Set 1 — Tourism & heritage
| heritage site (n.) | a place valued and protected for its cultural or natural significance |
| mass tourism (n.) | travel by very large numbers of people to the same destinations |
| to commodify (v.) | to turn something into a product to be bought and sold |
| carrying capacity (n.) | the number of visitors a place can absorb without damage |
| a caricature (n.) | an exaggerated, simplified version that distorts the original |
| authentic (adj.) | genuinely what it claims to be, not staged for visitors |
Set 2 — Migration & labels
| expatriate / expat (n.) | a person living abroad — a label that often signals privilege |
| immigrant (n.) | a person who moves to settle in a new country — often the less-privileged label |
| connotation (n.) | the feeling or judgement a word carries beyond its plain meaning |
| integration (n.) | the process of becoming part of a host society |
| perception (n.) | the way something or someone is seen and judged by others |
| privilege (n.) | an advantage held by some and not others, often unearned |
Discuss these with a partner. Aim for examples and honest opinions, not short answers.
- When you go abroad, are you a tourist or a traveller? What is the difference, really — and who decides?
- Have you ever been called an expat or an immigrant? Did the word fit how you saw yourself?
- Is there a place you love that tourism has changed? Was the change worth it?
- Can a town stay true to itself while living off visitors? What would that take?
Encourage these moves so the talk stays precise about language:
- Examining a word: “The word ‘expat’ quietly assumes that…”
- Comparing labels: “We’d never call them that — we’d say…”
- Conceding a tension: “I see the economic case, but the cost is that…”
- Locating yourself: “Speaking as someone who has lived abroad…”
Group A argues that adapting a heritage place for mass tourism is a legitimate survival strategy; Group B argues it hollows out the very thing tourists came to see. Prepare 5 minutes, then pair across groups.
- Tourist income funds the preservation that would otherwise fail
- Cultures have always adapted; freezing them is its own distortion
- Jobs let young people stay rather than migrate away
- Visitors leave with real respect for an unfamiliar heritage
- Daily life is replaced by a daily performance for outsiders
- Locals get priced out of their own historic centres
- Authenticity becomes a brand managed for export
- The place ends up a caricature of what it once was
Your task: In cross-group pairs, argue your side, then together finish: “A heritage town keeps its soul as long as …” Report the condition, not the debate.
For each statement, decide how strongly you agree or disagree — and be ready to give one reason.
- Calling some migrants “expats” and others “immigrants” is simply honest description, not bias.
- A town has the right to limit tourist numbers even if it costs local jobs.
- There is no “authentic” culture left to protect; everything is already performance.
- The words a society uses for newcomers shape their legal and social treatment more than any law.
- Within a generation, the world’s most famous heritage sites will be visited mainly as replicas or online.
Take a position on one of two questions: Can a heritage place survive tourism without selling its soul? or Should we drop the expat/immigrant distinction altogether? Choose your format.
My notes
Each person offers one word they will think twice before using after this lesson.