Cultural Exchange and Active Listening Activity #1

Purpose: Engage in cultural exchange and practice active listening.

Below are some creative prompts to spark cultural and language exchange. These prompts are tailored for a culturally diverse group of students.

Every three questions, partners switch to speak with a new person. Before sharing responses with their new partner, each person gives a quick introduction about (a) the languages they speak, (b) the culture(s) they are most familiar with or grew up in, and (c) one value that is important to them.

For students: Listen carefully without interrupting. Ask follow-up questions or respond with thoughtful affirmations. See if there are any points of commonality or interesting differences between your responses.

1. What is a word in your language that is difficult to translate into English? Alternate: What is your favorite word in any language?
2. Are there jokes, metaphors, idioms, or axioms unique to your language? Can you share one? Take your time to think.
3. What is an instance where you mix languages, such as slang or borrowed words, in speech?
4. What is your favorite cuisine or dish? Why is it important to you?
5. What is one stereotype about your culture that isn’t true?
6. What is something the people in your culture values a lot that might surprise foreigners?
7. What does success mean to you? How do you think that has been shaped by your culture, or by other factors that are not necessarily cultural?
8. If you were to teach me one dance, game, or recipe from your culture, what would it be? How important is it to you?
9. If our two cultures created a new holiday together, what would it look like? When would it be?

Finally, have everyone gather in a circle or intimate space and comfortably share 1-2 ideas (or words!) they learned during this exchange. If a student blanks on the spot, gently give them the option to pass. End with a shoutout if you’d like to the student(s) you believe best embodied the purpose of this activity. Give students 5 minutes at the end to write any reflections into their journal, doodle, meditate, or chat quietly.