LESSON OVERVIEW

WARM-UP & VIDEOS

In the warm-up activity, students have to finish sentences about different nationalities. They then move on to discuss what people in their country do in the situations presented in photographs (e.g. being at a wedding or on public transport). Next, they watch four short videos about what is considered polite or impolite in different places in the world and decide if the sentences in the task are true or false. After that, they discuss how these behaviours are perceived in their culture and share some other cultural and social rules they find interesting.

GRAMMAR & DISCUSSION

In this part of this culture lesson, students do two exercises in which they decide if certain statements require a bare infinitive or a to-infinitive (e.g. it’s polite to kiss…, you should always take off…, people tend to wait…). They continue with a discussion on the social rules mentioned in the previous exercises (e.g. visiting someone, making direct eye contact, kissing in public). After that, they talk about cultural norms regarding situations presented in photographs (e.g. giving presents, being on time, elderly people). Students are provided with a ‘Useful language’ box, which helps them explain what is considered respectful or polite.  

WRITING

In the last part of the worksheet, students look again at the lesson title (When in Rome…) and need to complete it by choosing the correct ending. After that, they briefly discuss the proverb and say whether they agree with it. Finally, they have to write a blog post for visitors in their country following a provided writing plan. In this exercise students use the ideas discussed in the lesson, as well as the useful language practised in previous exercises.