Lesson Topics: dark tourism, human nature, cruelty
Skill Focus: Reading, Speaking, Vocabulary
Approximate Class Time: 1.75 hours
Lesson Plan Download: italian-sniper-tourism-advanced-lesson-112025.docx
- The lesson begins with warm-up questions about tourism and unethical forms of entertainment for the wealthy.
- Next, students read a 255-word passage about sniper tourism in Bosnia, i.e. the allegations that wealthy Italian tourists paid large sums to Bosnian-Serb soldiers to shoot civilians during the Bosnian war in the 1990s. Note that I chose not to include a video for this lesson since they contained graphic imagery. Please preread the lesson (as always) to ensure it is appropriate for your class. Though the topic is heavy, I believe it can generate meaningful discussions about wealth and human nature. The story also provides a good segue into the topic of dark tourism.
- The reading passage is followed by comprehension questions.
- For vocabulary, students match nine terms from the passage to definitions and then use them to create discussion questions to ask a partner.
- The lesson has two debate topics about human nature and hunting.
- As a roleplay, one defense lawyer presents the case of his wealthy Italian client who participated in sniper tourism. He must convince the judge to mete out a lenient penalty for this crime.
- As a grammar bonus, the lesson reviews the past present simple combined with the prepositional phrase "By [the time...]".
- Next, students review eight examples of dark tourism and decide where they rank in terms of ethics and personal appeal to them.
- After famous quotations, students review the lesson's collocations and vocabulary.
- Finally, the lesson ends with some final discussion questions.
ADVANCED (C1/C2) Lesson on Dark Tourism
Warm-up Questions
- This lesson focuses on “dark tourism”. What do you think the term means?
- What type of tourists visit your country that locals particularly dislike?
- Have you seen the show Squid Games? If so, do you think similar forms of entertainment and gambling actually exist for rich people?
- What do you know of the Bosnian war in the 1990s?
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This lesson plan was created by Matthew Barton of EnglishCurrent.com (copyright). Site members may photocopy and edit the file for their classes. Permission is not given to rebrand the lesson, redistribute it on another platform, or sell it as part of commercial course curriculum. ChatGPT was used to generate answer keys and some famous quotations. For questions, contact the author.
Comprehension Question Answer Key
- …
- They learned about it through the 2023 documentary Sarajevo Safari, which contained testimonies and clues about the participants.
- They were motivated by personal enjoyment and curiosity, not politics or religion.
- Italy, Germany, France, and England.
- …
- They planned to question several Italians believed to have taken part in the sniper killings.
- They felt untouchable because the war zone lacked oversight, they had money and power, and local soldiers protected them.
- …
Vocabulary answer key: 1-c, 2-h, 3-i, 4-g, 5-e, 6-f, 7-a, 8-d, 9-b
Collocations: 1-f, 2-c, 3-e, 4-a, 5-d, 6-b
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosnian_War, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/11/milan-prosecutors-investigate-alleged-sniper-tourism-during-bosnian-war, https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-11-11/human-safaris-in-sarajevo-milan-investigates-1990s-trips-where-tourists-allegedly-paid-to-kill-civilians.html, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6YsD9NGC74