Lesson Topics: travel, gender roles
Skill Focus: Listening, Reading, Speaking, Vocabulary
Approximate Class Time: 1.75 hours
Lesson Plan Download: passport-bros-advanced-lesson-052026.docx
Lesson Overview:
- Warning: This lesson contains some informal and vulgar language (e.g., 'get laid,' 'body count') and controversial views that may upset some students. Please preview both videos before class. Feel free to remove sensitive vocabulary items or choose a different topic if concerned.
- Students first warm up with questions about dating and cross-cultural relationships.
- The lesson has two videos as inputs. The first is a short 1:45m clip entitled, "Why Are American Men Moving to Colombia?", which introduces the concept of a passport bro from the perspective of an influencer. The next video, "Passport Bros: Escaping the Modern Dating Trap," is quite controversial. It is a rant from a female influencer who blames Western women for the rise of passport bros. This extreme stance may trigger some students but will generate discussion.
- After each video, students answer comprehension questions.
- Students then match 11 vocabulary items from phrases in the video to definitions. This is followed by a sentence transformation exercise which requires students ask questions to each other using some of the new words.
- After a debate of the ethics of being a passport bro, students review eight actions and decide whether to classify them as toxic, entitled, or healthy.
- The lesson has one roleplay, between a young women in a developing country and her father on the topic of dating a passport bro.
- Afterward, students review vocabulary and the lesson's collocations.
- Finally, the lesson ends with a few final discussion questions.
ADVANCED (C1/C2) Lesson on Passport Bros
Warm-up Questions
- What are the pros and cons of dating men or women from your culture?
- Do you know anyone who met their partner abroad? In general, do cross-cultural partnerships work out?
- You are going to watch a video about men who travel overseas to meet women. What do you think are the top five countries these men travel to? Make a list.
(Answer in lesson endnotes.)
Membership is required to view this post. Please support EnglishCurrent by becoming a member today. Members, please log in.
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. Claude was used to generate answer keys and some famous quotations. For questions, contact the author.
Top five passport bro countries: 1) Philippines, 2) Thailand, 3) Colombia, 4) Dominican, 5) Brazil (according to this short: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5ZrggpM2aak)
Comprehension Question Answer Key:
- A "Passport Bro" is a Western man who travels or relocates abroad, often to countries like Colombia, to achieve a lifestyle of greater financial freedom and better dating opportunities. The video highlights how a strong currency increases purchasing power while noting that some expats monetize their experiences by creating viral social media content.
- Securing a remote job.
- Definition: A portmanteau of "involuntary celibate," referring to an online subculture of men who are unable to find romantic or sexual partners despite desiring them, often characterized by resentment toward women. Abeyta's Stance: No, he explicitly rejects the label. He argues that these men are actively trying to date and find partners, but are simply struggling to succeed in the domestic American market.
- It is an idiom meaning your money has exceptionally high purchasing power; a favorable exchange rate allows you to buy significantly more goods, services, or experiences with a set amount of currency than you could at home.
- …
- ...
- US women initiate 70% to 80% of divorces. // Over 60% of Western women aged 18 to 30 are obese or overweight. // The average Western woman has seven or more sexual partners by age 25. // 43% of US men under 30 are celibate, rejected, or priced out.
- According to the narrator, they value men, cook, stay slim, do not weaponize sex, see marriage as a partnership rather than a paycheck, and show actual gratitude.
- Verifiable: Divorce rates, obesity rates, and sexual partner averages can be tracked via demographic data and surveys (like the CDC). Subjective: Claims about "higher happiness," "actual gratitude," and Western women offering "nothing but an attitude" are unprovable generalizations. Is it convincing?: ...
- It suggests a transactional, consumer-minded view of romance, treating partners like commercial products or software that can be traded in for a better model based on utility and compliance rather than intrinsic human worth.
- It contradicts them. While the speaker in the second video claims foreign wives see marriage as a "partnership, not a paycheck," the phrase "Gringos always pay" from the first video suggests that the financial aspect is still a major, transactional factor in these international relationships.
Vocabulary answer key: a-weaponize, b-entitled, c-gratitude, d-get laid, e-accusations, f-toxic, g-on the agenda, h-formula, i-have sth down, j-initiate, k-incels
a-weaponize, b-entitled, c-gratitude, d-get laid, e-accusations, f-toxic, g-on the agenda, h-formula, i-have sth down, j-initiate, k-incels
Collocations: 1-e, 2-h, 3-a, 4-f, 5-b, 6-g, 7-d, 8-c, 9-i