GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER

CORRECTION OF THE PAIR WORK Friday, September 15th

Last summer Abdoulaye went to Mali.

Shalthy has two sisters and one brother.
Tiago doesn’t play any musical instrument but he listens to a lot of music .
Maksen loves playing video games.
Grace spent last summer in London whereas Julie has never been to an English speaking country.
Jed is 16 years old/ he is 16.
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THE BORDER BETWEEN MEXICO AND HE USA

Friday, September 22nd

We can see photographs of the wall at the border between Mexico and the USA.The goal of the wall
is to stop Latin American immigrants from crossing the border.They are trying to go to the USA for
economic reasons, they are in search of work. Often in their country, they are poor, jobless/ out of
work and dream of improving their lives in the US.
Some are risking their lives while crossing, they try to climb over the wall or swim accross the
river: the river Grande.
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A REPORT ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE BORDER

The border between Mexico and the US was created after the war between these two countries in
which Mexico lost 55% of their territorry. For example California and Texas used to be Mexican. In
1853 the border was drawn. The border has always been a conflict zone because of the differences
in the two countries’cultures, religions, economies...
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Friday, September 29th

A REPORT ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE BORDER (sequel)

Decades after its creation the border was wide open so it was easy for undocumented immigrants to
cross the border. This led Democrat and Republican presidents to build a border wall (Bill Clinton,
George Bush). After 9/11 security was reinforced and Donald Trump expanded the wall and wanted
Mexico to pay for it which they refused.
Now the border is a busy place which lots of vehicles (trucks/ lorries) cross, which tourists visit. It
is a place where families are reunited and where artists like J.R. create artworks.
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Friday, October 6th

J.R. INSTALLATIONS AT THE BORDER (2017)

The French artist created a huge installation with the photograph of a giant toddler nicknamed
Kikito who seems to be looking over the wall on the American side. He looks curious, interested in
what is happening on the other side. In the foreground, a border patrol officer seems to be looking
at the child who is in the background defying him.
The artist conveys a message here, he may mean immigrants do not necessarily have bad
intentions, they may be innocent children, they are just looking for a better life to escape from
their precarious situation. This artwork aims at questioning people’s prejudices against
immigrants.

The second installation is a table on both sides of the border with huge eyes staring at the sky. Both
Mexicans and Americans are sharing a meal, they are eating the same food and we don’t have the
impression they are separated. It is as if they belonged to the same family. Despite their different
origins, they are all the same.
The artist chose to photograph eyes which are the window to people’s soul and dreams of a better
future maybe.
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Friday, October 13th

UNDOCUMENTED TWINS TELL THEIR STORY

Maria and Brizzia arrived from Mexico when they were 5 with their parents. They took the bus and
had fake documents. Once in the USA, the twins had to learn fake names and had to hide their true
identity. They even had to skip school when the immigration police was around.The whole family
risked being deported back to Mexico.
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Friday October 20th

UNDOCUMENTED TWINS TELL THEIR STORY

When they were teenagers it was impossible for them to confide to their friends about their true
identity. They felt sad when people made cruel jokes about immigrants, when people made fun of/
laughed at immigrants.
They couldn’t explain to their friends why they couldn’t take their driver’s license.
Finally they made the decision to reveal/ disclose their story and to publish it in the school
newspaper and then in a national newspaper. Of course they ran the risk of being expelled but it
could also help them to get people’s support and change people’s judgement about immigrants.