3. Immersion. You can learn a great deal about another culture by actively participating in it. When you live or work with people whose cultural assumptions are different from yours, you not only acquire obvious cultural information, but you also learn nuances that escape passive observers and are not accessible through formal study alone. We call this form of immersion participant observation. One reason study-abroad programs often include home stays is to ensure that students become immersed in the culture of the host country.