Why Are Cultural Lessons Important?

Lessons on different cultures can be hugely beneficial to ESL students. Giving your
students a chance to learn about British culture can help prepare them for many
different experiences.

If they plan to travel to the UK or study abroad, it will help to reduce the
culture shock. They’ll feel more comfortable interacting with strangers as well as
their their host families and foreign friends.
If they happen to work with any Brits, they’ll be able to talk to their co-workers
while avoiding any social faux pas.
As well as day-to-day life, cultural knowledge can be especially useful for
citizenship tests. If any of your students plan to take the British citizenship
test, cultural knowledge from your classes could help to get them through it.
Of course, not everyone has the luxury of being able to travel abroad or the
opportunity to work with foreigners. For some, the only chances they get to talk to
a native English speaker could be in their classes! Knowing the culture behind the
language can give English learners a valuable understanding of the situations and
social norms where certain words, phrases and styles of speaking should be used.

Expose your students to more British English by using FluentU in your classroom.
FluentU takes real-world videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and
inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons. With
FluentU, students will have access to many authentic British English videos, as
well as scaffolding for learning vocabulary, grammar and context.

12 Activities for Teaching ESL Students About British Culture

British culture might be naturally instilled in you, but how do you implement it in
your classroom? Here are a few different ways you can teach it.

One important note before we dive in: Be mindful! When teaching about these topics,
it’s important to be culturally sensitive. There’s always a chance that you could
unintentionally cause offense, so make sure you’re mindful of what you say and keep
students’ conversations in check (especially in the segment about complaining).