Listening and Notetaking Skills 2
April 9, 2025
Chapter 2: Immigration
Your Name – Student ID
Class – Teacher’s Name
April 9, 2025
What reason might a person have to immigrating to a
new country?
Answer:
A person might immigrate to a new country for a better jobs, a higher salary, or to have a
better life for their family.
Some people move for education, or to escape from war or any dangerous situations in their
country. Others want to experience a new culture or be with their loved ones.
What challenges might immigrants face adjusting to a
new culture? What personal qualities (pham chat) might
people need to start life in a new culture?
Answer: Immigrants may face language problems, different customs, and homesickness.
They need to be brave, patiet, and open to new things.
Can immigration help the country from which the immigrants (nguoi nhap cu) came? How?
Answer: Yes, it can. For example, they can send money to their families. This money
helps their families live better. Also, when they return home, they may bring new skills and
ideas.
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Listening and Notetaking Skills 2
April 9, 2025
Vocabulary Preview
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Names of Countries and Peoples
ˆ The plural for most nationalities is formed by adding -s: a Mexican, Mexicans
ˆ Nationalities ending in -ese can be singular or plural: a Vietnamese, the Vietnamese
ˆ When a nationality adjective ends in -sh or -ch, add the to mean the people of those
countries: the French, the British;
Oral Summary
Immigration to the United States
Today, I will talk about the history of immigration to the United States.
At first, people who came to America from Britain in the 1600s and 1700s didn’t see themselves as immigrants. They were called settlers or colonists. Later, more people came from
countries like Germany, the Netherlands, France, and Africa (as slaves). By 1776, about
40% of the population was not British.
Then came the Great Immigration, from 1830 to 1930. We can divide it into three stages:
1. First stage: 1830 - 1860: Most immigrants came from Germany, Britain, and Ireland.
2. Second stage: 1860 - 1890: Many more came, including people from Scandinavian
countries (Bac Au).
3. Third stage: 1890 - 1930: The biggest, immigrants came from Southern and Eastern
Europe, like Italy, Poland, and Russia.
Why did so many people leave Europe? There were several reasons:
ˆ The population in Europe was growing fast.
ˆ Many people lost their jobs during the Industrial Revolution.
ˆ There was not enough farmland, and some people wanted to escape religious or political
persecution. Also, better transportation made it easier to travel.
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Listening and Notetaking Skills 2
April 9, 2025
After 1930, immigration decreased. Between 1940 and 1970, the U.S. had fewer immigrants.
Reasons include new laws that limited immigration, the Great Depression, and WW2.
Today, immigration looks different. Most immigrants are from Latin America and Asia.
For example, from 2000 to 2010, most immigrants came from Mexico, China, India, the
Philippines, and Vietnam. They move for reasons like jobs, education, or to join family
members.
In the future, immigration could go up or down, depending on global events and U.S. laws.
Discussion
How different would the United States culture, economy, or its politics be today
if there had been no immigration after the year 1900?
If there had been no immigration after 1900, the U.S. would be very different. The culture
would not be as diverse, the economy might be weaker because many immigrants helped
build it, and politics would change because many voters today are immigrants or children of
immigrants.
When discussing the history of immigration in the United States, do you think
it is right to use the term immigrants for black Africans brought to the United
States as slaves? Why or why not?
No, it is not right. Immigrants choose to move to a new country, but African slaves were
forced to come. So we should not call them immigrants, just call them niggas.
What are some of the benefits of having immigrants in a country? What are
some of the disadvantages? Give specific examples.
Immigrants bring new ideas, food, music, and help the economy. For example, many immigrants work in hospitals and farms. But there can be disadvantages too, like pressure on
schools or housing in big cities. Sometimes, people also worry about job competition.
Pre - Reading
Q: What is the difference between an immigrant and a refugee? Which of the
immigrants in the lecture could be described as refugees?
An immigrant choose to move to another country to live, work, or study. A refugee is someone who is forced to leave their country because of war, danger, or persecution.
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Listening and Notetaking Skills 2
April 9, 2025
Some people in the lecture, like those escaping religious or political persecution or the potato
famine (nan doi) in Ireland, can be called refugees because they left their country to escape
suffering or danger.
Q: What do you think the term environmental refugee means? What kinds of
environmental problems could cause people to leave their home countries?
An environmental refugee is a person who leaves their home because of environmental problems, not war or politics.
Problems like foods, droughts, wildfires, rising sea levels, or earthquakes could force people
to move. For example, if a farm area becomes too dry to grow food, people may have to
leave to survive.
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