Migration

Going somewhere? 

Emigrate means to leave one's country to live in another. 

Immigrate is to come into another country to live permanently. 

Migrate is to move, like birds in the winter.

Emigrate means you are exiting your current homeland:

People are always saying there's no quality of life in Russia, and everyone wants to emigrate," he said. (New York Times)

Immigrate means you are coming into a country to live:

Citizens from 17 European Union countries were given freedom to immigrate to Switzerland in 2007. (Business Week)

Migrate means to move, like those crazy Monarch butterflies that migrate from Canada to Mexico and back. It doesn't have to be a permanent move, but migrate is more than a weekend away, and it's not just for butterflies. "Snowbirds" are people who migrate south for the winter and come back north when the snow melts, or someone might migrate to another part of the country for work or to be closer to family. Here are some examples:

Nevertheless, it has often been assumed that dinosaurs did migrate.(Scientific American)

People are prepared to travel and migrate within America. (Business Week)

Emigrate is from the point of view of the departure. Think exit.

Immigrate is from the point of view of the destination. Think come in.

Migrate is all about the moving. Think move.

( Vocabulary.com)

Task 1 - Thinking about reasons for emigration

There are many reasons why people choose to emigrate. Have a look at this list of possible reasons and discuss them with your group. Then try to put them into order from the most important to the least important. You can add more reasons of your own.

• To escape poverty

 • To escape war

 • To have better job opportunities

 • To have a better education for your children

 • To escape the political system

 • To be with someone you love

 • To escape natural disasters

• To learn a foreign language

 • To have a higher quality of life

 • To live in a country with a better climate

When you have finished, compare your list with the other groups’ lists.

Task 2 – Immigration poem

You are going to write a poem about immigration. First, listen to the instructions that you teacher gives.

I

M

M

I

G

R

A

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 Task 3   Let´s  read these statements and discuss.

Everybody should be able to live where they choose. Freedom of movement is a civil right.

People should stay and live in the country where they are born.

Immigration is one of the biggest problems of our time.

There should be more help available to immigrants to adapt to their new country.

In an ideal world nobody would need to emigrate.

People cannot be ‘illegal’.

Immigration makes countries more interesting and helps people become more tolerant.

Task 4.  Visit this website to get information about : Immigration:stories of yesterday and today.

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration/