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
TripAdvisor #CISabroadtip: Check out their smartphone app too!
Vayama

Smart Phone Apps:

The World’s 50 Best Travel Apps – Time Out Travel

Top 10 Apps for Smart Phones – Lonely Planet

I’m Safe App

Recommended Videos and Movies:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wFZMcIbg3c

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

Local Newspapers:
Times of Oman (English)
Al Watan (Arabic and Oman’s oldest Newspaper)
Muscat Daily (English)

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