Intercultural Skills: Living in the UK

By the end of this one-day seminar, the delegates will benefit from a smooth adjustment of the family avoiding excessive or protracted culture shock and an increased awareness of the family’s own values and how these compare with those of the British.

This programme can be offered as a Couple or Family briefing.

 

Objectives

  • Smooth adjustment of the family avoiding excessive or protracted culture shock
  • Increase awareness of the family’s own values and how these compare with those of the British
  • Increase awareness of the problems that arise in communicating with people and the steps to take to avoid misunderstandings

 

Topics covered:

The sample course contents provided below is only a guide and will be adapted for precise needs and course duration.  Some of these aspects will be covered in more depth than others (depending on whether children are present at the briefing).   During the day, if possible, we like to use a variety of media including video tapes, taped radio programmes, newspapers and business articles.

 

 

Part 1: An Introduction to the UK

 

Symbols          The Union Flag & other flags in Britain, National anthem, National flower

 

History             A brief outline of British history, the effect of history on present day architecture, landscape, and way of life

 

Geography       Land, Climate, Resources, demographic information, transport system, flora and fauna

 

The Regions     Wales, Scotland, Ireland, North & South, English regions

 

People             British ‘identity’, family life, class structure, male/female relationships, friendships, social welfare, customs

 

Religion           Church of England, Roman Catholicism, Presbyterianism, Methodism, Judaism, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists

 

Education        General approach, School system – State & Private, Colleges and University, Vocational training

 


 

Part 2: United Kingdom: An Economic Perspective

 

Economics       Principal industries, Standard of living, banking system, opening bank accounts

 

Politics &         System of government, Political parties, Current political figures, Police system,

Government     Military

 

Careers                        Applying for a job, the interview process and British workplace

 

 

Part 3: United Kingdom: Our Place in the World

 

Multicultural Britain     History of immigration, the main ethnic groupings, Past & current attitudes to ethnic Britons

 

How the British see      Our European neighbours, other nationalities & cultures

the world

 

Language                     Common expressions, Accents – class & regional

 

 

Part 4: United Kingdom: Rest and Relaxation

 

Sports & games           Football, Rugby, Cricket, other popular sports

 

Food & drink                Popular foodstuffs, restaurants & pubs, supermarkets & food shopping

 

Arts & Culture              The theatre, ballet, opera, art, popular culture – Pop music, TV etc. media – newspapers, magazines

Popular days out / tourist attractions

 

ENGLISH LANGUAGE TRAINING

We can provide a variety of general language courses for spouses and children.  Training is normally undertaken at the home and the course usually includes areas such as:

 

  • the four language skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking
  • grammar and structure
  • setting up home (buying furniture, getting something delivered/repaired etc)
  • language for schools, nursery
  • using the telephone
  • banking,
  • health, (at the doctors, at the chemist etc)
  • travelling
  • leisure (at the hairdresser, sports club, cinema and theatre etc)

·         newspapers & media

·         culture of the country

 

 

Language Training for Children/Young Learners

This will naturally depend on the age of the children and their entry level in the language.  We usually build a programme around giving extra language support for school-work, if required and general ‘survival’ skills.  Areas that can be covered are as follows:

 

Help with school work:

School vocabulary: registration, break time, assembly, period, exercise book, PE, etc

Writing up science experiments,

Finding the terms for parts of the body,

Work in Religious Instruction,

Humanities,

Some Maths

Methods of vocabulary learning (look, cover, write and check)

Planning of written work using the Web

 

Social English:

Pop culture

Fashion/Sport

Colloquial language to help to make friends, understand TV and Radio

Shopping

 

It is possible for us to teach young learners together, but only if their age and language level are compatible and if the parents believe they would work well together.

 

 

Maximum number of delegates: 14

 

Cost: 2 units

 

To register please email our Training Co-ordinator on registrations@thelearningcollaboration.com


Download: /object/course/8420/doc/TLC_Living in the UK.pdf