Cultural Immersion and International Students: A Story Told Through the Chasing Time English Lens
Mia Tarau
This blog post is closing our team’s discussion on the topic of learning English abroad, started by Michael here: https://chasingtimeenglish.com/posts/2025/4/1/navigating-international-education-in-new-zealand-education-as-a-global-commodity and continued by Jono here: https://chasingtimeenglish.com/posts/2025/4/10/international-education-and-accommodation-blues. In this post, I add to both stories - travelling for English as a commodity and dealing with living with a host family, respectively - by focusing on a third dimension as well: that of lived experiences of studying, making new friends, and navigating these friendships and new relationships in a foreign country. Our Chasing Time English series showcase all these elements, providing not only examples of what might be expected by the students themselves, but also ample material for language learning via discussion circles on these topics. In this post I will suggest two speaking activities centred on our series, both addressing these interlinked and complex dimensions of studying abroad.
Homestay Experiences - Discussion Circle
SCENES REQUIRED FOR THIS TASK:
Arrival as a student in a new country:
My Name Is Lucky - Episode 1 - Scene of Lucky in the car, having just arrived, looking out the window of her host mother's car, admiring the New Zealand scenery
Conflict and conflict resolution involving a host family:
My Name is Lucky - Episode 4, showing conflict and conflict resolution involving the host family
International student and host family - a bittersweet goodbye
Days Crossing Episode 3 - Scene 1
THE ACTIVITY
Step 1: Warm-up (5 minutes)
Ask the students some open-ended questions:
Have you ever lived with a host family?
What do you think are some benefits or challenges?
What would you expect from a good homestay experience?
Step 2: Watch + Discussion Circle (20 minutes)
· Students watch the scenes from these episodes
· Students talk for 1–2 minutes about a specific aspect, comparing their own experiences to those shown in the episodes:
First day with the host family
Differences in habits or traditions
A funny misunderstanding
A cultural moment
A conflict and how it was resolved
Variation: If students haven’t had a homestay yet/ever, they can use the scenes from the series to inform their contributions to the discussion.
Step 3: Question Time (10 minutes)
After each student shares their ideas, experiences, or opinions, others in the circle ask follow-up questions:
“What did you learn from that experience?”
“How did you feel when…?”
“Would you do anything differently next time?”
(You can assign 2–3 students as question-askers each round if the class is large).
2. Navigating Friendships and New Relationships as an International Student - Group Discussion
SCENES REQUIRED FOR THIS TASK:
Making friendships, falling in love, challenges and complications, overcoming those challenges: My Name Is Lucky – all episodes; this is a great discussion activity for the end of this series
THE ACTIVITY
Step 1: Warm-up (5 minutes)
Ask students the following ice-breaker questions in pairs or small groups:
Have you ever studied or travelled abroad?
What do you think it is like to live in a new country as a student?
Why do people choose to study English in an English-speaking country?
Step 2: Watch (8 minutes)
Step 3: Discussion (30-35 minutes)
A. Story Starters (10 minutes)
Hand each group a story card – you can tailor these to your students or use the ones in the example below. Each group discusses what might happen in the situation shown on their story card:
Story Cards – Examples:
Lucky came to New Zealand to study English. After a few weeks, she started dating someone from her class. What challenges might she face?
Lucky made a group of amazing friends while studying in New Zealand. But now, the course is over, and everyone is going back to their countries.
Lucky moved to New Zealand, where she met three girls who became her best friends. They studied together, went out, and supported each other every day. But now, her friends are moving to a new language school in another city, while she is not.
Lucky fell in love during her language course, but she doesn’t know what to do when her study visa expires.
Ask groups:
What emotions might this person feel?
Can you relate to this?
How would you handle the situation?
Variation: If students haven’t had a homestay yet/ever, they can use the scenes from the series to inform their contributions to the discussion.
B. Question Time (5 minutes)
After each student shares their ideas, experiences, or opinions, others in the group ask some follow-up questions:
Ask students to think about these prompts and then share in pairs or small groups:
Have you ever had to say goodbye to a close friend?
Have you ever fallen in love or had a crush while traveling or studying?
Do you still keep in touch with people you met abroad?
What did you learn from these experiences?
TIP: Encourage the students to use storytelling phrases: "I’ll never forget when...", "It was difficult because...", "We stayed in touch by..."
C. Group Debate / Reflection (10–15 min)
Ask a reflective or debate-style question to the class and have them discuss in small groups or as a whole class. Examples:
Is it better to avoid close relationships while studying abroad, to protect your feelings?
Do you think emotional experiences like love and friendship help people learn a language better?
What’s more difficult: saying goodbye to a friend or a romantic partner?
*Optional Follow-up Writing Task
Write a short story or journal entry about a real or imagined experience of forming or losing a friendship or romantic relationship while studying abroad.