Abstract
For the purposes of this study, university students from three countries with different social backgrounds (Germany, Serbia, and Japan) were asked to answer the same topic, “A country easy to live in, and the conditions for it.” We qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed the words used to express their thoughts in the written essays. The results confirmed our hypothesis that frequently appearing words differ from country to country. Furthermore, the qualitative analysis showed that words that were commonly used in each country were used in different contexts. Based on these results, it might be possible to theorize that the perception and usage of certain words differ depending on the environment in which people using them are educated and the experiences they gained up to that point. In this study, the corpus of learners with different mother tongues provides not only linguistic data; we also suggest that in combination with qualitative analysis it can be used as teaching material that aids the development of intercultural competence.
https://ror.org/00ntfnx83 
