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Twenty-five Questions, Different Similarities, and Six Differences

“25 Questions” gives practice for domestic and international students to ask one another interesting questions that they might not think of on their own. “Different Similarities” offers polarized students the opportunity to see how they are similar to someone that they thought was much different, and it also gives students who minimize difference the opportunity to find out just how different they might be than others. “Find a culture partner” asks participants to find someone in the room who is different than themselves in six ways which aren’t appearance-based. “Find a culture partner” is a great way to partner people up for “25 Questions.”

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Experiential Tools for Answering: Why Do All of the ______ Kids Stick Together?

In a previous position, I used to get this question a lot: "Why do all of the ______ kids stick together?" Domestic students would ask it about specific nationalities. International students would ask it about students from the US. One particular time stands out, when an English language and culture class asked their instructor why all the Americans stick together, why it was so hard to make American friends, etc. She asked me to come and address them. 

The first exercise in this collection--Language Envelopes--is how I jumpstarted the conversation with that particular class. The rest of the collection contains experiential activities that I wish we had had time to work through that day. I share them in hopes that, if you are asked the same question, you will find them useful.

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Profile picture of Annette Benson

Annette Benson