If someone from Iceland, Ghana, or Oman were to visit you in the States, wouldn’t you want them to understand some things about your culture before they arrived?

From popular culture, movies, YouTube videos, articles, blog posts, and travel guides, we can derive culture, cultural context and clues. We encourage you to do this as you prepare to visit someone else’s home country! Here’s a list of resources that may help you understand your host culture and ease the transition between home and host countries:

Recommended Books and Guides:
Lonely Planet
Diversity Abroad
Frommer’s
Travel and Leisure
CIA Factbook
Trip Advisor #CISabroadtip: check out their smartphone app too!

Recommended News Outlets:
One of the best ways to learn about a country and get ready for your time abroad is to read the local news. This will help you learn about current issues in Ecuador and what things are important to the people on a day to day basis.
El Commercio
El Universo
La Hora

Video Resources:

Travel Tips: Why you need a U.S. Passport Card 

Travel Channel Guide to Quito

Language Resources:
Google translate
Word Lens
Mango Languages
iTranslate
Learn a language for free: the five best websites
Living Language
busuu
Duolingo
Memrise