.
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