EAP Term 2 2025

  When I traveled to New Zealand for the first time, I was very surprised because of the big culture differences between Korea and New Zealand. Especially at the beginning of my trip, there were many situations where I felt panic because of culture shock. Now, I have been here for almost 10 months, so I usually don’t feel culture shock but sometimes I can find many interesting things in culture differences.   The first culture shock I experienced was the greeting culture. During my trip, many strangers said “Hi” and smiled at me. It was very surprising for me, because in Korea we usually don’t say “Hi” or smile at strangers. And when I greeted hotel staff and restaurant waiter, they always asked me “How are you?”, It was very interesting because in Korea we only say “Hi” very simply.  The second was about Maori culture. Before I visit New Zealand, I didn’t know about Maori culture, but as soon as I arrived at the airport, I could find a lot of Maori culture everywhere. Am...

  When I moved to New Zealand from Japan, I experienced culture shock for the first time in my life. Everything felt new and strange. I was excited, but at the same time, I felt confused and nervous. In this essay, I will describe the thing that shocked me the most, how I tried to overcome it, and how long it took to adjust. The biggest shock for me was the way people communicate, especially with teachers. In Japan, students show strong respect to their teachers. We use polite language, and we never call teachers by their first names. We need to call them by their surname with honorifics. However, in New Zealand, students speak very casually and often use the teacher’s first name. At first, I did not know how to act, and I felt uncomfortable in class. I was afraid to make mistakes and did not speak much. Another cultural difference was the food. New Zealand meals are different from Japanese meals. People eat more bread, meat, and dairy products. The taste was okay, but I missed Jap...

 I have been in New Zealand to study since this February. New Zealand is the first country outside of Japan I went. Thus, I have experienced many different customs from Japan, however, at the same time I have faced culture shock. Firstly, I have shocked at a lot of cultural differences from Japan. For example, people in New Zealand eat potatoes rather than rice. Although I could enjoy these differences in the first month, I began to struggle with differences especially in customs. For instance, there is little public transportation in Dunedin where I am staying, so it is inconvenient for me. In addition to the bus timetable, buses often come late or come too early. Consequently, I have missed a bus and waited for thirty minutes at a bus stop. It made me really irritated because I have never experienced them in Japan. Furthermore, I was also shocked that most of the shops and cafes close in the early time, and many Kiwi people go to bed early and wake up early. In contrast, many Jap...

       People are usually familiar with the culture that they grew up in since they were young but not with a new environment that they have never experienced.  As a result, when they go to study or work in a foreign country for a long period of time, they are likely to experience some culture shock during their first few days or months in that place.  In terms of my experience, what follows is my culture shock in New Zealand.      As I have stayed with a host family since I came to study English here in February 2025.  The most significant experience of culture shock for me was the custom or the way of having a meal at home with my host mother.  On the first day that we had dinner together, I noticed that there was a round table with two chairs and I thought we would sit there and have dinner together.  This was because in my culture, when it comes to a mealtime, especially dinner, my family and I always sit and hav...

  Today, I would like to describe what I felt shock the most in New Zealand. It is the food. I know that Japanese food and New Zealand food there is very different. However, they were more different than I expected. For example, the rice. Japanese rice are smaller than New Zealand’s, chewy and sweet. On the other hand, New Zealand’s rice are long and hard and I do not like taste. This was the most shocking experience for me and it really impressed on me the different between our cultures.               First, I think that a diet based on salt and sugar is different from Japanese. While Japan has a wide variety of dashi and seasonings, I realized that food in New Zealand is seasoned with only salt or sugar and so is bland, which do not suit me at all.               Second, there is a relatively high amount of oily food. For example, fish and chips. I ...

  Since I have lived in New Zealand for six months, I have experienced a lot of culture shock. I would like to mention some of these experiences this essay. I live with a homestay family, and it has been very interesting, but also challenging. Some of the biggest incidents culture shock I had have to with the lifestyle at home. In Japan, we usually don’t talk so much during meals. But my homestay family always talks a lot, and they ask me many questions. Initially, I was overwhelmed and I felt nervous. Also, they hug each other a lot and say I love you. In my family, we don’t do that, therefore, I felt surprised and a little bit uncomfortable. Additionally, in Japan, we usually eat rice, fish, and vegetables. But in New Zealand, people eat a lot of meat, potatoes, and breads. Although the taste is very good, not having rice makes me quite stressed. Moreover, they eat dinner very early, like at 6pm, and I was not hungry at that time. To deal with some of culture shock, I tried to un...

   The most shocking thing that I have experienced in New Zealand is leaving dish soap foam on dishes or plates after washing them. My host family doesn't always rinse detergent foam off, even if there is big foam on the plates. In Japan, people wash dish soap foam from plates with water.   4 years ago, my friend who studied in Ireland also experienced that her host family kept detergent foam on plates after washing them. It was a culture shock for her and she told me about it. So, I had thought that it was just Irish culture. However, there are the same customs in New Zealand. When I faced it here, I was very surprised.   Of course, I tried to deal with my culture shock. For instance, I talked about leaving dish soap foam on plates with my friends from Asian countries. They were also confused when they faced it for the first time. But from their point of view, this custom has come from attitudes toward water conservation. After listening to their explan...

Revise your essay about an experience of culture shock that you have had and then upload it to the blog, In addition, illustrate it with a relevant image. Title your post 'An Experience of Culture Shock -- Your Name.'

  My ideal school would be for parents like me who want to raise happy children. Being a parent does not need any certificate, but raising a child is the hardest thing. Even small habits, like liking spicy food, can affect a child’s life. I often feel nervous about whether I am teaching my child in the right way. I tell my child, “Wait for the green light,” but I still wish I could hold their hand every time. I also tell them, “Don’t climb high, it’s dangerous,” and then I worry I might make them afraid. Parenting always feels like standing between protecting and letting go. I imagine a school where parents can learn how to guide their children with love and patience. In that school, we could share our worries, practice real parenting, and learn from each other. If this school existed, parents would feel more confident, and children would grow up brave and loved.

Even though I have already graduated from elementary school through university, I sometimes feel that I can’t do anything by myself in my life. I can’t fix broken machines at my home and can’t understand most of the words at the bank. I didn’t learn these kinds of life skills, I only learned academic knowledge from school. I think that’s a big problem. Life skills are the most important thing for living well. Therefore, a school teaching life skills is my ideal school, and I want to name that school “Life School.” In the Life school, there would be many special teachers - an engineer, a computer programmer, a builder, a taxi driver, a chef, a bank clerk, and so on. They are all professional workers in their workplaces. The students can learn many skills from them and see how those skills are used in real life. Besides, each student can choose some skills which they are more interested in, at higher education levels such as polytechnic and university. Through this process, they can be m...

               My ideal school needs to be comfortable, safe and equal. In my experience, this is because not only is the environment poor, but the teachers themselves do not provide education that is tailored on the students. I believe we should create schools that are safe and where students truly want to go.   First of all, we need to have physical and emotional safety. It means to create an attitude to eliminate bullying and discrimination. There are many students who refuse to go to school because of bullying and discrimination. Second, teachers need to provide learning methods that suit each individual student. Finally, teachers and students need to respect diversity. Ensuring fairness for all students also helps to prevent bullying.               Effective instruction to address needs is psychological safety, clear expectations, consistency, feedback and visible lea...

Nowadays, in countries where English is not the first language, many schools try very hard to teach English for students’ futures. However, the methods are often ineffective for developing real English skills. For example, schools often conduct vocabulary tests every week or month to check how many words students remember. These tests affect our final grades, so we study hard for them. However, this type of learning is only effective for school tests and does not help when speaking with foreigners. In my opinion, these teaching methods are a waste of time. I want to suggest three ways to improve students’ English skills. Firstly, we should have more conversation classes. Even if we learn a lot of vocabulary, we don’t have many chances to use the words, so they are only useful for tests. Creating more opportunities for conversation helps students improve not only their vocabulary but also their speaking skills. Secondly, we should change from lecture-based teaching to activity-base...

  In the world, there are various kinds of schools and teaching styles. My ideal school would be placed to help students to grow their creativity. The reason raising creativity is important is that people with creativity are less likely to be replaced to jobs by AI. Therefore, having creativity is beneficial to students’ future careers.  Classrooms run by students are the most crucial factor to enhance their creativity, and teachers should just be for supporting their students. For example, in SOLEs (Self Organised Learning Environments), teachers only give a question and some background, and students try to answer to using computers. Furthermore, there are many opportunities to go outside and visit many different places. These opportunities give students different perspectives. For instance, visiting a park and interacting with nature or creatures is an effective way.  However, there is a practical problem with this kind of school. In this method, it takes longer time to...

 I believe that the goal of students at school should be to improve their communication skills and life skills such as empathy, self-management, and problem-solving. These essential life skills are more important than learning other subjects such as math, biology, and English. After they graduate from school, they become members of society. The things they learn from exams are not always useful in the working world. School is the place where children can be taught life skills. Therefore, schools should provide the best environment for students to achieve this goal. Group work and outdoor activities can be helpful for them to gain such skills, as it is quite important to have more opportunities to communicate with others. For instance, group discussions can give them a good opportunity not only to have conversations but also to focus on listening to others' opinions. Training listening skills also improves the ability to empathize. However, there is a practical problem in group di...

       Education is a fundamental element for children’s development.  Many schools focus on offering traditional academic subjects to students such as a science and mathematics.  However, there are now a few schools that offer a particular type of learning to students such as study about farming, sculpture, music or surfing.  In terms of my ideal school, I think the goal for schools is to help students find what they love to do in the future and prepare them for their future careers.      My ideal school would offer a variety of subjects for students so that it would help them to find out their strengths and preferences.  These subjects would be both academic and practical subjects.  However, subjects would mainly be taught through hands-on experience or experimentation.  For example, when students learn language classes, there would mostly be conversational classes.  Moreover, there would be a counsellor ...

My ideal school is a place where students become able to realize the joy of learning and can gain knowledge and skills for their real life. This is because I am concerned that many students don’t like “learning” nowadays.  According to the Hakuhodo Foundation, the number of  students who don’t like studying is more than students who like studying in Japan in 2023. The foundation reveals some reasons for this. For example, a lot of students think that studying in school is not useful and meaningful , and the law is just enforced. Therefore, I think that such an ideal school is crucial for students. For solving the problem that many students don’t like studying , I have four ideas of the best teaching methods. Firstly, students would study what they want and make a contract with teachers as an “assignment". Secondly, teachers would enjoy their learning by themselves and be an accompanist instead of an instructor. Thirdly, the school would form multi-age classes to create ...