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B1 English • 20 Minutes

Moving Abroad and Culture Shock

Learn 10 words for living in a new country and practise saying them.

📋 How to use this lesson

🧑‍🏫 For the teacher

Run this 20-minute vocabulary lesson in pairs or individually, checking the answers together after each practice section.

Guide students to focus on clear word stress and natural speech rhythm during the final shadowing tasks.

🎒 For the learner

First, read the 10 words, their short meanings, and memory tricks in the word table below.

Next, complete all 16 practice exercises, listen to each shadowing prompt, and record your voice aloud.

Word table

10 Key Words

Theme 1: Settling in

Word	Meaning	Common collocations	Word forms	Example sentence	Memory tip
homesick	sad because you are away from home	feel homesick, deeply homesick	homesickness (n)	I felt deeply homesick during my first month abroad.	Picture feeling "sick" for your own "home".
foreigner	a person from another country	fellow foreigner, treated as a foreigner	foreign (adj)	As a foreigner, he had to apply for a student visa.	Notice the word "foreign" inside it.
newcomer	someone who has arrived recently	welcome a newcomer, assist newcomers	–	The neighbourhood group helps every newcomer settle in.	Break it down: "new" + "comer" (someone newly arrived).
landlord	the person who owns the flat or house you rent	contact the landlord, pay the landlord	–	Our landlord repaired the kitchen tap this morning.	The "lord" or owner of the building and land.

Theme 2: Daily life abroad

Word	Meaning	Common collocations	Word forms	Example sentence	Memory tip
manners	polite ways of behaving with others	good manners, mind your manners	–	Mind your manners when dining with your host family.	Always ends with "s" — good manners make friends.
homeland	the country where you were born and grew up	leave your homeland, distant homeland	–	She still misses the street food from her homeland.	The "land" that is your original "home".
adapt	to change your habits to suit a new situation	adapt to a culture, adapt quickly	adaptable (adj), adaptation (n)	It took me three months to adapt to the cold weather.	Think of a power adapter that fits into foreign sockets.

Theme 3: Feelings

Word	Meaning	Common collocations	Word forms	Example sentence	Memory tip
isolated	feeling lonely, alone, and cut off from others	feel isolated, completely isolated	isolate (v), isolation (n)	Living alone in a foreign city can make you feel isolated.	Sounds like "island" — feeling like an island on your own.
curious	wanting to know or discover new things	curious about, stay curious	curiosity (n)	She was curious about the local holiday customs.	Starts with "C" — wanting to "see" and explore everything.
welcoming	friendly and pleasant towards new visitors	welcoming smile, welcoming host	welcome (v, n)	Our new neighbors gave us a very welcoming wave.	An open door with a "welcome" mat outside.

Practice

Complete all 16 interactive questions from easy to hard.

Part 1: Collocation matching

Match the correct action verb or phrase with each target noun.

1. Choose the verb that naturally pairs with homesickness:

____ a. repair from homesickness ____ b. suffer from homesickness ____ c. pay for homesickness

2. Choose the verb that naturally pairs with your manners:

____ a. rent your manners ____ b. isolate your manners ____ c. mind your manners

3. Choose the verb that naturally pairs with to a new culture:

____ a. adapt to a new culture ____ b. leave to a new culture ____ c. cure to a new culture

4. Choose the verb that naturally pairs with a warm welcome:

____ a. rent a warm welcome ____ b. give a warm welcome ____ c. isolate a warm welcome

Part 2: Gap-fills with a word bank

Use words from this bank: landlord • newcomer • homeland • curious

5. Short dialogue:

A: "Who is coming to fix our heating problem?"

B: "I called our [ ___ ] this morning, and he promised to come by noon."

Type the correct word in the blank:

____

6. Short dialogue:

A: "Do you know where the post office is?"

B: "Sorry, I am a [ ___ ] here and I still do not know my way around."

Type the correct word in the blank:

____

7. Complete the sentence:

Even after five years in Canada, she still plays traditional music from her distant ___ every Sunday.

Type the correct word in the blank:

____

8. Complete the sentence:

The students were very ___ about life abroad and asked many questions after the presentation.

Type the correct word in the blank:

____

Part 3: Choose the word

Every option creates correct English grammar, but only ONE fits the meaning.

9. When dining with a host family, it is polite to pay attention to your dinner ___.

____ a. manners ____ b. homeland ____ c. landlord

10. Because she is a ___ in this country, she needs a visa to work here.

____ a. landlord ____ b. foreigner ____ c. neighbour

11. With no friends and no telephone signal in the quiet village, he felt completely ___ from everyone.

____ a. curious ____ b. welcoming ____ c. isolated

12. During her first rainy week abroad, she felt deeply ___ and called her parents every night.

____ a. homesick ____ b. welcoming ____ c. curious

Part 4: Word-formation gap-fills

Change the word in brackets into the correct form shown in your word table.

13. Change the form of the word in brackets:

It is exciting but challenging to learn a [foreigner] language in a new school.

Type the correct form (adjective):

____

14. Change the form of the word in brackets:

Long months of [isolated] can make studying in another country very difficult.

Type the correct form (noun):

____

15. Change the form of the word in brackets:

Successful international students are usually very [adapt] when life changes suddenly.

Type the correct form (adjective):

____

16. Change the form of the word in brackets:

Her natural [curious] led her to explore every street market in the city.

Type the correct form (noun):

____

Shadowing

Listen to each native audio model, then record yourself repeating it aloud.

Part A: Common collocations

Item 1 • Collocation

suffer from homesickness

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Item 2 • Collocation

mind your manners

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Item 3 • Collocation

adapt to a culture

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Item 4 • Collocation

a warm welcome

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Part B: Natural everyday sentences

Item 5 • Sentence

I felt so homesick during my first week here.

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Item 6 • Sentence

Our new landlord is very kind and helpful.

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Item 7 • Sentence

It is important to mind your table manners.

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Item 8 • Sentence

I want to adapt quickly to my new school.

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Item 9 • Sentence

The local people gave every newcomer a warm welcome.

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Item 10 • Sentence

She is always curious about life in our city.

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Part C: Two hard words

Item 11 • Hard word

foreigner

Notice the silent 'g' in the middle: /ˈfɒr.ə.nər/

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Item 12 • Hard word

isolated

Focus on the strong first vowel: /ˈaɪ.sə.leɪ.tɪd/

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Vocabulary: Moving Abroad and Culture Shock

Moving Abroad and Culture Shock

📋 How to use this lesson

Word table

Theme 1: Settling in

Theme 2: Daily life abroad

Theme 3: Feelings

Practice

Part 1: Collocation matching

Part 2: Gap-fills with a word bank

Part 3: Choose the word

Part 4: Word-formation gap-fills

Shadowing

Part A: Common collocations

Part B: Natural everyday sentences

Part C: Two hard words

Related lessons

Grammar: Moving Abroad and Culture Shock

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IELTS Speaking: Moving Abroad and Culture Shock

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