Hi guys,

today we tried to finish everything we had to say about the topic "Immigration to the US" even if we haven't had time yet. However, we managed to say lots of things and give important definitions:

Ellis Island: It's an island in the bay of NYC where immigrants had to take two tests before entering and working in the USA (a literacy and medical test).
If you were not healthy a first doctor wrote something on your coat with a chalk for you to have another examination.

E PLURIBUS UNUM: It's one of the two mottos of the USA.
It means "out of many, one". It's a symbol for the melting pot.

-> out of many people,            one people
                            cultures,          _culture
                            languages,      _nation
                            nations,            _community
                            communities,  _country
                            countries,         _religion
 

ASSUMPTIONS:
They were many immigrants, that's why he may HAVE HAD no time / he may HAVE been in a bad mood.

------------------------------------------

Vocabulary: How to use it!
- COSSACK
- LIMP
- HEAL
-> When the COSSACK shot Jacob in the leg, he began to LIMP. At Ellis Island his wound has HEALED but it still hurts / aches a little.

- MISTAKE
- SWEAT
- SAY QUICKLY / BLURT OUT
-> Jacob makes many MISTAKES in English; he BLURTS words OUT and it makes him SWEAT.

- FEAR
- PAIN
- POGROM
-> A POGROM is an attack on Russian village; it produces a lot of FEAR and PAIN.

HW:

- préparez-vous à un test de vocabulaire très prochainement (mardi ou mercredi)

- révisez bien dans le but de réussir votre devoir de vendredi (leçon, vocabulaire, écriture de lettre)

Hi guys,

today we first worked about how you and / or your parents would react if... your future partner were much older, from a different social background, the same gender, ... all those things which are commonly seen as possible problems in a couple. Here is what we said about it:

Love is not a question of origin, social status, religion, physical appearance, age or gender because I’m open-minded (not narrow-minded)

For instance, if my partner were not rich, I wouldn’t mind. If my wife were not attractive, it wouldn’t be a big problem.

Nevertheless / However, I think that if my lover were too old, it would be a problem for me. If my husband or my wife couldn’t have children anymore, I would be disappointed and I think it would be a huge obstacle for my family.

                                                                                                                            I don’t mind

it doesn’t matter

I don’t care**

I don’t give a damn**

I don’t give a fuck***

Then we continued talking about the text and the main character's feelings and reaction:

"to be written by Nathalie"

HW:

- révisez bien votre méthode pour le commentaire de documents et les thèmes que je vous ai annoncés.

- préparez l'oral d'avec Holly sur le sexisme, cela pourra grandement vous servir selon le thème que vous choisirez pour l'oral blanc.

- préparez bien également le compte rendu sur le texte en cours (arranged marriages) car ce peut-être également l'un des thèmes de l'oral.

- Faites vos fiches de vocabulaire sur la séquence en cours, India.

Hey guys,

today was dedicated to training again and finally recording a version of your brochure for next week's exhibition and conference.

HW:

- Lundi: se préparer pour la représentation (notée) de votre scène.

- Jeudi: se préparer pour faire votre présentation d'oeuvres + pouvoir répondre aux éventuelles questions d'un auditoire.

- Jeudi: avoir envoyé la version audio définitive de la brochure sur laquelle vous avez travaillé par mail.

Hey guys,

today you spoke about how Jacob was frightened and what he was scared of. Here is what you said about him:

We can see that Jacob is quite nervous when he obeys the doctor who gives him orders.
He sweats a lot and he talks very quickly (he blurts out). He says he can't be calm because he is afraid of going back to Russia . He's scared of the cossacks. He's frightened of being killed, that's why he makes a lot of mistakes in English and also because he doesn't speak the language very well.

Jacob's mistakes : the correction.

- What does that mean?
- Nothing is wrong with my leg.
- There is nothing wrong with me.
- They will kill me.
- I was shot in a hunting accident.
- No, a doctor didn't. I mean... yes, a doctor did treat it.
- They have killed all the Jews in my village. That's why I can't go back .
- I'm healthy.
- It's alright.
- I'm telling the truth, honestly.
- There's no problem with my leg.

HW:

- écrire la lettre de Jacob (à son arrivée à Ellis Island et avant qu'il ne passe les tests en racontant en priorité ce qui s'est passé dans son village). Vous devez vous aider des fiches méthode et vocabulaire distribuées ce jour en incluant un minimum de 10 mots de vocabulaire empruntés parmi les différents thèmes proposés.

Hi guys,

today we first talked about an audio document: the Queen's address to the nation for Christmas 2011. Here is what we said about her speech:

The Queen address to the nation

She speaks very clearly and with a perfect accent: the “Queen’s English”

For instance, Holly speaks the “Queen's English”

The Queen speaks about the Common Wealth, an economic organization including former British colonies.

Natural disasters:

·         Flood (water)

·         Earthquake (earth)

·         Cyclone/storm (wind)

·         Drought (no water + heat wave)

·         Tsunami (water + quake) = tidal wave

Natural disasters can have an impact on economy. Countries help each other in a crisis politically and financially.

a little bit more about our text and we explained how the main character and her family reacted to the future wedding. Here is what we said about their feelings and reactions: 

First meeting

The text isa first-person narrative where the main character is the narrator.

She is a thirteen-year-old girl who is getting married.

The reasons that proves she’s a girl are:

·         “she prefers to work than to be a wife”

·         A bride (a woman who is getting married)

·         Sari with gold lace (a type of clothes for women)

·         Jewelry borrowed from my sister in law

·         She is preparing herself to her ceremony

 Her family is shocked, outraged and angry with their daughter because she is against the wedding.

Her parents won’t talk to her because they are too angry

                                                                                            enraged

                                                                                            furious

                                                                                            revolted

She doesn’t want to get married. It’s not the aim of her life.

                                                                                  goal

She wants to work / she would rather work. However/ nevertheless she forces herself to respect her uncle.

The narrator considers herself a victim because she is compelled / forced to get married. For her, it’s a sexist custom.

She would like to work rather than to be a housewife at 13. She is a rebellious teenager who is against the system. She is not willing to accept her parent’s authority.  

Then we continued the class with Holly about the place of women in society. Here is what you said:

Sexism still a problem?

→ at work (salary difference = they don't have the same wages) / at home (housework + looking after the children) / in many countries = no free speech + no rights + women are considered as slaves

Stereotypes?

→ the image of women in the media (all women are slim, gorgeous, …) / physical appearance / girls like pink and boys like blue

Father = head of the household?

→ he is seen as the family protector traditionally and culturally, but is this right ? Aren't women capable of protecting their families ?

Glad to be a boy / girl?

→ men have more power (physically and socially) / men will never get pregnant or have PMS / men are given more rights / lots of women feel culturally forced to take care of their looks a lot (like doing their nails, wearing jewelry...) / men don't have to be perfect.
→ girls succeed better at school. They have better results (but are they more intelligent?)

HW:

- apprendre les détails sur le texte (vendredi)

- se préparer à son oral blanc (mardi)

- préparer une intervention orale sur votre thème selon les instructions laissées par Holly (presentation, opinion, solution to the problem, quiz, opinion poll).

Hey guys,

today we continued talking about Jacob and this time we concentrated on his feelings. Here is what we first said about the lexical field and ideas dealing with "pain":

"He was a wreck"-> he was mentally hurt.
"I see you limp slightly"
"Healed"-> It means he was hurt but to now he feels better.
"Something wrong with your leg?"-> He was hurt in the leg but he doesn't want to talk about his wound to the inspector.

VOC: a wound/an injury

Hunting accident -> It's the cause of his wound.
Your leg will have to be looked at -> The doctor sees his leg is hurt. He sees he limps. He may think Jacob is not in good health and in pain. 

HW:

- pour mercredi: apprendre le cours + finir de remplir le tableau "pain and fear" en n'utilisant que des mots-clés.

- pour vendredi 27/01/12: écrire la lettre que Jacob envoie à de la famille en Pologne pour leur raconter ce qui s'est passé dans son village.

Hey guys,

today we first warmed up with your possible future studies and I learnt that some of you wanted to go abroad while others were scared or not interested.

Then we continued the class with the correction of the last part of your test about emotions and symbols. Here is what we said about those two topics:

EVOLUTION OF THE CHARACTERS' EMOTIONS

ANDREW:
at the beginning =  enthusiastic / confident / relaxed

When he arrives, Charles says everyone in the room is his friend.

then = scared / distressed / shocked / surprised --- Andrew gets fired

Then = embarrassed / revolted ------ Charles gets more serious and he does not understand why he is fired. He is interested in understanding / knowing the reasons why he is dismissed.

Finally = angry / furious ---- Andrew realizes he is fired because he has AIDS and not because he is incompetent.

HIS BOSS & PARTNERS

Charles: cold, pitiless, serious

Woman: doesn't want to feel responsible -> she looks embarrassed; she has a grin on her lips. The woman looks embarrassed she doesn't want to feel responsible. She looks away and has a nervous grin on her lips.

Bob: angry / enraged / he has a burst of rage/anger.

At first: polite / apparently friendly / but actually sarcastic = they intend to make Andrew feel pain.

HW:

- nous démarrerons une nouvelle séquence donc pas de devoir particulier; il faut juste bien vérifier que vos fiches de vocabulaire sont à jour et que votre classeur est bien tenu... Je conseille vivement à ceux qui n'ont réalisé leur fiche de méthode sur la présentation du document de la faire sinon il risque d'y avoir des conséquences assez désasteuses pour votre moyenne. Vous pouvez prendre appui sur les fiches de Quentin, Jazila, ou bien Clarisse qui sont très bien faites.

Hi guys,

today after having an interesting presentation by Sarah of yesterday's picture (good job), we moved on with the lesson and began studying a text about an illegal immigrant from Mexico.

Here is what we have said about her so far:

Ana: an illegal / undocumented immigrant from Mexico.

She left her 2 children and ex-husband to go to America. She paid a smuggler / coyote to help her and drove to Los Angeles where she finally took the plane / boarded an airplane to go to NYC.
During her trip, she hid in a car; she crawled into the US through a drainpipe / the sewage system. t must have been a very exhausting trip / journey. It must have been a very dangerous trip. She could have died in the desert for instance.
 
VOC
 
- a coyote: a person you pay to enter in a country illegaly -> ex: $1,000 fee for 1 person
- to smuggle money off shore = to hide money in another country
 
CLUES ABOUT "HIDING"?  to look for / to hide / to find
 
smuggler
scrunch onto the floor
moonlit drainpipe
crawl
not her real name
sneak
tax fee / off the books

Identity card:

- Ana (not her real name = nickname)
- 35 - 29
- Mexican (Puebla)
- 2 children -> 1 daughter Angel 13 and 1 son Misa 7 years old (1 when she left = an infant)
- divorced
- 8 siblings -> 4 in the US

HW:

- apprendre la leçon ( = être capable de parler d'Ana au début d'heure en reprenant les élements de sa "carte d'identité" et son arrivée aux USA)

- Entre le Vendredi 27 janvier et le Jeudi 2 février, vous devrez aller visiter l'expo qui sera mise en place au CDI. Vous devrez préparer des questions aux conférenciers qui vous présenteront les oeuvres. L'après-midi du 2 février sera une après-midi "anglais" pour tous les élèves de la TL de 13h10 à 17h15. Vous assisterez d'abord aux explications des guides en prenant des notes, puis poserez des questions pour compléter vos notes dans un 1er temps. Puis, dans un deuxième temps, vous serez mis en groupe pour préparer une intervention sur un document "inconnu" faisant partie du même mouvement artistique que celui présenté par les guides-conférenciers.