Culture shock

Title separator

Speaking
Class

talking about culture shock

This is a standalone lesson but it can also be used as part of the set titled:

LESSON OVERVIEW

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • talk about the meaning and impact of culture shock;
  • watch and discuss a video about culture shock experiences;
  • analyse opinions on culture shock and express agreement or disagreement. 

This lesson focuses on talking about culture shock. Students share their experiences and perspectives on the topic, examine the stages of culture shock and discuss what the experience of a foreign exchange student might be. They watch and discuss a short video about experiencing culture shock, examine viewpoints about it and share whether they agree or disagree with them. Students can also do a vocabulary activity at the beginning of the lesson.

B1 / Intermediate
B2 / Upper Intermediate
45 min
60 min
Speaking ClassUnlimited Plan

This is a Speaking Class worksheet. It includes a variety of tasks that let your students practise their speaking skills. This lesson format does not focus on grammar or vocabulary. Learn more about it here.

TALKING ABOUT CULTURE SHOCK

Before the main part of the lesson, you can do an extra vocabulary activity where students match halves to create phrases related to adapting to a new environment and culture. Then, the lesson starts with a warm-up in which students explain what the phrase ‘culture shock’ means using the words confusion, misunderstandings and unfamiliar. After that, they discuss questions about culture shock, its effects and their own experiences. Afterwards, students examine the stages of culture shock (honeymoon, frustration, adaptation and acceptance) and describe what they think the experience of a foreign exchange student might be like.

VIDEO AND MORE DISCUSSION

In this part of the lesson, students watch a video in which people describe culture shock. They complete statements about the things that surprised them in the video. After that, students answer questions and talk about different aspects of culture shock, advice for dealing with it and its impact on individuals. Then, they analyse and discuss things (e.g. values and beliefs, language, infrastructure and service, etc.) that might cause culture shock for foreigners coming to live in their country. Finally, students evaluate more statements about culture shock and explain whether they agree or disagree with them.

WORKSHEETS

 

Comments

Title separator

Leave a Reply

  1. Troy

    Perfect. More on culture related topic lessons would be great. Thank you!

    1. Ewa

      Thanks, Troy. We’ll do our best to deliver more! In the meantime, see other lessons on culture here.

  2. EveSmith

    Nice! As Troy said below, love these lessons related to culture as my students are very diverse.

    1. Ewa

      Great to hear that, Eve 🙂

  3. Natale Emerich Armani

    Hey, cool lesson. It’s just missing the first page with the title on the presentation

    1. Ewa

      Thanks, Natale!
      The title is shown on the fourth slide because the first three slides are of an optional vocabulary activity.

Browse other materials recommended for you

Title separator
speaking lesson on curiosity
B1 / Intermediate | B2 / Upper Intermediate
Speaking Class 45 min / 60 min

What are you curious about?

General

Try this speaking lesson on curiosity! Students watch a video about why people become less curious with age, discuss strategies for developing curiosity and review key vocabulary for talking about it.

gradable and ungradable adjectives
B1 / Intermediate | B2 / Upper Intermediate
Standard Lesson 60 min

A really bad day (gradable and ungradable adjectives)

General Grammar

Practise gradable and ungradable adjectives! Students discuss bad experiences, watch a video about a flight mix-up and play a storytelling game using adjectives and intensifiers from the lesson.

using articles
B2 / Upper Intermediate
Standard Lesson 60 min

Unpopular opinions (articles ‘a’, ‘an’, ‘the’)

General Grammar

Practise using articles! Students discuss unpopular opinions, watch a video about a man who has an unpopular opinion and review the rules for using ‘a’, ‘an’ and ‘the’.

swimming vocabulary
B2 / Upper Intermediate
Vocabulary Lab 45 min / 60 min

How well can you swim?

General

Dive into swimming vocabulary! Students learn words for strokes, equipment and techniques, discuss their own confidence in the water and design a beginner swimming lesson of their own.

talk about university life
B1 / Intermediate
Vocabulary Lab 45 min / 60 min

University life

General

Talk about university life with this lesson. Students review vocabulary related to degrees, courses and campus, discuss statistics from around the world and practise the pronunciation of key academic terms.

first lesson with new students
B1 / Intermediate | B2 / Upper Intermediate
Standard Lesson 60 min

Learning English (first lesson with new students)

General

Talk about English in this first lesson with new students! Students are tested in all four skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) as well as vocabulary and grammar while listening to a podcast and talking about the English language.

reading worksheet about boredom
A2 / Pre‐Intermediate | B1 / Intermediate
Reading Corner 60 min

Benefits of boredom

General

Get students reflecting on monotonous moments with this reading worksheet about boredom! They read parts of an article about boredom in childhood, share experiences and review useful words for the discussion.

talking about critical thinking
B2 / Upper Intermediate | C1 / Advanced
Standard Lesson 60 min

Is critical thinking still a thing?

General Technology

Engage students in talking about critical thinking! In this lesson, they practise key vocabulary for the discussion, watch a video about why we sound more like AI and read texts about real-life cases of deception.

homophones and homographs
B2 / Upper Intermediate | C1 / Advanced
Standard Lesson 60 min

Dad jokes (homophones and homographs)

General

Let students tell jokes while practising homophones and homographs! They talk about humour, watch part of a video featuring dad jokes and analyse how wordplay makes things funny.

Show more lessons

Questions

Title separator

Is there a minimum subscription period if I choose a monthly subscription?

No, there's no minimum required number of subscription months. You can cancel any time you want. Basically, you can sign up and then cancel your subscription the next day, which will mean you have access for 1 month and won't be charged again.

What currencies can I pay in for my subscription?

Our default currency is USD (American dollar), but you can also pay in EUR (euro), GBP (British pound sterling) or PLN (Polish zloty). You can change the currency you want to pay in at the Pricing page before selecting a subscription plan.

How can I edit an e-lesson plan?

You can get your own editable copy of an e-lesson plan and make changes to it. To do so, either (1) make a copy of it on your Google Drive (preferable method) or (2) download it in a Powerpoint format (but formatting might be a bit off so we can’t guarantee that it will work well).
Read more FAQ
Close
Title separator

ESL Brains

Forgot password?
or continue with
Title separator
Title separator