SESSION 14: EXERCISES FOR DISCUSSION AND FINAL TASK
2. EXERCISES FOR DISCUSSION:
2.1 LIFESTYLES: What are the good points and bad points of living in the following places?
- New York City in the USA
- A beach village in Tahiti
- Dubai in UAE
- Delhi in India
- Rural New Zealand
- Paris in France
- Almería in Spain
- language
- local friends
- transport
- safety
- friends from your own country
- nightlife
- freedom to act like you do at home
- integrating
2.3 DISCUSSION: Here are some questions you can try asking yourself before you come to our discussion on Wednesday:
a) What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘expatriate / expat’?
b) Would you like to live in another country?
c) What’s your country like for foreigners to live in?
d) What is a 'comfortable' lifestyle for you?
e) How comfortable is your lifestyle?
f) Where would you like your second home to be?
g) Do you think it’s important to make friends with the local people if you live in another country?
h) Do you think you’re good / would be good at fitting in with other cultures?
i) Can you understand why the top country in the survey was New Zealand?
j) How do lifestyles in your country differ from those in countries around you?
k) What do you think are the hard things about being an expat?
l) Why do people choose to live an expat lifestyle?
m) Do many people in your country go to other countries to live and work?
n) How do you think the UAE could rank so lowly if most of the population is expatriate?
o) Do you think the study is biased towards rich Anglo-Americans?
PREPARING A DISCUSSION IS FUNDAMENTAL:
THIS MUST BE DONE IN TWO DIRECTIONS:
FIRST, YOU NEED TO LEARN NEW VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSIONS THAT YOU WILL HAVE TO USE FOR THE DISCUSSION.
SECONDLY, YOU HAVE TO PREPARE THE TOPIC BY LOOKING UP INFORMATION IN THE INTERNET, BOOKS, ENCYCLOPAEDIAS.
THIS WAY YOU WILL FEEL MUCH MORE CONFIDENT AND AT THE SAME TIME YOU WILL HAVE MUCH MORE TO TALK ABOUT IN THE ORAL SESSION.
FINAL TASK:
HERE IS ONE FINAL TASK THAT YOU MAY DO IN ORDER TO COVER THE FOUR SKILLS YOU SHOULD FOCUS ON WHEN LEARNING A LANGUAGE: LISTENING, READING, SPEAKING AND WRITING.
Write a composition and leave it in the blog as a comment to Session 14, I will edit it in the blog so that everybody can learn from other people´s opinions:
- 'Everybody should experience expat life and live in another country for several years.' Express your opinion.
In today’s world is very common for some people leave their native homes and move to foreign countries, in order to get new knowledge, know new culture, or learn to live in a place completely different from those where these people used to live. But despite being positive experiences in general, it in some cases has negative ones as well, so that we can analyze them carefully.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, becoming an expat can have lots of positive experiences such as, the opportunity to learn or improve a new language, involving in a different culture, meeting locals, getting new activities, or simply relaxing. One of the main advantages of living abroad is the possibility of learning a new language because if you want to communicate with locals, you will have to make an effort to speak in a way that you can be understood. Another positive aspect is that you can know different culture and meet local people who can help you to know the country properly. The quicker you get friends and learn the new culture of the country, the quicker you will be integrated in them. Finally, many people move to another country because they want to change their life style, such as retired people who want to spend their retirement in a relaxing way, choosing cheap countries in which they can have enough money to live there comfortably.
On the other hand, being an expat, might have some disadvantages too, for example, the difficulties you may have if you have to make a living in the new country, the problems that you can have if you do not know the language, getting used to living there and personal feeling that can provoke you feel really disappointed. The fact that many people have to fled because they do not have a job in their native countries, make these people have serious problems, especially at the beginning. Although you can get by, it is very difficult when you have to communicate with other workmates in your adopted country. Another drawback is that you have to get used to living in a country which is very different from yours. It is known that you cannot behave like you do in your own country, because it might be an offence for locals, so you have to learn new life style, new food, entertainment. Homesick is also a negative aspect that can result really negative meanwhile you get used to living there. Hence, many people decide to live abroad with their families, so that they can avoid these sorts of problems.
To sum up, being an expatriate is very positive in general because it is like if you begin a new life, especially if the country where you had been living was completely different from yours. But on the contrary, if you have to live there because of necessity, it might make you feel really disappointed due to the changes you have to assimilate quickly.
Miguel Ruano.
For years and years many people have left their countries of origin looking for a better standard of living, escaping from wars or simply because they were in love and their other half lived in other country.
ReplyDeleteMost of the times, it is not easy to live an expat experience since you have to face up to a very different culture that probably implies a new language, another religion, another kind of food, another weather, etc. Add to this you feel alone because you do not have many relatives or friends who help you to adapt to your new country.
Although it is not a compulsory experience, it can be a very enriching one, you can open your mind, learn a new language, meet new people and after all compare if you prefer to live in the country where you were born or choose another more interesting.
Maybe the main problem is why you become an expat, if you choose this option because you want to live an exciting experience and discover new sensations or if you are obliged to do it. Pitifully most of the people belong to the latter group and they start a new life in very bad situations and have to accept bad jobs and live in a poor standard of live with no real opportunity to integrate in their new society.
If someone has been able to state that everybody should experience expat life and live in another country for several years and that’s it, I believe this comment should have several aspects that we should take it into consideration. For instance, not everyone is equal, and therefore, not all people have the same needs. Moreover, what is fine for one person sometimes it doesn't work to another one. A former teacher and a friend of mine said once that everybody should live and die in the same place where he or she was born and this should be so.
DeleteObviously, live in another country can enrich our way we are and give us an overall view of people’s acts, their traditions and habits. So, it sounds interesting and this would make that we agreed with the initial statement.
However, if we were forced to leave our country to go to another, we would surely have the priority of our immediate needs and leave for later the knowledge of the benefits of the new site. In that situation, we wouldn’t feel that as an idyllic experience.
To sum up, in my opinion there are several levels of living in other country. From not to go never to other country until live forever in a new place, going through a holiday in this site or live for a few years to later return to the place of origin.