I’m going to talk about the notion “Spaces and Exchanges” and illustrate my point with one aspect of this theme: immigration by drawing on the example of Mexican immigration to the US and the students’ migration within Europe. We can wonder how these example define the notion Spaces and Exchanges? First I’d like to mention the human side of migration, and then I’d talk about the difficulties they encounter. Finally I’d like to talk about the cultural side.
Migration
is not a new phenomenon. People have always migrated. But since the beginning
of the 20th century, migration has been on the increase. People
migrated to other places and there have lots of reasons.
For
instance Wars, conflicts, persecution, poverty forces people to leave their
home. We studied an article about a Mexican immigrant called Ana. She had to go
to the US because she a debts and she lived in dire straits with her family in
a deprived neighborhood.
Besides
in another domain, some European students want to discover new countries and cultures.
It’s the case of the students who take part in the Erasmus Program which is the
European Union’s educational exchange program. Over two and a half million
students have benefited from Erasmus since its introduction in 1987. It allows
students to study in university abroad for several months.
Nevertheless
migrants encounter difficulties.
Mexican
immigrants face the hazard when trying to cross the American border, even more
when the US authorities have built a wall and a surveillance system to deter
migrants. In Ana’s case she had to play smugglers to sneak across the border.
She also faced the difficulties of integration because in the US she had to
find a place to live; she had to pay a broker to find a job as quickly as
possible to pay people back and being undocumented she has no right.
Contrary
to the US authorities, the European Commission encourages the mobility within
Europe. For instance Students can encounter difficulties with accommodation but
they could receive grants from the Commission
Finally
there is cultural side in migration
Mexican
migrants often managed to fit into their new countries. We studied an ad on
which the captions are in English and in Spanish. It shows that the number of
Hispanics is high in the US so it is worth targeting this community. So it
strengthens the country.
In
parallel, the Erasmus program allows Students to thrive abroad, to improve
their linguistics skills, to discover new people, to be more open minded. We
studied a document about an English Student called Alain. He took part in the
program and he gained to be more independent and mature because he had to cope
by herself.
To
conclude migration illustrates the notion Spaces and Exchanges because it
creates flows of people and cultures circulating and linking different places
around the world. However immigration has a seamy side that should be
considered by migrants if they have the choice. We can draw a parallel between
the Mexican immigration and the power of money.
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