What does it mean to belong?

Answer each question with 2–3 sentences.

1. Where do you feel you belong most?
2. Have you ever felt like an outsider?
3. Which groups are you a member of?
4. Is it easy to make friends in a new place?
5. Do you think you belong to one culture or several?
6. What makes someone feel welcome?

Read each word and the example. Then say a sentence about belonging.

Choose the word that fits.

1. A feeling of being accepted as part of a group is a sense of .
2. The qualities that make you who you are make up your .
3. Living far from other people, with little contact, can lead to social .
4. A school with a policy of makes sure disabled students can take part.
5. A strong emotional links close friends.
6. Newcomers often need time to into a new society.
7. It is cruel to someone from a group because of their background.
8. Workers showed by supporting colleagues who had lost their jobs.

Choose the right answer, then press Check answers.

1. belonging = the feeling of being
   lostbusyaccepted
2. isolation = being
   in a hurryapart from othersamong friends
3. inclusion = making sure everyone can
   pay moretake partleave early
4. to exclude = to
   invite everybodyask for helpleave someone out
5. solidarity =
   competitionsilencesupport
   among people with shared interests
6. a clique is a small,
   new schoolopen streetclosed group

Use these phrases to describe groups and your place in them.

• Having moved here, I...Переїхавши сюди, я...Having moved here, I felt like an outsider.
• Raised in two cultures,...Виріс у двох культурах,...Raised in two cultures, she belongs to both.
• Not knowing anyone,...Нікого не знаючи,...Not knowing anyone, he felt isolated.
• Surrounded by friends,...Оточений друзями,...Surrounded by friends, she felt at home.
• While living abroad,...Живучи за кордоном,...While living abroad, I learned to adapt.
• Seen from outside,...Якщо дивитися ззовні,...Seen from outside, the group looks closed.
• What binds us together is...Нас поєднує...What binds us together is a shared history.
• To feel at home means...Почуватися як удома означає...To feel at home means to be accepted.

Read the text. Hover over the dotted words for help.

1. Maslow listed love and belonging among basic needs in 1943.
   TrueFalse
2. The text says the evidence on loneliness is completely settled.
   TrueFalse
3. Many migrants may feel that they belong to two cultures.
   TrueFalse
4. The text says groups never exclude people.
   TrueFalse
5. The text suggests that belonging involves being known and accepted.
   TrueFalse

1. Can a person belong to two places at once?
2. What helps newcomers to feel at home?
3. Is it possible to belong without fitting in?
4. How do communities exclude people without meaning to?

Common mistakes: the participle clause must have the same subject as the main clause. Use -ing for active actions at the same time, having + past participle for an earlier action, and the past participle for passive meaning. ✗ Having live abroad → Having lived abroad. ✗ Raising in two cultures, she speaks both → Raised in two cultures. ✗ Know no one, he felt alone → Knowing no one. ✗ Having excluded, he left → Having been excluded.

1. Having livingHaving lived
   abroad for ten years, he felt at home in both countries.
2. RaisingRaised
   in two cultures, she speaks both languages.
3. Knowing notNot knowing
   anyone, he felt isolated.
4. WalkedWalking
   into the room, she noticed the silence.
5. Having beHaving been
   excluded, he left the club.
6. Surrounding bySurrounded by
   friends, she felt safe.
7. While waitingWhile wait
   for the bus, I met a neighbour.
8. SeenSeeing
   from outside, the group looks closed.

Each sentence has one mistake. Type the correct words.

1. Having live abroad, he felt at home. →
2. Raising in two cultures, she speaks both languages. →
3. Know no one, he felt isolated. →
4. Having excluded, he left the club. →
5. Surrounding by friends, she felt safe. →
6. While wait for the bus, I met a neighbour. →

Answer in detail. Use participle clauses.

1. Raised in your culture, what do you take for granted?
2. Having moved or travelled, what surprised you most?
3. Not knowing anyone, how would you make friends?
4. What makes a group feel closed to outsiders?
5. Seen from outside, how does your community look?
6. What can a school or workplace do to promote inclusion?

Three people talk about belonging. Compare them. Who feels the strongest sense of belonging? Who feels like an outsider? Whose view is closest to yours?

Your teacher will time you.

1. Plan for one minute, then speak for one or two minutes.
2. Part 1: describe a group or place where you feel you belong.
3. Part 2: explain what makes you feel included or excluded (use at least two participle clauses).
4. Part 3: say what a community can do for newcomers.

1. Where do you feel most at home?
2. Which group do you belong to?
3. Have you ever moved to a new place?
4. Do you find it easy to fit in?
5. What helps you to feel accepted?
6. Do you keep any family rituals?
7. Have you ever felt left out?
8. How do you welcome newcomers?

1. Who makes you feel you belong?
2. Who in your family moved to a new place?
3. Who was the first friend you made in a new place?
4. Who in your community helps newcomers?
5. Who felt like an outsider at your school?
6. Who do you share your values with?

1. Is belonging a basic human need?
2. Can online communities replace real ones?
3. Should newcomers adapt to local customs?
4. Is it better to belong to one group or many?
5. Can a country be a community?