An enforcement team targeting overcrowding, discovered twenty-six bunk beds in a four-bedroom house in Wembley. Those living there were mostly migrants. They say that despite the appalling conditions, it's the only way they can afford to live in the capital.
It’s a four-bedroom house, and a team of enforcement officers have arrived at dawn to look inside. What they find is shocking. There are 26 beds.
How many people live in this room, sir? 1, 2, 3 bunk beds, six sleeping spaces…
Another four more in this tiny room.
You pay £55…
65.
£65 per week each.
It was time for the enforcement team to do some maths. What might the landlord earn from this one property in Wembley?
We think there are up to 26 people living in this property, paying somewhere between £60 and £65 a week so we’re looking at an income on this property of around £1,500 a week, which is around £80,000 a year income.
But there was even more to come. Outside, inspectors found a shack, and inside, two more beds and a woman living here, who wasn’t happy with the conditions.
So you can’t stand the mice and the rats scurrying around midnight.
Dreadful, isn’t it, to think that somebody can be exploited to living in what isn’t even a shed, it’s a lean-to.
So how many people might be living in conditions like this across London? Well, Brent Council has a ready prosecuted 30 landlord in a year, and taking in other councils there have been at least 300 raids in 12 months. This house in Kingsbury has now been boarded up. Inside, inspectors found 17 beds. The men living here, thought to be Romanian, have now moved on. In Harrow, there's another four-bedroomed house, not quite so crowded. Until recently 13 people, mainly from Hungary, had been living here, but they are not happy. One of the tenants has armed himself with a baseball bat.
Because I’m gonna protect ourselves.
The tenants here claim their landlord gave them just two weeks’ notice to get out and when they objected, two strange men turned up outside the property.
Walking up and down, punching in the air.
Just jumping around, preparing to the fight.
Harrow Council has now warned the landlord to respect tenants rights. He’s declined to comment, saying it’s going to court. The tenants say they have no choice but to live in conditions like these.
I think because this is the cheapest where you can find a room.
And back at that Wembley house with 26 beds, Bagarald told us he lives here because his job as a carer for the elderly pays so little.
I’m paid twenty pounds per day.
Meish works as a casual builder and downs sixty to eighty pounds a day but says even living here his life is better than back home in India.
This country is money. Our conditions is money.
The landlord here now faces prosecution, but without alternative very cheap accommodation, many thousands of low-paid workers may continue to live in similar conditions.
Gareth Furby, BBC London News.
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta Immigration. Mostrar todas las entradas
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viernes, 16 de junio de 2017
martes, 25 de abril de 2017
What makes me different from todays Syrian refugees? Just fate and timing
As a Syrian-American journalist who has covered Syria’s refugee crisis, Alia Malek understands where they are coming from and where they’re going.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and say whether the statements below are true or false.
1. Alia Malek arrived in the States in September 2015.
2. Alia was pregnant when she left Syria.
3. Alia’s dad was already in the States.
4. Alia’s parents didn’t intend to live in USA for ever.
5. Alia’s parents are American citizens.
6. Americans had a very good opinion of Arabs back in the 1970’s.
7. The Syrian mother Alia was travelling with came from a poor background in Syria.
8. The woman’s children found it very difficult to adapt to the hardships of the journey.
9. Many American citizens followed a similar path to that of Alia’s.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Finally tonight: reflections on coming to the United States from author Alia Malek, who considers the various journeys Syrian refugees take on their many roads from Damascus.
ALIA MALEK, Journalist: In September 2015, I felt I had to drop everything and go to Turkey to report on Syrians as they hurriedly made their way to Europe, trying to beat the rapidly closing borders.
As a Syrian-American, their fate was one I had only accidentally been spared.
As I accompanied them on this journey, I couldn’t help thinking of how different their circumstances were from how my own Syrian family had ended up in the diaspora, of how my mother, pregnant with me, herself had left Damascus.
Unlike the dangerous Mediterranean Sea crossings and the trek through the Balkans, her trip itself wasn’t treacherous, and it wasn’t undignified. She was traveling to Baltimore to join my father, a medical resident at the University of Maryland.
While emotionally painful, her journey couldn’t have been easier. She wasn’t facing imminent death or displacement, as people are today. In fact, both my parents meant to eventually return to their homeland.
But when it became clear what life would be like under the Assad regime, they gave up their dream to return. Years after all their children were born American, they too finally became naturalized Americans.
When my family arrived here in the ’70s, being Syrian wasn’t a barrier to becoming American. Even if Arabs weren’t well-perceived generally, Syrians specifically didn’t hold much of a place in the American imagination or consciousness.
In fact, I remember the best a schoolyard bully could do was tell me that, as a Syrian, I ate too much cereal. Oh, for those days.
In these past six years, as Syria has disintegrated, taken over the headlines, and as Syrians have become the foreign menace of the day, I have often thought about the vagaries of fate, of how accidental and unintended occurrences are what separate me from the Syrians unfairly maligned, banned, and banished today, how our lot depends on when we decided to leave, where we landed, and how we got there, whether we boarded flights with regular tickets and visas, or were piled on top of each other on flimsy rafts and left to drift across the sea unguided, how our future depends on what suffix happens to follow Syrian on arrival.
Is it refugee? Is it immigrant? Is it American? I’m lucky to be that last one.
A Syrian mother I was traveling with across Europe worried at each new border, what would happen to her children? In Syria, they had been comfortably working class. Her husband was a baker, and she was a stay-at-home mom.
At the beginning of the trip, her children were horrified to have to relieve themselves outdoors and in public. Within days, though, she was pained to see how they had quickly adjusted to their new reality.
I instead approached each crossing with a guilty confidence of a passport-carrying American. I was completely aware that my fortune was in large part by chance and circumstance.
But, rather than make me unique, I imagine that makes me like many other Americans whose families were also once upon the time among the lucky, favored by fate to have made it to these shores when and how we did.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And that’s a perspective we need to hear, Alia Malek.
KEY:
1F 2F 3T 4T 5T 6T 7F 8F 9T
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and say whether the statements below are true or false.
1. Alia Malek arrived in the States in September 2015.
2. Alia was pregnant when she left Syria.
3. Alia’s dad was already in the States.
4. Alia’s parents didn’t intend to live in USA for ever.
5. Alia’s parents are American citizens.
6. Americans had a very good opinion of Arabs back in the 1970’s.
7. The Syrian mother Alia was travelling with came from a poor background in Syria.
8. The woman’s children found it very difficult to adapt to the hardships of the journey.
9. Many American citizens followed a similar path to that of Alia’s.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Finally tonight: reflections on coming to the United States from author Alia Malek, who considers the various journeys Syrian refugees take on their many roads from Damascus.
ALIA MALEK, Journalist: In September 2015, I felt I had to drop everything and go to Turkey to report on Syrians as they hurriedly made their way to Europe, trying to beat the rapidly closing borders.
As a Syrian-American, their fate was one I had only accidentally been spared.
As I accompanied them on this journey, I couldn’t help thinking of how different their circumstances were from how my own Syrian family had ended up in the diaspora, of how my mother, pregnant with me, herself had left Damascus.
Unlike the dangerous Mediterranean Sea crossings and the trek through the Balkans, her trip itself wasn’t treacherous, and it wasn’t undignified. She was traveling to Baltimore to join my father, a medical resident at the University of Maryland.
While emotionally painful, her journey couldn’t have been easier. She wasn’t facing imminent death or displacement, as people are today. In fact, both my parents meant to eventually return to their homeland.
But when it became clear what life would be like under the Assad regime, they gave up their dream to return. Years after all their children were born American, they too finally became naturalized Americans.
When my family arrived here in the ’70s, being Syrian wasn’t a barrier to becoming American. Even if Arabs weren’t well-perceived generally, Syrians specifically didn’t hold much of a place in the American imagination or consciousness.
In fact, I remember the best a schoolyard bully could do was tell me that, as a Syrian, I ate too much cereal. Oh, for those days.
In these past six years, as Syria has disintegrated, taken over the headlines, and as Syrians have become the foreign menace of the day, I have often thought about the vagaries of fate, of how accidental and unintended occurrences are what separate me from the Syrians unfairly maligned, banned, and banished today, how our lot depends on when we decided to leave, where we landed, and how we got there, whether we boarded flights with regular tickets and visas, or were piled on top of each other on flimsy rafts and left to drift across the sea unguided, how our future depends on what suffix happens to follow Syrian on arrival.
Is it refugee? Is it immigrant? Is it American? I’m lucky to be that last one.
A Syrian mother I was traveling with across Europe worried at each new border, what would happen to her children? In Syria, they had been comfortably working class. Her husband was a baker, and she was a stay-at-home mom.
At the beginning of the trip, her children were horrified to have to relieve themselves outdoors and in public. Within days, though, she was pained to see how they had quickly adjusted to their new reality.
I instead approached each crossing with a guilty confidence of a passport-carrying American. I was completely aware that my fortune was in large part by chance and circumstance.
But, rather than make me unique, I imagine that makes me like many other Americans whose families were also once upon the time among the lucky, favored by fate to have made it to these shores when and how we did.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And that’s a perspective we need to hear, Alia Malek.
KEY:
1F 2F 3T 4T 5T 6T 7F 8F 9T
jueves, 6 de abril de 2017
Juliane’s Story: A Journey from Zimbabwe
This is a short animated film for the BBC on migration which I learnt about through Film English.
Self-study activity:
Watch the film and say whether the statements below are true or false.
1. Juliane was three when her mother left her.
2. Sometimes she wouldn’t eat for a week.
3. The other children didn’t want to play with her.
4. Julianne was put in a lorry with 200 other people.
5. When she was in the lorry, her mother saw her and Julianne jumped out of the lorry.
6. At the school in Britain she used to have panic attacks.
7. Julianne is improving with the help she’s getting from the school.
8. Julianne feels optimistic about the future.
I was very young when my mum left me. I was three and a half. I don’t know why she left me, people trying to kill her or something. People from the church that we used to go to, took care of me and they brought me up. I just learnt to be my own mother, my own father. I thought that I had no father or a mother. But I knew that she was out there somewhere for me.
Like, you’d have, like, about 30 children eating from one plate and, like, it’s like a really big plate but you only have, like, a small amount of food, enough to feed, like, one person. And I didn’t have anything to eat for a week, the only thing I survived was water and that water wasn’t very clean. It had, like, snails and, like, all those dirty stuff right inside it but you had no choice but to drink it. You would watch other kids yeah, walk past you, they’d laugh at you. And they’re like saying, “oh yeah you’re dumb”. Like, when other people are playing I’d just be sitting there by myself so that I’d be reading my book or I’d be just sitting there crying and looking at others.
I left the orphanage, and then I got put in this big massive dark lorry with like about 200 other people. And they started driving me away but because I was the little one I was like right at the, like, end, like close to the door. And then I saw this lady, she had no shoes, all she was wearing was a pair of jogging bottoms and, like, a t-shirt, and she was running and she was screaming my name. So I looked at her and I thought I remember that face. That was my mum. I started crying, and I know it must sound, like, really strange, but I didn’t know how or where I got the power but I jumped from the back of the lorry onto her. And then me and her started holding each other, screaming. I could not believe it was surreal, like. And from that point on everything turned around in my life.
My mum, she went to the British embassy. And then the people at the end ended up giving me a visa and we boarded the plane and we arrived in Heathrow. My first day at school, it was really tough. I mumbled, like, a lot because I was afraid to speak to people and, like, I often got anxious and get panic attacks.There comes a time where I’m just sitting there in class, right, I don’t even understand what’s going on. There’s this, like, click in the back of my mind that says what if I get home and my mama’s not there. And, like, that’s the moment where, like, my heart starts pumping really fast, like, I start breathing really fast and then before you know it I just pass out.
In school they have created this special group, like, whenever, like, I’m feeling angry, sad or anxious, I just go there and there’ll like always be, someone I could talk to, like, who I could tell what’s going on. And they would try and fix it like as much as possible.
And I’m really improving on my socialising skills, but you know what, I’m a fighter and I’m a survivor. No matter how much you go through and no matter how much you suffer, you’re always going to be accepted for who you are. One day you’re going… you are going to be this, like, shining star, and at the end of every dark tunnel there’s always a rainbow.
Key:
All the statements are true.
Self-study activity:
Watch the film and say whether the statements below are true or false.
1. Juliane was three when her mother left her.
2. Sometimes she wouldn’t eat for a week.
3. The other children didn’t want to play with her.
4. Julianne was put in a lorry with 200 other people.
5. When she was in the lorry, her mother saw her and Julianne jumped out of the lorry.
6. At the school in Britain she used to have panic attacks.
7. Julianne is improving with the help she’s getting from the school.
8. Julianne feels optimistic about the future.
I was very young when my mum left me. I was three and a half. I don’t know why she left me, people trying to kill her or something. People from the church that we used to go to, took care of me and they brought me up. I just learnt to be my own mother, my own father. I thought that I had no father or a mother. But I knew that she was out there somewhere for me.
Like, you’d have, like, about 30 children eating from one plate and, like, it’s like a really big plate but you only have, like, a small amount of food, enough to feed, like, one person. And I didn’t have anything to eat for a week, the only thing I survived was water and that water wasn’t very clean. It had, like, snails and, like, all those dirty stuff right inside it but you had no choice but to drink it. You would watch other kids yeah, walk past you, they’d laugh at you. And they’re like saying, “oh yeah you’re dumb”. Like, when other people are playing I’d just be sitting there by myself so that I’d be reading my book or I’d be just sitting there crying and looking at others.
I left the orphanage, and then I got put in this big massive dark lorry with like about 200 other people. And they started driving me away but because I was the little one I was like right at the, like, end, like close to the door. And then I saw this lady, she had no shoes, all she was wearing was a pair of jogging bottoms and, like, a t-shirt, and she was running and she was screaming my name. So I looked at her and I thought I remember that face. That was my mum. I started crying, and I know it must sound, like, really strange, but I didn’t know how or where I got the power but I jumped from the back of the lorry onto her. And then me and her started holding each other, screaming. I could not believe it was surreal, like. And from that point on everything turned around in my life.
My mum, she went to the British embassy. And then the people at the end ended up giving me a visa and we boarded the plane and we arrived in Heathrow. My first day at school, it was really tough. I mumbled, like, a lot because I was afraid to speak to people and, like, I often got anxious and get panic attacks.There comes a time where I’m just sitting there in class, right, I don’t even understand what’s going on. There’s this, like, click in the back of my mind that says what if I get home and my mama’s not there. And, like, that’s the moment where, like, my heart starts pumping really fast, like, I start breathing really fast and then before you know it I just pass out.
In school they have created this special group, like, whenever, like, I’m feeling angry, sad or anxious, I just go there and there’ll like always be, someone I could talk to, like, who I could tell what’s going on. And they would try and fix it like as much as possible.
And I’m really improving on my socialising skills, but you know what, I’m a fighter and I’m a survivor. No matter how much you go through and no matter how much you suffer, you’re always going to be accepted for who you are. One day you’re going… you are going to be this, like, shining star, and at the end of every dark tunnel there’s always a rainbow.
Key:
All the statements are true.
viernes, 11 de noviembre de 2016
Border controls on 'The Bridge' between Sweden and Denmark
The Oresund Bridge is the crossing from Sweden to Denmark made famous by the TV crime drama The Bridge, but it is no longer open for business as usual.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 What has happeened at Oresund Bridge for the first time in 50 years?
2 How many immigrants arrived in Sweden last year?
3 Where do the last immigrants to arrive sleep?
4 What does the Schengen Zone mean?
5 Why did the girl who went to Copenhagen the other day go back home?
This is a country which likes to get on with its neighbours. Sweden's Oresund Bridge is a link to Denmark and an open door to the rest of Europe. Not any more. For the first time in 50 years, there are controls at the border. Trains re-routed, commuters delayed, refugees turned away. No-one without a passport gets in. And here is why.
160,000 refugees arrived last year. Sweden is running out of room. This tent city was hastily built just a few weeks ago. These tents are usually destined for disaster zones overseas. Right now, Sweden is having to use them to deal with the crisis right here on its own doorstep. This is one of the most welcoming countries in Europe when it comes to refugees, but that is starting to change.
Who knows what that means for Javid? He hopes his wife and children will join him from Afghanistan. Sweden, he tells us, has been good to him.
There is too much cold. But they give us heaters and everything, gloves and shoes.
So people have given you clothes?
Yeah, yeah.
The border controls are said to be temporary. Some fear they will do permanent damage. This, after all, is supposed to be the Schengen Zone, where European citizens have the right to borderless travel.
No wonder, perhaps, the country's Deputy Prime Minister shed tears as the decision was announced, a decision she went on to describe as terrible.
It has gone down badly here, too. The people we met in this Malmo coffee shop told us they have friends, jobs, even homes just across the bridge in Copenhagen.
I actually had a nightmare the other day that I went to Copenhagen for shopping and I did not have any ID or passport and I was, like, how am I supposed to come home?
I think we're going in the wrong direction. I think that we probably should be more into the soul of Sweden and be more welcoming, because I don’t think that the way we are handling the situation right now is the way to do it.
As Sweden struggles with its decision, the refugee crisis continues to divide Europe, exposing its borders, perhaps even changing its horizons.
Jenny Hill, BBC News, Malmo.
Key:
1 There are controls at the border.
2 160,000.
3 In tents.
4 European citizens have the right to borderless travel.
5 She didn't have passport or any ID.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 What has happeened at Oresund Bridge for the first time in 50 years?
2 How many immigrants arrived in Sweden last year?
3 Where do the last immigrants to arrive sleep?
4 What does the Schengen Zone mean?
5 Why did the girl who went to Copenhagen the other day go back home?
This is a country which likes to get on with its neighbours. Sweden's Oresund Bridge is a link to Denmark and an open door to the rest of Europe. Not any more. For the first time in 50 years, there are controls at the border. Trains re-routed, commuters delayed, refugees turned away. No-one without a passport gets in. And here is why.
160,000 refugees arrived last year. Sweden is running out of room. This tent city was hastily built just a few weeks ago. These tents are usually destined for disaster zones overseas. Right now, Sweden is having to use them to deal with the crisis right here on its own doorstep. This is one of the most welcoming countries in Europe when it comes to refugees, but that is starting to change.
Who knows what that means for Javid? He hopes his wife and children will join him from Afghanistan. Sweden, he tells us, has been good to him.
There is too much cold. But they give us heaters and everything, gloves and shoes.
So people have given you clothes?
Yeah, yeah.
The border controls are said to be temporary. Some fear they will do permanent damage. This, after all, is supposed to be the Schengen Zone, where European citizens have the right to borderless travel.
No wonder, perhaps, the country's Deputy Prime Minister shed tears as the decision was announced, a decision she went on to describe as terrible.
It has gone down badly here, too. The people we met in this Malmo coffee shop told us they have friends, jobs, even homes just across the bridge in Copenhagen.
I actually had a nightmare the other day that I went to Copenhagen for shopping and I did not have any ID or passport and I was, like, how am I supposed to come home?
I think we're going in the wrong direction. I think that we probably should be more into the soul of Sweden and be more welcoming, because I don’t think that the way we are handling the situation right now is the way to do it.
As Sweden struggles with its decision, the refugee crisis continues to divide Europe, exposing its borders, perhaps even changing its horizons.
Jenny Hill, BBC News, Malmo.
Key:
1 There are controls at the border.
2 160,000.
3 In tents.
4 European citizens have the right to borderless travel.
5 She didn't have passport or any ID.
viernes, 28 de octubre de 2016
A century of exile and homelessness
In 2015, the war in Syria and economic hardship in parts of Africa led to record levels of migration in Europe. Some experts have advised caution over the numbers, stressing that mass movement of people has been an even greater challenge for the international community at key points in the past century, including World War Two and the wars in Vietnam and the Balkans.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1. What does 'a quarter of a million' refer to?
2. When did the Kosovo conflict take place?
3. What is the new factor in the current European immigrant crisis?
4. How long does it take a wave of immigrants to be absorbed by the destination countries?
5. Why did the Vietnamese boat people leave their country?
6. What is the global problem that makes it difficult to deal with the current refuge crisis?
The vast wave of would-be immigrants into Europe has seemed unprecedented, and yet this sort of thing has been happening again and again for a hundred years.
When Germany invaded Belgium in 1914, a million people fled the country, and a quarter of a million came to Britain. After 1945, an estimated twelve million ethnic Germans fled Eastern Europe. They took refuge in East and West Germany. During the Kosovo conflict in 1988 and 9, hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians fled abroad. But there is something new and different about this current wave.
I think it’s a crisis of politics rather than numbers. What's dramatic about today is this is the first time Europe has faced people coming outside of Europe in large numbers as refugees. So the fact that many are Muslims, that they are from the Middle East, is perceived often as threatening, as challenging Europe's identity.
Even so, for centuries now, Britain, like the rest of Europe, has accepted great waves of immigrants, and each time it has needed at least a generation to absorb them. This process of absorption has never been as great as it is now, with more than three hundred languages being spoken in schools here in London. Yet with each new wave of immigrants, the basic reaction to them seems exactly the same.
The Asians arrived in cold, wet weather at Stansted...
We saw this divided response when almost 60,000 Ugandan Asians were forced out by Idi Amin in the 1970s. Some people welcomed them, others didn't.
If there was room, there was houses, there was jobs I would say nothing about it, nothing at all, but again, I say that we have too many coloured people in this country to absorb in our community at this time.
That hasn't always been the international response. After the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese boat people, fearing Communist persecution, sought refuge abroad, and the United States persuaded the outside world to accept them. That was then.
We have a global problem, which is poor global governance, if you like, at a multilateral level. It’s the rise of other powers. The US doesn't have the influence it had, and the big powers don't agree fundamentally on some of these big issues and Syria is a classic example. So the problems are not being fixed, no-one can come in with a big stick and sort it out, and therefore we are left picking up the pieces in ways which are extremely difficult to deal with.
An entire century of exile and homelessness. The pictures are remarkably similar, so is the cause: conflict and bad government. Unless they are dealt with, the flow won't stop.
John Simpson, BBC News.
Key:
1. Belgians who went to Britain when the Germans invaded their country
2. 1988-89
3. the large number of immigrants coming from outside Europe
4. a generation
5. they were afraid of the Communist persecution
6. a problem of governance or new powers have emerged or the big powers don't agree or one nation (US) doesn't hold all the power
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1. What does 'a quarter of a million' refer to?
2. When did the Kosovo conflict take place?
3. What is the new factor in the current European immigrant crisis?
4. How long does it take a wave of immigrants to be absorbed by the destination countries?
5. Why did the Vietnamese boat people leave their country?
6. What is the global problem that makes it difficult to deal with the current refuge crisis?
The vast wave of would-be immigrants into Europe has seemed unprecedented, and yet this sort of thing has been happening again and again for a hundred years.
When Germany invaded Belgium in 1914, a million people fled the country, and a quarter of a million came to Britain. After 1945, an estimated twelve million ethnic Germans fled Eastern Europe. They took refuge in East and West Germany. During the Kosovo conflict in 1988 and 9, hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians fled abroad. But there is something new and different about this current wave.
I think it’s a crisis of politics rather than numbers. What's dramatic about today is this is the first time Europe has faced people coming outside of Europe in large numbers as refugees. So the fact that many are Muslims, that they are from the Middle East, is perceived often as threatening, as challenging Europe's identity.
Even so, for centuries now, Britain, like the rest of Europe, has accepted great waves of immigrants, and each time it has needed at least a generation to absorb them. This process of absorption has never been as great as it is now, with more than three hundred languages being spoken in schools here in London. Yet with each new wave of immigrants, the basic reaction to them seems exactly the same.
The Asians arrived in cold, wet weather at Stansted...
We saw this divided response when almost 60,000 Ugandan Asians were forced out by Idi Amin in the 1970s. Some people welcomed them, others didn't.
If there was room, there was houses, there was jobs I would say nothing about it, nothing at all, but again, I say that we have too many coloured people in this country to absorb in our community at this time.
That hasn't always been the international response. After the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese boat people, fearing Communist persecution, sought refuge abroad, and the United States persuaded the outside world to accept them. That was then.
We have a global problem, which is poor global governance, if you like, at a multilateral level. It’s the rise of other powers. The US doesn't have the influence it had, and the big powers don't agree fundamentally on some of these big issues and Syria is a classic example. So the problems are not being fixed, no-one can come in with a big stick and sort it out, and therefore we are left picking up the pieces in ways which are extremely difficult to deal with.
An entire century of exile and homelessness. The pictures are remarkably similar, so is the cause: conflict and bad government. Unless they are dealt with, the flow won't stop.
John Simpson, BBC News.
Key:
1. Belgians who went to Britain when the Germans invaded their country
2. 1988-89
3. the large number of immigrants coming from outside Europe
4. a generation
5. they were afraid of the Communist persecution
6. a problem of governance or new powers have emerged or the big powers don't agree or one nation (US) doesn't hold all the power
jueves, 26 de mayo de 2016
Helping Immigrant Students Adjust to New Schools New Lives
A growing community of Somali immigrant families in St. Cloud, Minnesota, has presented multiple challenges for local educators who have been dealing with not only how to meet the students' linguistic and educational needs, but also how to create a learning environment where they feel safe and welcome.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 What number is the district where Bashar and Ahme work?
2 Why did the Hassans leave Somalia?
3 What do they do at St. Cloud apart from bridging the cultural gap?
4 How many Somali students does St Cloud have?
5 How will you succeed, accoridng to Ahmed?
This is one community, with a different culture. It's a very diverse city. People who live in this city came from different parts of the world.
We are this community. And we are this community that's changing and growing, and continuing to grow and continuing to change.
This is who I am. I want people to understand who I am, but also I don't want to abandon from my culture, who I am. My name is Ahmed Hassan, I'm a Bi-lingual Communication Support Specialist at Talahi Community School, for the district 742.
My name is Bashar Hassan. I work for the St. Cloud area school district 742 as a Bi-lingual Communication Support Specialist.
- My name is Bashar Hassan.
- My name is Ahmed Hassan.
- I'm also a son.
- I'm a son.
- And older brother.
- And an older brother.
I was born in Somalia. Grew up in Kenya as a refugee migrant. I came to Kenya in 1991 from when the Civil War broke out in Somalia. I lived in Kenya as a refugee migrant for 17 years.
Finally, I get the opportunity to come to the United States of America. There's no question that whenever you are starting a new life, there's always a challenging. There are a lot of people like Shadehe who are new to this country every day. And when they go to the schools, they need someone who understands their language, someone who knows their culture, someone who actually bridge that gap.
This is an awesome growth.
I do a lot of interpreting, a lot of translation. I also work with pretty much everyone in the building as needed, and also I'm here to bridge that gap of cultural differences between the school personnel and the community.
I'll be speaking both in English and Somali here today, whenever we have new students who don't speak English, what's our role? I mean what's our job? You're job as a leader in the classroom is to help interpret for that person if you…
It's extremely important, first for the community, to see that we are hiring staff that mirrors our community. And we can't do that if we don't hire staff that speak Somali, are Somali. Of those students in the program that I have, we probably have about 1,750 of our students who are Somali. So they're really bringing unique perspectives, their bringing languages, their bringing all kinds of things to our classrooms that we have to really make sure that we value and we show the community that we value, so we build that relationship.
It's good to have someone who speaks your language and who knows your culture, to be here in the district and in the community. I'm really proud to serve this community and to be who I am today. It's not an easy thing, but if you have the courage and the intention to do what you're doing, you will succeed.
H/T to Larry Ferlazzo.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 What number is the district where Bashar and Ahme work?
2 Why did the Hassans leave Somalia?
3 What do they do at St. Cloud apart from bridging the cultural gap?
4 How many Somali students does St Cloud have?
5 How will you succeed, accoridng to Ahmed?
This is one community, with a different culture. It's a very diverse city. People who live in this city came from different parts of the world.
We are this community. And we are this community that's changing and growing, and continuing to grow and continuing to change.
This is who I am. I want people to understand who I am, but also I don't want to abandon from my culture, who I am. My name is Ahmed Hassan, I'm a Bi-lingual Communication Support Specialist at Talahi Community School, for the district 742.
My name is Bashar Hassan. I work for the St. Cloud area school district 742 as a Bi-lingual Communication Support Specialist.
- My name is Bashar Hassan.
- My name is Ahmed Hassan.
- I'm also a son.
- I'm a son.
- And older brother.
- And an older brother.
I was born in Somalia. Grew up in Kenya as a refugee migrant. I came to Kenya in 1991 from when the Civil War broke out in Somalia. I lived in Kenya as a refugee migrant for 17 years.
Finally, I get the opportunity to come to the United States of America. There's no question that whenever you are starting a new life, there's always a challenging. There are a lot of people like Shadehe who are new to this country every day. And when they go to the schools, they need someone who understands their language, someone who knows their culture, someone who actually bridge that gap.
This is an awesome growth.
I do a lot of interpreting, a lot of translation. I also work with pretty much everyone in the building as needed, and also I'm here to bridge that gap of cultural differences between the school personnel and the community.
I'll be speaking both in English and Somali here today, whenever we have new students who don't speak English, what's our role? I mean what's our job? You're job as a leader in the classroom is to help interpret for that person if you…
It's extremely important, first for the community, to see that we are hiring staff that mirrors our community. And we can't do that if we don't hire staff that speak Somali, are Somali. Of those students in the program that I have, we probably have about 1,750 of our students who are Somali. So they're really bringing unique perspectives, their bringing languages, their bringing all kinds of things to our classrooms that we have to really make sure that we value and we show the community that we value, so we build that relationship.
It's good to have someone who speaks your language and who knows your culture, to be here in the district and in the community. I'm really proud to serve this community and to be who I am today. It's not an easy thing, but if you have the courage and the intention to do what you're doing, you will succeed.
H/T to Larry Ferlazzo.
jueves, 28 de abril de 2016
Journey to Canada Stories of Refugees – Fatima
Fatima, a former Afghani refugee and now proud Canadian citizen, shares her inspirational journey.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 How long did Fatima live in Afghanistan?
2 Why did she find it difficult to continue school in Afghanistan?
3 Where did her family go when they left Afghanistan?
4 Where did she live in this new country?
5 What did she do to make some money at the age of 18?
6 What academic interests did she mention in her application to Canadian universities?
7 How does she feel as a Canadian citizen?
I have great memories from Afghanistan. I lived there for about 15, 16 years. I have parents that were both well educated and I grew up in an environment that was fostering education there. And then the war started and it was really difficult to continue school. And after that it was really difficult for women to live on their own in Afghanistan. There was security threats and really basically you always need a man’s support to get around the society. So that was how we had to leave and started all over in Peshawar Pakistan.
When I went to high school, in the afternoons we went to an English-language school. It was valued and really... if you wanted to get further. The point was that you want to go ahead in your life and you don't want to be in the refugee camp all the time. And so the goal was to immigrate to Canada, US, Australia once that program was done. There was a teacher training course for 3 or 6 months or so and I completed that and then was able to, you know, make money and get a salary for two years. Yeah. So I felt really independent at the age of 18 or so.
The way they have organised the program that you can assimilate to… integrate to Canada... Canadian society easily and also help you get where you want. So you write your bio, your interests, and all that, and depending on that whatever you have written in your application they will send your resume to different universities. And my interest was engineering and mathematics and computer science. So they sent me to school that offered that program and I… and I could get into what I wanted to.
I mean Canada is my home now and I feel so much connected to Canada than any other part of the world. So it was a great way to know that you can now vote, you can participate in a whole range of activities in Canada as a citizen and be part of Canadian society. So it was great. It was a privilege.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 How long did Fatima live in Afghanistan?
2 Why did she find it difficult to continue school in Afghanistan?
3 Where did her family go when they left Afghanistan?
4 Where did she live in this new country?
5 What did she do to make some money at the age of 18?
6 What academic interests did she mention in her application to Canadian universities?
7 How does she feel as a Canadian citizen?
I have great memories from Afghanistan. I lived there for about 15, 16 years. I have parents that were both well educated and I grew up in an environment that was fostering education there. And then the war started and it was really difficult to continue school. And after that it was really difficult for women to live on their own in Afghanistan. There was security threats and really basically you always need a man’s support to get around the society. So that was how we had to leave and started all over in Peshawar Pakistan.
When I went to high school, in the afternoons we went to an English-language school. It was valued and really... if you wanted to get further. The point was that you want to go ahead in your life and you don't want to be in the refugee camp all the time. And so the goal was to immigrate to Canada, US, Australia once that program was done. There was a teacher training course for 3 or 6 months or so and I completed that and then was able to, you know, make money and get a salary for two years. Yeah. So I felt really independent at the age of 18 or so.
The way they have organised the program that you can assimilate to… integrate to Canada... Canadian society easily and also help you get where you want. So you write your bio, your interests, and all that, and depending on that whatever you have written in your application they will send your resume to different universities. And my interest was engineering and mathematics and computer science. So they sent me to school that offered that program and I… and I could get into what I wanted to.
I mean Canada is my home now and I feel so much connected to Canada than any other part of the world. So it was a great way to know that you can now vote, you can participate in a whole range of activities in Canada as a citizen and be part of Canadian society. So it was great. It was a privilege.
martes, 1 de marzo de 2016
Women entrepreneurs: Sheela Murthy
Watch this short video on female entrepreneur Sheela Murthy, who battled for years to obtain her green card in US, and complete the information below about her.
Name: Sheela Murthy
Company: Law firm
Sheela’s mother
Sheela’s father
Her love story
The process of becoming a US citizen
The principles underlying her law firm
Sheela’s husband’s advice to run the business
Mistakes she made at the early stages of her firm
Lessons she learnt from that
Should the business grow?
Giving back to the community
A big part of the reason that I became an immigration lawyer was because I went through hell in getting my own green card.
I knew that I wanted to make a difference in the lives of people and so I thought I’m gonna live the American Dream and start my own baby, start my own law firm and see where it takes me.
My mother was very, very strong as a role model, very, very powerful as a person, and extremely strong as an Indian woman. She said a woman is supposed to be subservient. A woman is supposed to tow the line and follow what her husband tells her to do, but not one single day of her life did she ever tow the line, or listen to my father.
My father is just very, very kind, caring, compassionate and generous to a fault. He was an engineer in the Indian army and he came from a really poor family so he had to work really, really hard. My father and mother are polar opposites but the one thing that both my parents were in complete accord and agreement over, which is that their three children were definitely going to excel in their education and become professionals.
I know for him it was love at first sight. He makes no bones about it. For me, I felt he was one of the nicest human beings that I had ever met in my life.
The process from the time I entered the United States till the time I became a U.S. citizen was about a dozen years. It was a long process, very painful, very slow, very stressful.
I thought “My law firm is not just gonna be about being an amazing lawyer but it’s really going to be about compassion and empathy and caring about people.”
I thought, “Oh my God. Is it okay to give away everything I own in this world, which is my knowledge, for free on the Internet and write answers for people?” And my husband actually said, “Trust me. It’s gonna pay off. It’s okay.” And what it did was actually made me see hundreds of real life cases, learn my knowledge, learn the craft.
We started making money but I kept thinking, “Oh gosh, the bubble is going to burst. This can’t be true.” So I was hiring part-time employees initially and then full-time paralegals. And making sure that I didn’t overpay people, which in hindsight wasn’t very wise.
I would expect so much and demand so much that three out of my four paralegals walked out within a week of each other. I think they were telling me, “Buzz off, Bozo. You’re stressing the heck out of us.” And I didn’t get it because I was like go, go, go, go, go like a machine.
That was a huge, huge, huge lesson in humility for me to have to take. I had to eat humble pie, because I knew the problem was me. I was telling them all the time, take care of the client but I wasn’t taking care of my own staff.
I’m always constantly divided between staying at this number which is very nice and comfortable and the natural urgent inclination to grow. I don’t need to have more money. And I don’t want more responsibility. But if the next generation decides that that’s where that’s where they’re going to take the firm, I will be thrilled and honored.
The firm is doing very well. And we do a lot to give back to the community. And I feel that my legacy is already in each family that we have helped to accomplish their great American dream of living and working in this great country. And I’ve been very blessed and fortunate that I’ve been able to do that in my life.
Name: Sheela Murthy
Company: Law firm
Sheela’s mother
Sheela’s father
Her love story
The process of becoming a US citizen
The principles underlying her law firm
Sheela’s husband’s advice to run the business
Mistakes she made at the early stages of her firm
Lessons she learnt from that
Should the business grow?
Giving back to the community
A big part of the reason that I became an immigration lawyer was because I went through hell in getting my own green card.
I knew that I wanted to make a difference in the lives of people and so I thought I’m gonna live the American Dream and start my own baby, start my own law firm and see where it takes me.
My mother was very, very strong as a role model, very, very powerful as a person, and extremely strong as an Indian woman. She said a woman is supposed to be subservient. A woman is supposed to tow the line and follow what her husband tells her to do, but not one single day of her life did she ever tow the line, or listen to my father.
My father is just very, very kind, caring, compassionate and generous to a fault. He was an engineer in the Indian army and he came from a really poor family so he had to work really, really hard. My father and mother are polar opposites but the one thing that both my parents were in complete accord and agreement over, which is that their three children were definitely going to excel in their education and become professionals.
I know for him it was love at first sight. He makes no bones about it. For me, I felt he was one of the nicest human beings that I had ever met in my life.
The process from the time I entered the United States till the time I became a U.S. citizen was about a dozen years. It was a long process, very painful, very slow, very stressful.
I thought “My law firm is not just gonna be about being an amazing lawyer but it’s really going to be about compassion and empathy and caring about people.”
I thought, “Oh my God. Is it okay to give away everything I own in this world, which is my knowledge, for free on the Internet and write answers for people?” And my husband actually said, “Trust me. It’s gonna pay off. It’s okay.” And what it did was actually made me see hundreds of real life cases, learn my knowledge, learn the craft.
We started making money but I kept thinking, “Oh gosh, the bubble is going to burst. This can’t be true.” So I was hiring part-time employees initially and then full-time paralegals. And making sure that I didn’t overpay people, which in hindsight wasn’t very wise.
I would expect so much and demand so much that three out of my four paralegals walked out within a week of each other. I think they were telling me, “Buzz off, Bozo. You’re stressing the heck out of us.” And I didn’t get it because I was like go, go, go, go, go like a machine.
That was a huge, huge, huge lesson in humility for me to have to take. I had to eat humble pie, because I knew the problem was me. I was telling them all the time, take care of the client but I wasn’t taking care of my own staff.
I’m always constantly divided between staying at this number which is very nice and comfortable and the natural urgent inclination to grow. I don’t need to have more money. And I don’t want more responsibility. But if the next generation decides that that’s where that’s where they’re going to take the firm, I will be thrilled and honored.
The firm is doing very well. And we do a lot to give back to the community. And I feel that my legacy is already in each family that we have helped to accomplish their great American dream of living and working in this great country. And I’ve been very blessed and fortunate that I’ve been able to do that in my life.
lunes, 22 de febrero de 2016
Listening test: Canadian citizenship
Listen to this CBC radio programme on Canadian citizenship and choose the option A, B or C which best complete each sentence.
1. To get the Canadian citizenship, newcomers
A. are required to have lived in Canada for 4 years.
B. must be between 18 and 54.
C. must have a specific level of English.
2. In Ermias Yoseph’s opinion, meeting the requirements is hard for immigrants because
A. a large number of them are not educated.
B. of their age.
C. they are living in difficult conditions.
3. In the past, immigrants
A. didn’t have to prove their knowledge of English.
B. didn’t have to do any tests.
C. had to prove their knowledge of Canadian culture.
4. Ermias Yoseph says that
A. some immigrants will never meet the requirements.
B. the requirements are fair.
C. the requirements don’t make any sense.
5. Ermias Yoseph also says that some immigrants
A. are making a great effort to learn.
B. can’t find work because they don’t have the citizenship.
C. don’t have the time to attend school.
Every year, about 170,000 immigrants to Canada become citizens. But becoming a citizen has become increasingly difficult. In 2010, the federal government changed the citizenship test, requiring a higher score to pass and making the questions more challenging. Then, in November of 2012, the rules were changed again so that newcomers between 18 and 54 must prove they have a Canadian Language Benchmark score of four before they can apply for citizenship. In this interview, Terry MacLeod interviews Ermias Yoseph of Welcome Place about how these changes are affecting newcomers in Manitoba.
How hard is it for newcomers to reach this benchmark level of four?
Considering the background where most of these refugees come from it’s very hard because most of our clients because of unfortunate circumstances did not have an opportunity to go to school or to get a formal education and now to require them to obtain a benchmark level of four and above is very hard for them.
How did it work before these rules came into effect?
Before these rules came into effect you didn’t have to have a required benchmark level as long as you have adequate knowledge of Canadian history and you are able to communicate in English you can and then as long as you’ve lived for about three years in Canada, you are able to apply. It was not mandatory to have a benchmark level of four and above.
Is it fair though to expect people to have a certain level of English in order to function in Canadian society?
I understand the reasoning behind this requirement. It’s a to allow or to assist newcomer families, including refugee newcomers, to be able to communicate effectively or to be able to find work easily. But it should also be understood that most of these refugees did not have a formal education. Some of them never went to school in their lives. So it’s very difficult for them to attain that. Some may not ever, may never be able to attain the benchmark level four, so considering those facts, I don’t think it’s fair for refugee families.
Now the government says the rules are in place because better English leads to greater work success for newcomers. Are these rules encouraging people to work harder because they aim for a benchmark level of four, and therefore they say, I’m going to get that, I’m going to work really hard?
Some of these people actually from the time they arrived in Canada, they’ve been attending school. They realize that it’s important for them to know the language or to have the language skills in order to be successful at work. They’ve been attending school, I know …, they’ve been attending school since they came to Canada, they’ve been working, they know that it helps but the same time, it’s also bringing some obstacles for them to be able to apply for Canadian citizenship but it’s an ongoing problem.
KEY:
1C 2A 3C 4A 5A
1. To get the Canadian citizenship, newcomers
A. are required to have lived in Canada for 4 years.
B. must be between 18 and 54.
C. must have a specific level of English.
2. In Ermias Yoseph’s opinion, meeting the requirements is hard for immigrants because
A. a large number of them are not educated.
B. of their age.
C. they are living in difficult conditions.
3. In the past, immigrants
A. didn’t have to prove their knowledge of English.
B. didn’t have to do any tests.
C. had to prove their knowledge of Canadian culture.
4. Ermias Yoseph says that
A. some immigrants will never meet the requirements.
B. the requirements are fair.
C. the requirements don’t make any sense.
5. Ermias Yoseph also says that some immigrants
A. are making a great effort to learn.
B. can’t find work because they don’t have the citizenship.
C. don’t have the time to attend school.
Every year, about 170,000 immigrants to Canada become citizens. But becoming a citizen has become increasingly difficult. In 2010, the federal government changed the citizenship test, requiring a higher score to pass and making the questions more challenging. Then, in November of 2012, the rules were changed again so that newcomers between 18 and 54 must prove they have a Canadian Language Benchmark score of four before they can apply for citizenship. In this interview, Terry MacLeod interviews Ermias Yoseph of Welcome Place about how these changes are affecting newcomers in Manitoba.
How hard is it for newcomers to reach this benchmark level of four?
Considering the background where most of these refugees come from it’s very hard because most of our clients because of unfortunate circumstances did not have an opportunity to go to school or to get a formal education and now to require them to obtain a benchmark level of four and above is very hard for them.
How did it work before these rules came into effect?
Before these rules came into effect you didn’t have to have a required benchmark level as long as you have adequate knowledge of Canadian history and you are able to communicate in English you can and then as long as you’ve lived for about three years in Canada, you are able to apply. It was not mandatory to have a benchmark level of four and above.
Is it fair though to expect people to have a certain level of English in order to function in Canadian society?
I understand the reasoning behind this requirement. It’s a to allow or to assist newcomer families, including refugee newcomers, to be able to communicate effectively or to be able to find work easily. But it should also be understood that most of these refugees did not have a formal education. Some of them never went to school in their lives. So it’s very difficult for them to attain that. Some may not ever, may never be able to attain the benchmark level four, so considering those facts, I don’t think it’s fair for refugee families.
Now the government says the rules are in place because better English leads to greater work success for newcomers. Are these rules encouraging people to work harder because they aim for a benchmark level of four, and therefore they say, I’m going to get that, I’m going to work really hard?
Some of these people actually from the time they arrived in Canada, they’ve been attending school. They realize that it’s important for them to know the language or to have the language skills in order to be successful at work. They’ve been attending school, I know …, they’ve been attending school since they came to Canada, they’ve been working, they know that it helps but the same time, it’s also bringing some obstacles for them to be able to apply for Canadian citizenship but it’s an ongoing problem.
KEY:
1C 2A 3C 4A 5A
domingo, 14 de febrero de 2016
Extensive listening: The long road
As Europe witnesses the dramatic movement of people across its borders, Panorama reporter John Sweeney joins thousands making the journey from the Greek Island of Kos to the Austrian border with Hungary.
In Panorama episode The Long Road he meets families fleeing conflict and terror in Syria, refugees separated from their loved ones, children, the old and sick being forced to march to safety.
Among this tide of humanity, he also finds economic migrants seeking a better life in Northern Europe and he asks, with winter on the way, is the crisis about to claim even more lives?
In Panorama episode The Long Road he meets families fleeing conflict and terror in Syria, refugees separated from their loved ones, children, the old and sick being forced to march to safety.
Among this tide of humanity, he also finds economic migrants seeking a better life in Northern Europe and he asks, with winter on the way, is the crisis about to claim even more lives?
jueves, 28 de enero de 2016
America's 11 million
This New York Times video shows the true picture of illegal immigration in the US.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below about it.
1. When did the majority of undocumented immigrants arrive in US?
2. What's the ration between men and women?
3. What will immigrants receive and not receive if they have children born in US?
4. What record figure does the state of Nevada have?
5. Why are immigrants settiling in Maryland?
6. Which sector have most undocumented immigrants traditionally worked in?
7. How many undocumented immigrants hold health insurance?
8. Which two requisites are necessary for undocumented immigrants to be protected by President Obama's plan?
We have 11 million people living illegally in this country.
11 million undocumented immigrants…
We don’t have the capacity to deport 11 million people.
11 million undocumented people currently live in the United States. Here’s a look at who they are.
According to the Department of Home Land Security, the majority have been here for more than 10 years. 54%, 6.1m, arrived (1) between 1999 and 2004. 61% are between the ages of 25 and 44, and overall it’s about (2) 50-50 men and women. The Pew Research Center estimates 4m have children born here, in the United States. These people are among the 5m expected to (3) receive protection from deportation and permission to work legally, but not full citizenship under President Obama’s executive action.
Everybody agrees that our immigration system is broken.
Most states with the largest populations are also home to the most undocumented people. California has 2.45m, followed by Texas, Florida, New York, New Jersey and Illinois. (4) But Nevada has the largest percentage of illegal immigrants. Meanwhile, immigrants are settling across the country now with populations rising in (5) Maryland, where there’s near-universal health care in DC. In Pennsylvania, Virginia and Nebraska, which each offers growing economic opportunities.
Immigration makes America stronger. Immigration makes us more prosperous.
Nearly all men here without papers, 87%, are working. Most women, 82%, are also employed or home-caring for children. (6) The construction industry has long been a source of jobs for the undocumented. Now south-eastern states with expanding metropolitan like Nashville, Tennessee, and Charlotte, North Carolina, are now attracting immigrants.
And finally a few interesting thirds to note. A third of undocumented adults live below the federal poverty level, but also nearly a third on homes and (7) a third carry health insurance.
Overall the vast majority, 5.8m, are Mexican-born. While the number of people coming from Mexico is declining, the number seeking refuge from gang violence and poverty in Guatemala, El Salvador and other Central American countries is rising. (8) But unless these people have been here for more than five years and have US-born children, they are unlikely to be protected by President Obama’s immigration plan.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below about it.
1. When did the majority of undocumented immigrants arrive in US?
2. What's the ration between men and women?
3. What will immigrants receive and not receive if they have children born in US?
4. What record figure does the state of Nevada have?
5. Why are immigrants settiling in Maryland?
6. Which sector have most undocumented immigrants traditionally worked in?
7. How many undocumented immigrants hold health insurance?
8. Which two requisites are necessary for undocumented immigrants to be protected by President Obama's plan?
We have 11 million people living illegally in this country.
11 million undocumented immigrants…
We don’t have the capacity to deport 11 million people.
11 million undocumented people currently live in the United States. Here’s a look at who they are.
According to the Department of Home Land Security, the majority have been here for more than 10 years. 54%, 6.1m, arrived (1) between 1999 and 2004. 61% are between the ages of 25 and 44, and overall it’s about (2) 50-50 men and women. The Pew Research Center estimates 4m have children born here, in the United States. These people are among the 5m expected to (3) receive protection from deportation and permission to work legally, but not full citizenship under President Obama’s executive action.
Everybody agrees that our immigration system is broken.
Most states with the largest populations are also home to the most undocumented people. California has 2.45m, followed by Texas, Florida, New York, New Jersey and Illinois. (4) But Nevada has the largest percentage of illegal immigrants. Meanwhile, immigrants are settling across the country now with populations rising in (5) Maryland, where there’s near-universal health care in DC. In Pennsylvania, Virginia and Nebraska, which each offers growing economic opportunities.
Immigration makes America stronger. Immigration makes us more prosperous.
Nearly all men here without papers, 87%, are working. Most women, 82%, are also employed or home-caring for children. (6) The construction industry has long been a source of jobs for the undocumented. Now south-eastern states with expanding metropolitan like Nashville, Tennessee, and Charlotte, North Carolina, are now attracting immigrants.
And finally a few interesting thirds to note. A third of undocumented adults live below the federal poverty level, but also nearly a third on homes and (7) a third carry health insurance.
Overall the vast majority, 5.8m, are Mexican-born. While the number of people coming from Mexico is declining, the number seeking refuge from gang violence and poverty in Guatemala, El Salvador and other Central American countries is rising. (8) But unless these people have been here for more than five years and have US-born children, they are unlikely to be protected by President Obama’s immigration plan.
viernes, 11 de diciembre de 2015
Hungary builds migrant border fence
There has been a sharp rise in the number of migrants trying to enter Hungary. In response to this Hungarian authorities have built a fence stretching the Hungary-Serbian border.
Self-study activity:
Watch the news report and answer the questions. The activity is suitable for Intermediate 2 students.
1 Who has built the fence at the steelworks in Dunaujvaros?
2 Who is putting up the fence?
3 What does 'November' refer to?
4 What message is the Hungarian government trying to send to migrants with the fence?
5 Where are the migrants taken once they arrive in Hungary?
The race is on to get Hungary’s border fence ready by the end of the month. It’s been built by (1) prison inmates at this steelworks at Dunaujvaros in central Hungary and put in place by (2) soldiers and the unemployed. It’s a radical answer to what the Hungarian government says it’s an intolerable situation.
The nature and the number of illegal migrants entering the European Union is unwanted by, by all the European countries. Nobody’s prepared for the integration, for the incorporation of a million people that’s going to reach, according to the estimates, this year.
This fence is something of an experiment for the Hungarian government. (3) First, they said it would be ready by the end of November, now by the end of August. It’s designed to send their message to the tens or hundreds of thousands of people on their way up through the Balkans to Hungary: (4) stay away, you’re not welcome here.
38,000 people entered the EU through Hungary last month alone. Rumours that a new barrier would soon block their path have probably increased their numbers. On arrival, they’re rounded up by police and (5) taken to this registration camp near the border.
You said you come from Ghana?
Yes.
How difficult was the journey?
It’s very bad. Very bad with the pregnant women, with the children.
How old are your children?
Two and four.
While the Hungarian government sometimes gives the impression that Hungary is a country opposed to all asylum seekers, many dozens of volunteers here in Schengen close to the Serbian border and elsewhere in the country are out to give a different impression.
The majority are from either Afghanistan, Syria, of course, Iraq, and a lot are also from Pakistan and, and Bangladesh.
Across the border the Serbian authorities have largely turned a blind eye to all the people travelling through their country, at best they’re pointing them the way to Hungary.
We are Syrians, from Syria, from Damascus or Alipo. We’re going through Europe to Germany, Netherlands, to Sweden, to find a better life.
The Hungarian government is building a fence now. Will that stop you if there’s a fence in the way?
That will be harder to us but I think when we’re looking for life, nothing will stop us.
Self-study activity:
Watch the news report and answer the questions. The activity is suitable for Intermediate 2 students.
1 Who has built the fence at the steelworks in Dunaujvaros?
2 Who is putting up the fence?
3 What does 'November' refer to?
4 What message is the Hungarian government trying to send to migrants with the fence?
5 Where are the migrants taken once they arrive in Hungary?
The race is on to get Hungary’s border fence ready by the end of the month. It’s been built by (1) prison inmates at this steelworks at Dunaujvaros in central Hungary and put in place by (2) soldiers and the unemployed. It’s a radical answer to what the Hungarian government says it’s an intolerable situation.
The nature and the number of illegal migrants entering the European Union is unwanted by, by all the European countries. Nobody’s prepared for the integration, for the incorporation of a million people that’s going to reach, according to the estimates, this year.
This fence is something of an experiment for the Hungarian government. (3) First, they said it would be ready by the end of November, now by the end of August. It’s designed to send their message to the tens or hundreds of thousands of people on their way up through the Balkans to Hungary: (4) stay away, you’re not welcome here.
38,000 people entered the EU through Hungary last month alone. Rumours that a new barrier would soon block their path have probably increased their numbers. On arrival, they’re rounded up by police and (5) taken to this registration camp near the border.
You said you come from Ghana?
Yes.
How difficult was the journey?
It’s very bad. Very bad with the pregnant women, with the children.
How old are your children?
Two and four.
While the Hungarian government sometimes gives the impression that Hungary is a country opposed to all asylum seekers, many dozens of volunteers here in Schengen close to the Serbian border and elsewhere in the country are out to give a different impression.
The majority are from either Afghanistan, Syria, of course, Iraq, and a lot are also from Pakistan and, and Bangladesh.
Across the border the Serbian authorities have largely turned a blind eye to all the people travelling through their country, at best they’re pointing them the way to Hungary.
We are Syrians, from Syria, from Damascus or Alipo. We’re going through Europe to Germany, Netherlands, to Sweden, to find a better life.
The Hungarian government is building a fence now. Will that stop you if there’s a fence in the way?
That will be harder to us but I think when we’re looking for life, nothing will stop us.
viernes, 28 de agosto de 2015
US students head to Germany for free degrees
BBC's Franz Strasser looks at the increasing number of Americans who are taking advantage of German universities.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below. The activity is suitable for Intermediate 2 and Advanced students.
1 What qualifications does Anna Mass have?
2 How much do university students in Germany pay to attend university?
3 Which was Hunter Bliss’s main motivation to go to Germany to study?
4 What does Hunter spend his 600€ monthly expenses on?
5 What three reasons are given to justify the benefit of admitting foreign students at German universities?
6 Why hasn’t Katherine returned to the States?
In a suburb of New Jersey Anna Mass is getting her papers in order. After receiving (1) a bachelor’s degree in the US she decided to do her masters in Germany and save a lot of money.
Initially I was kind of thrown off because I thought there wasn’t any tuition for any of the universities and I thought maybe there’s a catch because I’m American and I always think that.
(2) Universities are free of charge in Germany, for German citizens and for everyone else. Thousands of Americans have heard the call and have enrolled overseas.
Hunter Bliss made the move last fall. At first, because the 19-year-old from South Carolina had never even been outside the US.
I heard things like I would be able to drink, have health care, I would get education, which is great. (3) My main motivation, of course, was saving money.
There’s about thirty or so students sitting inside listening attentively to this lecture being held in English, and that’s important because the University President has his wish that within five years every graduate programme at this university will not just be offered in English but in English school of symphony.
How is everything going?
Pretty good.
In the meantime, Hunter’s mother is glad. She can finance his education and living expenses without having to take on any loans.
Each month it costs about 600€ to live here: (4) My room, train tickets, school, gym, food, phone, health care.
But how long can it last?
The president of Hunter’s university says it’s almost inevitable that foreigners will have to pay in the future.
If we ignore the question of how to finance an outstanding university, the future reveal not continue of having outstanding universities in Germany.
But in the capital Berlin, the top destination for US students, politicians insist that college education should be a right, and not a privilege. And experts say there’s economic benefit for Germany too. If 40% of graduates stay in the country for five years, Germany recovers its costs.
Keeping international students who have studied in the country is the ideal way of immigration because (5) they have certificates which are needed, they don’t have a language problem at the end of their stay and they know the culture.
Katherine is one of those already paying back into the system. After finishing her master’s degree last year she’s still in Berlin living in a hip neighbourhood and working for a German start-up association.
I still could have gone but I know there’s some sort of comfort here, there’s, (6) there’s so many young people all thinking, believing that Berlin is this sort of dream world where anything is possible after you graduate.
For a country worried about an aging population, not charging young foreign talent could prove to be a smart long-term strategy. Franz Strasser BBC News Germany.
domingo, 21 de junio de 2015
Extensive listening: Death in the Mediterranean
Death in the Mediterranean is a CBS 60 Minutes segment where Clarissa Ward reports on the desperation of migrants which fuels the largest mass migration since WWII in which thousands have died trying to reach Europe by sea. Ward interviews IOM Italy Chief of Mission Federico Soda on this issue.
You can read a full transcript here.
You can read a full transcript here.
domingo, 8 de febrero de 2015
Extensive listening: Immigration undercover
In 2013 BBC aired the Panorama documentary Immigration undercover. This is the information they gave about the programme at that time:
"More than half a million foreign migrants are estimated to be hiding from the authorities in the UK. Some are failed asylum seekers who live in graveyards and abandoned garages or 'disappear' within their own communities. They include bogus students planning to work illegally and others who have crossed the Channel hidden in the back of a lorry.
Many of those without papers turn to a life of criminality involving drugs, violence and prostitution - and with money Panorama has discovered they can come and go on an illegal travel network which smuggles them OUT of the UK as well as in.
Reporter Paul Kenyon goes undercover with this new type of smuggling gang - charging £1,500 a time - to help illegals out of the UK right under the nose of the British authorities."
You can read the transcript for the first ten minutes of the programme here.
"More than half a million foreign migrants are estimated to be hiding from the authorities in the UK. Some are failed asylum seekers who live in graveyards and abandoned garages or 'disappear' within their own communities. They include bogus students planning to work illegally and others who have crossed the Channel hidden in the back of a lorry.
Many of those without papers turn to a life of criminality involving drugs, violence and prostitution - and with money Panorama has discovered they can come and go on an illegal travel network which smuggles them OUT of the UK as well as in.
Reporter Paul Kenyon goes undercover with this new type of smuggling gang - charging £1,500 a time - to help illegals out of the UK right under the nose of the British authorities."
You can read the transcript for the first ten minutes of the programme here.
viernes, 9 de enero de 2015
The Rise of Hispanic Farmers
Sergio Silva is one of a growing number of Hispanics who own or operate farms in the United States.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions about it. The activity is suitable for intermediate 2 students.
1 What do we learn about Sergio's education?
2 What are newcomers doing?
3 What does '21%' refer to?
4 Why does Sergio mention 'Friday'?
5 How do the two partners at Rancho Espinosa divide their work?
6 What does Sergio say about America ('in this country')?
To check your answers you can read the transcript below.
I would like this particular colour because the colour is amazing, because flowers, to begin with, is to make people happy, so bright colours make people happy, gets you excited.
Sergio Salvador dropped out school when he was a teenager and worked long hours in fields like these (1). Today he sits in the front office as the co-owner of a flower-growing company that covers 50 acres in Salinas, California. He’s among a growing number of Hispanics who own or operate agricultural business in the United States today.
In this area you have all these new Mexican-Americans starting new businesses. New-comers like myself are, you know, buying the greenhouse and turning those greenhouses into production (2).
Although agriculture has been traditionally dominated by whites, between 2007 and 2012 there was a 21% increase in Hispanic-operated farms (3).
You know, when you’re a minority in this country and you’re the small business, you cannot miss, you have to be successful. My dad and my mother were born in Mexico. When we came here, my mum and dad, you know, they worked in the fields. I dropped out of school before… I never graduated from high school. I went directly to the field, you know. For me it was getting a paycheck every Friday, that was awesome (4), so I didn’t mind doing the field work, as I grow older, I start looking for a… opportunities, I got a better job, yet I had this dream that I wanted to do something different, so what I decided to do then we… I joined a company last year with another partner.
You know, he had thirty years plus experience running a huge operation because I know the product good inside out, just want to be more focus on growing and Sergio focuses more on the operational and business side (5). Our company name is Rancho Espinosa just to let people know, hey, you’re dealing with some rancheros.
You have plans for dinner?
Oh, yeah we want to go to the rodeo.
Rodeo? I don’t want to go to the rodeo. There’s so much people. You have to see horses.
I wanted to offer my kids a better future and I saw that in this country, that if you work hard and you have a dream and you really put that time into it, with education or not, you still can live up to your dream (6).
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions about it. The activity is suitable for intermediate 2 students.
1 What do we learn about Sergio's education?
2 What are newcomers doing?
3 What does '21%' refer to?
4 Why does Sergio mention 'Friday'?
5 How do the two partners at Rancho Espinosa divide their work?
6 What does Sergio say about America ('in this country')?
To check your answers you can read the transcript below.
I would like this particular colour because the colour is amazing, because flowers, to begin with, is to make people happy, so bright colours make people happy, gets you excited.
Sergio Salvador dropped out school when he was a teenager and worked long hours in fields like these (1). Today he sits in the front office as the co-owner of a flower-growing company that covers 50 acres in Salinas, California. He’s among a growing number of Hispanics who own or operate agricultural business in the United States today.
In this area you have all these new Mexican-Americans starting new businesses. New-comers like myself are, you know, buying the greenhouse and turning those greenhouses into production (2).
Although agriculture has been traditionally dominated by whites, between 2007 and 2012 there was a 21% increase in Hispanic-operated farms (3).
You know, when you’re a minority in this country and you’re the small business, you cannot miss, you have to be successful. My dad and my mother were born in Mexico. When we came here, my mum and dad, you know, they worked in the fields. I dropped out of school before… I never graduated from high school. I went directly to the field, you know. For me it was getting a paycheck every Friday, that was awesome (4), so I didn’t mind doing the field work, as I grow older, I start looking for a… opportunities, I got a better job, yet I had this dream that I wanted to do something different, so what I decided to do then we… I joined a company last year with another partner.
You know, he had thirty years plus experience running a huge operation because I know the product good inside out, just want to be more focus on growing and Sergio focuses more on the operational and business side (5). Our company name is Rancho Espinosa just to let people know, hey, you’re dealing with some rancheros.
You have plans for dinner?
Oh, yeah we want to go to the rodeo.
Rodeo? I don’t want to go to the rodeo. There’s so much people. You have to see horses.
I wanted to offer my kids a better future and I saw that in this country, that if you work hard and you have a dream and you really put that time into it, with education or not, you still can live up to your dream (6).
jueves, 18 de septiembre de 2014
See Britain through my eyes series updated and Patient care in the UK
Four years ago now, back in 2010, when we started out this blog, one of the first series of videos and activities we came up with was See Britain through my Eyes, based on the videos created by the Foreign Office to help people get to know what modern Britain is like in preparation of the 2012 London Olympic Games. In the videos, foreigners who have settled in Britain talk about their lives, their professions and the way the UK has helped them to enhance their careers.
The See Britain through my Eyes YouTube account was subsequently cancelled, but chance has had it that we've come across them on the UK Government's National Archives, where all the videos in the series are hosted and can be watched. Here is a list with the twelve videos we have published in the series so far.
Self-study activity:
Watch Dr Claudia Bausewein talk about patient care in the UK and say whether the statements below are true or false.
1. Palliative care started in the UK.
2. The key to palliative care is focusing on the disease.
3. There is not success in looking after dying patients.
4. Looking after the ill and disabled is not part of the UK culture.
5. When she was a student in Germany Dr Bausewein didn't really believe the information she was reading about palliative care in the UK.
6. The Cicely Saunders Institute was created by dame Cicely Saunders.
My name is Claudia Bausewein. When I first came as a medical student, there was no palliative care setting in Germany at all. So, it was very clear to go to the place where it originated, where it started and where the best expertise was. And this is the UK obviously.
Britain is the country where the modern hospice movement started with Dame Cicely Saunders in the mid-60s. It was Dame Cicely who really put the patient in the center. And she taught us a lot regarding listening, how to deal with the patient, how to focus on their situation, seeing them from a holistic point of view, not only seeing them from their disease or illness.
As a researcher in palliative care, I work with other specialists and we try together to improve the care of the patients. We are not focusing on any diagnostic tests. We are focusing on the patient and their views, their experience.
Today we're going to be meeting one of my patients, Kim, who I've been doing some work with to help manage her breathlessness.
People often say there's no success if you look after dying patients. And I say it's always a question of how I define success. If success only means somebody needs healing or somebody has to be cured from a disease, then obviously we might not be successful. But if success is that if somebody is coming in pain, maybe for weeks or months, hasn't slept well, and hasn't been able to be in contact with the family, [Are you practicing that at home as well regularly?] and if you are able to help them and to relieve the pain, breathing techniques that I've taught Kim and that she's been putting into action and if somebody is saying after a week, "Oh, I'm much better. I can sleep well, I've got my energy back," this is a huge success.
And hold. Okay. So relax those shoulders.
So for me it is very satisfying work, focusing on the human being that is sort of my partner.
And back, that's it.
Alright.
Health care in Britain is much more seen as part of the community and of society. I think looking after people is very much in the hearts and minds of people in this country. And really caring for people who are disabled, who are very ill, who are very old is very much part of how people want to be cared for. And also how people want other people to be cared for.
As a medical student in Germany, I was reading about palliative care or the hospice movement in the UK, and I thought, oh this sounds nice and this is really almost unrealistic. It sounded so wonderful. But when I came here and realized that this is really working. This is reality. This is not only a vision in a book, but I experienced it myself and became part of it. Becoming part of this hospice family was a great experience for me.
When Dame Cicely started this hospice movement, I think it was always her vision to have a center, a beacon for research for patient care and for education. This building, the Cicely Saunders Institute, really emphasizes that Britain is always ahead regarding research in palliative care. And now there is a building which is saying that palliative medicine and palliative care is important. We need them.
And now I would like to see that we not only do research here in the UK, but that we do high-quality research in Germany as well.
Key:
1T 2F 3F 4F 5T 6F
The See Britain through my Eyes YouTube account was subsequently cancelled, but chance has had it that we've come across them on the UK Government's National Archives, where all the videos in the series are hosted and can be watched. Here is a list with the twelve videos we have published in the series so far.
- Life of a soldier in the UK
- Palestinian singer on freedom of speech
- UK design industry
- Jonathan Mills, Australian orchestra conductor
- Sir Steve Redgrave
- Reporter Zeinab Badawi on freedom of expression
- British fashion knows no bounds (Reem Alasadi)
- The British do things differently (Camila Batmanghelidjh, founder of the charity Kids Company)
- Photo journalist Andre Camara about equality in the UK
- Film, playwright, novelist and social commentator Bonnie Greer on London, a hub city for culture
- Italian-born astrophysicist Giovanna Tinetti on science and innovation
- Russian-born violin player Alina Ibragimova on love for music
Self-study activity:
Watch Dr Claudia Bausewein talk about patient care in the UK and say whether the statements below are true or false.
1. Palliative care started in the UK.
2. The key to palliative care is focusing on the disease.
3. There is not success in looking after dying patients.
4. Looking after the ill and disabled is not part of the UK culture.
5. When she was a student in Germany Dr Bausewein didn't really believe the information she was reading about palliative care in the UK.
6. The Cicely Saunders Institute was created by dame Cicely Saunders.
My name is Claudia Bausewein. When I first came as a medical student, there was no palliative care setting in Germany at all. So, it was very clear to go to the place where it originated, where it started and where the best expertise was. And this is the UK obviously.
Britain is the country where the modern hospice movement started with Dame Cicely Saunders in the mid-60s. It was Dame Cicely who really put the patient in the center. And she taught us a lot regarding listening, how to deal with the patient, how to focus on their situation, seeing them from a holistic point of view, not only seeing them from their disease or illness.
As a researcher in palliative care, I work with other specialists and we try together to improve the care of the patients. We are not focusing on any diagnostic tests. We are focusing on the patient and their views, their experience.
Today we're going to be meeting one of my patients, Kim, who I've been doing some work with to help manage her breathlessness.
People often say there's no success if you look after dying patients. And I say it's always a question of how I define success. If success only means somebody needs healing or somebody has to be cured from a disease, then obviously we might not be successful. But if success is that if somebody is coming in pain, maybe for weeks or months, hasn't slept well, and hasn't been able to be in contact with the family, [Are you practicing that at home as well regularly?] and if you are able to help them and to relieve the pain, breathing techniques that I've taught Kim and that she's been putting into action and if somebody is saying after a week, "Oh, I'm much better. I can sleep well, I've got my energy back," this is a huge success.
And hold. Okay. So relax those shoulders.
So for me it is very satisfying work, focusing on the human being that is sort of my partner.
And back, that's it.
Alright.
Health care in Britain is much more seen as part of the community and of society. I think looking after people is very much in the hearts and minds of people in this country. And really caring for people who are disabled, who are very ill, who are very old is very much part of how people want to be cared for. And also how people want other people to be cared for.
As a medical student in Germany, I was reading about palliative care or the hospice movement in the UK, and I thought, oh this sounds nice and this is really almost unrealistic. It sounded so wonderful. But when I came here and realized that this is really working. This is reality. This is not only a vision in a book, but I experienced it myself and became part of it. Becoming part of this hospice family was a great experience for me.
When Dame Cicely started this hospice movement, I think it was always her vision to have a center, a beacon for research for patient care and for education. This building, the Cicely Saunders Institute, really emphasizes that Britain is always ahead regarding research in palliative care. And now there is a building which is saying that palliative medicine and palliative care is important. We need them.
And now I would like to see that we not only do research here in the UK, but that we do high-quality research in Germany as well.
Key:
1T 2F 3F 4F 5T 6F
viernes, 13 de septiembre de 2013
How has the immigration changed Britain?
Today's video clip is a smooth follow-up to yesterday's video clip with the opinion (and the pride) of immigrants living in the US.
To a large extent, today's video clip is the other side of the coin, and shows the way nationals feel about immigrants, especially in this age and time of economic crisis.
We have also changed countries. This time is Britain where BBC's Political Editor Nick Robinson visits Peterborough to find out how immigration has changed the country. The former market town in Cambridgeshire, now a city, used to be "very English and very white", he says, but in the last decade 24,000 immigrants have arrived.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video by clicking on the picture below or on this link and answer the questions about it.
The activity is suitable for intermediate students.
1 What is the ratio of immigrants in Peterborough?
2 What are people telling British politicians?
3 What is the problem with some schools, according to the man in the shop?
4 Why doesn't this shopkeeper's father go into town any more?
5 How long has the customer at the shop been living in the city?
6 What is the percentage of people who think immigration is too high?
7 According to Karem, what is the main problem with immigrants now?
8 What makes immigration different now from some decades ago?
9 What are Poles well-known for?
10 Why isn't essential for Polish immigrants to know the English language any more?
11 What does political leader Marco Cereste compare immigration to?
12 What does 'a fifth of the population' refer to? And 'a tenth of households'?
You can check the answers by reading the transcript below.
This is how much of the country used to look: A typical market, a typical town, so very British, so very white. Not anymore. The face of Britain is changing, and nowhere more so than here, in Peterborough. In the last decade in this city 24,000 immigrants have moved in, that’s more than one in eighth of the population.
Over the past decade more than a million Eastern Europeans came to Britain and stayed. Now politicians are competing to say that the country is no longer open to all comers. They are listening to the voices of those who are telling them that their towns, their cities, their lives have changed.
I’ll be honest. I want to move out of Peterborough. Surely give my son a fair chance in schools because obviously, you know, everyone’s talented about education but locally there’s so many that the classes will get bigger and therefore one or two schools English isn’t the first language.
To a large extent, today's video clip is the other side of the coin, and shows the way nationals feel about immigrants, especially in this age and time of economic crisis.
We have also changed countries. This time is Britain where BBC's Political Editor Nick Robinson visits Peterborough to find out how immigration has changed the country. The former market town in Cambridgeshire, now a city, used to be "very English and very white", he says, but in the last decade 24,000 immigrants have arrived.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video by clicking on the picture below or on this link and answer the questions about it.
The activity is suitable for intermediate students.
1 What is the ratio of immigrants in Peterborough?
2 What are people telling British politicians?
3 What is the problem with some schools, according to the man in the shop?
4 Why doesn't this shopkeeper's father go into town any more?
5 How long has the customer at the shop been living in the city?
6 What is the percentage of people who think immigration is too high?
7 According to Karem, what is the main problem with immigrants now?
8 What makes immigration different now from some decades ago?
9 What are Poles well-known for?
10 Why isn't essential for Polish immigrants to know the English language any more?
11 What does political leader Marco Cereste compare immigration to?
12 What does 'a fifth of the population' refer to? And 'a tenth of households'?
You can check the answers by reading the transcript below.
This is how much of the country used to look: A typical market, a typical town, so very British, so very white. Not anymore. The face of Britain is changing, and nowhere more so than here, in Peterborough. In the last decade in this city 24,000 immigrants have moved in, that’s more than one in eighth of the population.
Over the past decade more than a million Eastern Europeans came to Britain and stayed. Now politicians are competing to say that the country is no longer open to all comers. They are listening to the voices of those who are telling them that their towns, their cities, their lives have changed.
I’ll be honest. I want to move out of Peterborough. Surely give my son a fair chance in schools because obviously, you know, everyone’s talented about education but locally there’s so many that the classes will get bigger and therefore one or two schools English isn’t the first language.
So what is it? Is it the scale?
It’s the scale, it’s just such a massive, massive change, and lots of people, my father, very rarely comes into this town or his wife because they don’t feel safe.
They feel uncomfortable?
Uncomfortable, don’t feel safe because obviously you don’t know what, obviously when they talk in their native tongue. You don’t know what they are rabbiting.
Oh, have you got a customer?
There’s one hiding there.
How long have you been living here?
In here? I’ve been yesterday. Yesterday eleven.
No, I said how long you’ve lived in the city?
In the city? One day.
Ian is very, very far from being alone. About three quarters of people tell pollsters they think immigration is too high, and more than half of those say we think immigration should be cut by a lot. That’s been true for a long time but something has changed in the last few years. The number of people who say that the impact of immigration is very bad has almost doubled. Interestingly, that’s a view shared by first and second generation immigrants.
The new arrivals are not integrating as well. There’s ghetto situations. Karam’s father came from the Punjab to Peterborough to set up this store.
How different would he think Peterborough was now to what it was then?
Ian is very, very far from being alone. About three quarters of people tell pollsters they think immigration is too high, and more than half of those say we think immigration should be cut by a lot. That’s been true for a long time but something has changed in the last few years. The number of people who say that the impact of immigration is very bad has almost doubled. Interestingly, that’s a view shared by first and second generation immigrants.
The new arrivals are not integrating as well. There’s ghetto situations. Karam’s father came from the Punjab to Peterborough to set up this store.
How different would he think Peterborough was now to what it was then?
I think he’d be shocked.
Really? Because?
Yeah, I think so, I mean he was a very proud man who was a British and when he came out here and embraced Britain as his country.
Do you see the irony in this?
I do.
You’re a Seikh?
You see, the problem with the immigrants they don’t mix in. That is probably in a nutshell.
Here in East Anglia thousands of Eastern Europeans work on the land, picking fruit and vegs and flowers, people Steve believes have helped locals like him in their jobs.
People say, no, we haven’t got space for them, there’s no room here. There are no jobs here.
Here in East Anglia thousands of Eastern Europeans work on the land, picking fruit and vegs and flowers, people Steve believes have helped locals like him in their jobs.
People say, no, we haven’t got space for them, there’s no room here. There are no jobs here.
There is, there is. There’s plenty of room. We’ll always fit them in.
Imagine somebody says, one of your customers, my kid, my son, my grandson can’t get a job because there’s some Polish bloke taken it or Lithuanian. What would you say to them?
Try somewhere else, work harder.
For decades the whole question of immigration was inextricably linked with race, which is why mainstream politicians were so terrified of the subject. But now that the new influx of immigrants are white and from Europe, that link’s largely been broken, but the pressure is still on the politicians because there are questions of integration and questions of whether the country is simply too full.
So this is a Polish paper from here?
For decades the whole question of immigration was inextricably linked with race, which is why mainstream politicians were so terrified of the subject. But now that the new influx of immigrants are white and from Europe, that link’s largely been broken, but the pressure is still on the politicians because there are questions of integration and questions of whether the country is simply too full.
So this is a Polish paper from here?
Poles are known here for being hard workers, doing the jobs many others simply won’t do. They’re also known though for keeping themselves to themselves.
We are Polish, aren’t we? So that’s why people are coming here, especially Polish people which are not speaking English.
We are Polish, aren’t we? So that’s why people are coming here, especially Polish people which are not speaking English.
But I guess forty, fifty years ago maybe new arrivals in Britain thought ‘we have to learn English then we can fit in’?
Yeah, now we don’t have to really because if you’ve got some problems you can always come into the Polish shop.
Come to the shop.
This city is already successfully absorbed many waves of immigrants, including thousands of Italians, one of whom is now Peterborough’s political leader.
My sense is you’re a kind of a big optimist about immigrants whereas I might affix you not to be.
This city is already successfully absorbed many waves of immigrants, including thousands of Italians, one of whom is now Peterborough’s political leader.
My sense is you’re a kind of a big optimist about immigrants whereas I might affix you not to be.
Ok, in my view, it’s a glass that is half full or half empty. Now we can’t stop immigration coming to the city. As a councilor, as an administration I can’t stop people coming in. So what do you do? You either say they are a huge problem and we want them to go away, or you say, well they’re gonna come anyway, so let’s make the very, very best of it.
Italians, Poles, Africans, Asians, a fifth of the population of this city were born abroad, a tenth of households speak no English. Now the opinion polls are clearly telling politicians that people want that flow to stop or at least to slow down. Perhaps though people are as concerned about integration as they are about immigration because in truth most people know that Britain is not simply going to go back to the way once was.
Italians, Poles, Africans, Asians, a fifth of the population of this city were born abroad, a tenth of households speak no English. Now the opinion polls are clearly telling politicians that people want that flow to stop or at least to slow down. Perhaps though people are as concerned about integration as they are about immigration because in truth most people know that Britain is not simply going to go back to the way once was.
jueves, 12 de septiembre de 2013
American stories of immigration
The White House, just like any other office, is full of American stories that started abroad, as this White House video clip proves. To learn more and to find out about other American stories of immigration visit WhiteHouse.Gov/Immigration.
Self-study activity:
No listening task today. Watch the video over and over until you get familiar with the accent of the White House staff in it and you kind of fully understand everything that is being said. You can find, as usual, the transcript below, and if you come across a vocabulary item difficult to understand you can easily look it up by double clicking on it.
You can also try the technique of shadow reading to try and improve your pronunciation. There are seventeen short very segments in the video. Choose one and try to read the transcript at the same speed as the person who is talking. That way you will be working on the pronunciation of individual words, speed of delivery and, most importantly, accent.
Monika (Poland):
We have all these stories, and we have this interwoven experience of having come here for a common purpose, which is to make a better life. And from that, you know, we can aspire to so much as people, as immigrants, as children of immigrants, to achieve really amazing things.
Todd (Korea):
America has this incredible power to bring people to its shores, to help build a brighter future for our country.
Namrata (India):
I think what's at stake here is that we need to make sure that we are a place where our actions continue to match our ideals and we continue to be a place of opportunity and hope for the rest of the world.
Leandro (Dominican Republic):
People still risk their lives to come here. And why is that? Because obviously they have a passion for something and really believe that they can still fulfill those dreams here.
Tina (China):
Our own competitiveness, our strength as a nation, our ability to have new innovation, be at the cutting edge and leading the world, is at stake as well, because the talent that comes into the United States and the drive and the ambition to build new things and build new companies and find new technologies also comes with immigrants.
Beth (Philippines):
We're a nation of immigrants, and I'm a perfect example of that.
Nancy (Argentina):
We're a nation of immigrants, and immigrants lend to the richness of our life here.
Gautam (India):
These are the stories of real people, of real families, of husbands and wives and kids who all want to be together in one country.
Araz (Iran):
My parents literally left everything behind in Iran. And when we came here, we started from scratch.
Nadeem (Pakistan):
Initially, my father, when he moved to this country, he came with only $500 in his pocket and, you know, a family.
Namrata:
Dad came to the United States first to start looking for some jobs. He's a doctor.
Monika:
Slowly and surely, we learned English, mostly through "Sesame Street." And we began to make friends and do really well.
Toniann (Italy):
This country was built on dreams with people trying to better themselves, and it seems to be a universal thought, that people come here to do things that they never thought they could do anywhere else.
Matias (Argentina):
I'm very thankful for the opportunity that this country has provided me and the opportunity for my children.
Fernando (Mexico):
We are a nation of immigrants. We bring together different ideas, different cultures, different races.
David (Portugal):
So, as we look forward, when you think about what's at stake for immigration reform, it's a continuation of what we've always been: both a nation of laws and nation of immigrants.
Gautam:
Although we all came from different places, we're sort of bound up in some very shared goals,
and we all want the same kind of future for our kids, who are all going to be Americans who come after us.
Self-study activity:
No listening task today. Watch the video over and over until you get familiar with the accent of the White House staff in it and you kind of fully understand everything that is being said. You can find, as usual, the transcript below, and if you come across a vocabulary item difficult to understand you can easily look it up by double clicking on it.
You can also try the technique of shadow reading to try and improve your pronunciation. There are seventeen short very segments in the video. Choose one and try to read the transcript at the same speed as the person who is talking. That way you will be working on the pronunciation of individual words, speed of delivery and, most importantly, accent.
Monika (Poland):
We have all these stories, and we have this interwoven experience of having come here for a common purpose, which is to make a better life. And from that, you know, we can aspire to so much as people, as immigrants, as children of immigrants, to achieve really amazing things.
Todd (Korea):
America has this incredible power to bring people to its shores, to help build a brighter future for our country.
Namrata (India):
I think what's at stake here is that we need to make sure that we are a place where our actions continue to match our ideals and we continue to be a place of opportunity and hope for the rest of the world.
Leandro (Dominican Republic):
People still risk their lives to come here. And why is that? Because obviously they have a passion for something and really believe that they can still fulfill those dreams here.
Tina (China):
Our own competitiveness, our strength as a nation, our ability to have new innovation, be at the cutting edge and leading the world, is at stake as well, because the talent that comes into the United States and the drive and the ambition to build new things and build new companies and find new technologies also comes with immigrants.
Beth (Philippines):
We're a nation of immigrants, and I'm a perfect example of that.
Nancy (Argentina):
We're a nation of immigrants, and immigrants lend to the richness of our life here.
Gautam (India):
These are the stories of real people, of real families, of husbands and wives and kids who all want to be together in one country.
Araz (Iran):
My parents literally left everything behind in Iran. And when we came here, we started from scratch.
Nadeem (Pakistan):
Initially, my father, when he moved to this country, he came with only $500 in his pocket and, you know, a family.
Namrata:
Dad came to the United States first to start looking for some jobs. He's a doctor.
Monika:
Slowly and surely, we learned English, mostly through "Sesame Street." And we began to make friends and do really well.
Toniann (Italy):
This country was built on dreams with people trying to better themselves, and it seems to be a universal thought, that people come here to do things that they never thought they could do anywhere else.
Matias (Argentina):
I'm very thankful for the opportunity that this country has provided me and the opportunity for my children.
Fernando (Mexico):
We are a nation of immigrants. We bring together different ideas, different cultures, different races.
David (Portugal):
So, as we look forward, when you think about what's at stake for immigration reform, it's a continuation of what we've always been: both a nation of laws and nation of immigrants.
Gautam:
Although we all came from different places, we're sort of bound up in some very shared goals,
and we all want the same kind of future for our kids, who are all going to be Americans who come after us.
viernes, 19 de julio de 2013
From LA to rural Scotland: The odyssey of a bookworm
The Realtime section of BBC's News Magazine has really interesting videoclips which tell us the life stories of their protagonists.
In February we found out about Jessica Fox, who told us in three and a half minutes about her journey from US to Scotland driven by her love of books.
Self-study activity:
Watch the clip by clicking on the picture below or on Jessica's link above and say whether the statements below are true or false.
The activity is suitable for (strong) intermediate students.
1 Jessica used to work a lot in the US.
2. She worked for NASA.
3. Life was almost perfect in California.
4. She suddenly thought that running a bookshop in Scotland was a good idea.
5. There are around 60 used bookshops in Wigtown.
6. The area around Wigtown is called Mini Scotland.
7. When she first visited Wigtown she made the decision to move there and then.
8. Moving to Scotland hasn't been really difficult.
9. She doesn't regret her decision.
There is a place in our lives for instinct and just a bit of mystery. I really do think that the assumptions we have about ourselves are really worth questioning.
My life was very un…imbalanced, and I was a workaholic, and I worked all the time. I also had a dream job. I was working for NASA and doing media direction for them but internally so basically I was as storage ...firm. I loved California for all the reasons because of the weather, and it was tough to make it to the Silverlake Hills, from there I could easily walk and get, like my vegan burrito or my, you know, go to my favourite clothing, hipster clothing style or the coffee shop.
For about a year a certain vision kept on coming back and that was a used bookshop by the sea in Scotland, and I could feel the air, I could see the bookshelves, and suddenly I saw there’s a woman behind the counter, and the woman looked up, and it was me.
So I sat down and I typed in ‘used bookshops Scotland’ to Google and Wigtown came up. And I felt like I had hit the jackpot, it was like 16 bookshops right by the sea in Scotland and I said of course it exists.
Some people call it Mini Scotland because what we have here is rolling beautiful farmland, you have the Highlands, you have ancient woodlands, which is really rare to get. Wigtown itself is built in a kind of oval shaped, beautiful old-stone houses that are connected in different colours. A lot of them are bookshops. So you couldn’t get a more romantic setting for a bookshop, you can get a variety of books and you only have, one food store(s), you can see the priority that books, that books take here.
I stayed here about a month on my first visit, and then afterwards I went back to California, and it took me a while to realize I was craving to go back because I missed especially the bookshop owner who was in the town.
Romantic comedies have ruined me. I am a child of the cinema and it looks so easy that you have to win when you wanted to go foreign country and start a new life, you could do just a beautiful montage sequence and you’d be there. But in reality, it’s really hard. There are rules and there are visas you have to apply for, it takes money and time.
I’m an idealist and a romantic, and I thought people are people, no matter where in the world you are, people are people.
I was reading it at three o’clock this morning, I hardly put it down.
It’s true, but there’s also cultural sensitivities and I did barge in here sort of like the media from the US and I slowly had to kind of sensitise myself to really different rhythms and different way of life.
My sense of happy feet has sort of calmed down. Now that I have found the balanced my artistic life and my career writing and my relationships especially, has really flourished. I have a lot of trust in the role of instinct in our lives.
Key:
1T 2T 3T 4F 5F 6T 7F 8F 9T
In February we found out about Jessica Fox, who told us in three and a half minutes about her journey from US to Scotland driven by her love of books.
Self-study activity:
Watch the clip by clicking on the picture below or on Jessica's link above and say whether the statements below are true or false.
The activity is suitable for (strong) intermediate students.
1 Jessica used to work a lot in the US.
2. She worked for NASA.
3. Life was almost perfect in California.
4. She suddenly thought that running a bookshop in Scotland was a good idea.
5. There are around 60 used bookshops in Wigtown.
6. The area around Wigtown is called Mini Scotland.
7. When she first visited Wigtown she made the decision to move there and then.
8. Moving to Scotland hasn't been really difficult.
9. She doesn't regret her decision.
There is a place in our lives for instinct and just a bit of mystery. I really do think that the assumptions we have about ourselves are really worth questioning.
My life was very un…imbalanced, and I was a workaholic, and I worked all the time. I also had a dream job. I was working for NASA and doing media direction for them but internally so basically I was as storage ...firm. I loved California for all the reasons because of the weather, and it was tough to make it to the Silverlake Hills, from there I could easily walk and get, like my vegan burrito or my, you know, go to my favourite clothing, hipster clothing style or the coffee shop.
For about a year a certain vision kept on coming back and that was a used bookshop by the sea in Scotland, and I could feel the air, I could see the bookshelves, and suddenly I saw there’s a woman behind the counter, and the woman looked up, and it was me.
So I sat down and I typed in ‘used bookshops Scotland’ to Google and Wigtown came up. And I felt like I had hit the jackpot, it was like 16 bookshops right by the sea in Scotland and I said of course it exists.
Some people call it Mini Scotland because what we have here is rolling beautiful farmland, you have the Highlands, you have ancient woodlands, which is really rare to get. Wigtown itself is built in a kind of oval shaped, beautiful old-stone houses that are connected in different colours. A lot of them are bookshops. So you couldn’t get a more romantic setting for a bookshop, you can get a variety of books and you only have, one food store(s), you can see the priority that books, that books take here.
I stayed here about a month on my first visit, and then afterwards I went back to California, and it took me a while to realize I was craving to go back because I missed especially the bookshop owner who was in the town.
Romantic comedies have ruined me. I am a child of the cinema and it looks so easy that you have to win when you wanted to go foreign country and start a new life, you could do just a beautiful montage sequence and you’d be there. But in reality, it’s really hard. There are rules and there are visas you have to apply for, it takes money and time.
I’m an idealist and a romantic, and I thought people are people, no matter where in the world you are, people are people.
I was reading it at three o’clock this morning, I hardly put it down.
It’s true, but there’s also cultural sensitivities and I did barge in here sort of like the media from the US and I slowly had to kind of sensitise myself to really different rhythms and different way of life.
My sense of happy feet has sort of calmed down. Now that I have found the balanced my artistic life and my career writing and my relationships especially, has really flourished. I have a lot of trust in the role of instinct in our lives.
Key:
1T 2T 3T 4F 5F 6T 7F 8F 9T
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