Travel and culture are not just about visiting new places; they’re about understanding different ways of life, histories, cuisines, and languages. For an ESL learner, this topic is particularly beneficial because:
- Cultural sensitivity: Gain insights into how to respect and appreciate diversity, which is crucial in our increasingly globalized world.
- Practical skills: Learn to understand engaging in cultural exchanges and how empathy applies in a cross-cultural aspect.
- Vocabulary expansion: You’ll learn specialized vocabulary related to travel, customs, and cultural nuances.
This lesson is a basic outline for a class on the intersection of travel and culture.
Articles for pre-class reading:
- Travel is said to increase cultural understanding. Does it?
- Travels Through Culture: Understanding its Influence on Tourism
Class objectives:
- Develop critical thinking skills by analyzing cultural differences and their impact on travel.
- Enhance vocabulary related to travel and culture.
- Improve fluency and confidence in discussing travel experiences and cultural observations.
- Practice various language skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing.
Class activities:
- Warm-up discussion:
- Start with a free-flowing discussion about recent travel experiences or dream destinations.
- Encourage the student to share personal anecdotes and opinions about cultural encounters.
- Vocabulary enrichment:
- Introduce advanced vocabulary related to travel (e.g., itinerary, sojourn, expedition) and culture (e.g., cultural assimilation, cross-cultural communication, ethnocentrism).
- Discuss the nuances of these words and their usage in different contexts.
- Cultural comparison:
- Choose two contrasting cultures (e.g., Western vs. Eastern, urban vs. rural) and discuss their differences in terms of customs, traditions, values, and social norms.
- Encourage the student to analyze how these cultural differences might impact travel experiences.
- Travel writing analysis:
- Read excerpts from travel literature or articles that highlight cultural encounters and reflections.
- Discuss the author’s perspective, use of language, and insights into the cultures they encountered.
- Debate (optional):
- Organize a debate on a topic related to travel and culture, such as the impact of tourism on local cultures or the ethics of cultural appropriation.
- Encourage the student to take a stance and support their arguments with evidence and reasoning.
- Presentation (optional):
- Assign the student a presentation topic related to a specific culture or travel experience.
- Encourage them to research and present their findings in a clear and engaging manner.
- Role-playing (optional):
- Engage in role-playing activities that simulate real-life travel situations, such as interacting with locals, navigating public transportation, or ordering food in a foreign language.
- Focus on effective communication strategies and cultural sensitivity.
- Writing task (optional):
- Assign a writing task, such as a travel blog entry, a reflective essay on a cultural experience, or a comparative analysis of two cultures.
- Provide feedback on the student’s writing, focusing on grammar, vocabulary, and organization.
Additional resources:
- Authentic travel videos or documentaries
- Cultural studies articles and books
- Language learning apps and websites
- Travel blogs and websites
Assessment:
- Assess the student’s writing skills and vocabulary usage.
- Evaluate the student’s presentation skills and content.
- Observe the student’s participation and fluency in discussions.
Remember to:
- Create a comfortable and engaging learning environment.
- Provide constructive feedback and encouragement.
- Tailor the class to the student’s specific interests and learning style.
Vocabulary:
• Breathtaking (adjective): Extremely beautiful, remarkable, or amazing.
• Circumnavigate (verb): To travel around the world by sea or air. (also can mean to avoid dealing with something difficult or unpleasant)
• Confluence (noun): A flowing together of people or things; a meeting or gathering.
• Contemporary (adjective): Living or occurring at the same time; modern.
• Cross-cultural communication (noun): Communication between people from different cultures.
• Cultural assimilation (noun): The process by which a person or group’s culture comes to resemble that of another group.
• Cultural heritage (noun): The legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society.
• Cultural relativism (noun): The practice of judging a culture by its own standards rather than by the standards of one’s own culture.
• Discover (verb): To find (something unexpected or while looking for something else).
• Disembark (verb): To leave a ship, aircraft, or train.
• Diverse (adjective): Showing a great deal of variety.
• Enclave (noun): A distinct group of people or things within a larger one.
• Ethnocentrism (noun): The belief in the inherent superiority of one’s own ethnic group or culture.
• Exotic (adjective): Originating in or characteristic of a distant, foreign country.
• Expedition (noun): A journey undertaken for a specific purpose, like exploration.
• Explore (verb): To travel around a new, unknown place to learn about it.
• Folklore (noun): The traditional beliefs, customs, and stories of a community, passed through the generations by word of mouth.
• Homogenous (adjective): Consisting of things that are the same or of a similar kind.
• Indigenous (adjective): Originating in and naturally occurring in a particular place; native.
• Itinerary (noun): A detailed plan for a journey.
• Jet lag (noun): The fatigue and disorientation caused by crossing time zones.
• Layover (noun): A break between two parts of a journey.
• Mores (noun): The essential or characteristic customs and conventions of a society.
• Multicultural (adjective): Relating to or characterized by a mixture of cultures.
• Odyssey (noun): A long and eventful journey.
• Picturesque (adjective): Visually attractive, especially in a charming or quaint way.
• Remote (adjective): Situated far from the main centers of population; distant.
• Rituals (noun): A religious or solemn ceremony consisting of a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order.
• Roam (verb): To travel or wander around a wide area.
• Secular (adjective): Not connected with religious or spiritual matters.
• Serene (adjective): Calm, peaceful, and untroubled.
• Social norms (noun): The unwritten rules that govern social behavior.
• Sojourn (noun): A temporary stay.
• Taboos (noun): A social or religious custom prohibiting or restricting a particular practice or association with a particular person, place, or thing.
• Traditional (adjective): Existing in or as part of a long-established custom, habit, or belief.
• Transcontinental (adjective): Crossing a continent.
• Traverse (verb): To travel across or through.
• Venture (verb): To go somewhere that is new or dangerous.
• Wander (verb): To walk or move in a leisurely, aimless way.
