1+1=English? Raises the Voices of Immigrants and Refugees

1+1=English? (Vancouver): 1+1=English? Takes you through the lens of a teenage newcomer from Colombia who is getting used to life in Vancouver. The video presents the discrimination newcomer youth battle with, especially ESL students, as well as the stereotypes their parents face.

The Action Team: Action Team is a group that was made by Immigrant and Refugee youth to help other newcomer youth and adults to integrate to Canada and make this process easier (Lower Mainland, BC). Through making workshops, presentations, speeches, theater plays, videos on Immigrant and Refugee youth and adult issues such as stereotyping, discrimination, racism, homophobia, etc, Action team is educating the mainstream public and raises awareness. Action Team is one the most successful groups in the Lower Mainland.
"The negativity associated with refugee youths make their interrogation process difficult and since many members of the Action Team have dealt with these circumstances, we feel a strong need to create changes."
The project was entirely youth-led, from conception to execution. During the spring and summer 2011, Action Team met regularly to write the script, cast actors, find filming equipment, teach each other how to use the equipment, film, and edit the video.
"This process helped Action Team gain insights on its own team dynamics as well as on the project goal of raising public awareness on the important messages trying to be conveyed."
Action Team launched the video in July 2011 during a community workshop, gathering over 70 participants. Click here to see their workshop outline and discussion questions in order to use the video in your community to debunk myths about newcomer youth.
Since then, Action Team has presented the video at Simon Fraser University (SFU) for a class of students who were doing their masters degree in working with language/teaching.
"1+1=English? addresses a common problem that ESL students have, which is the way teachers approach the students, not very patient and without special trainings in working with ESL students. Therefore, we presented the movie at SFU, mainly, for raising awareness and for the upcoming teachers to keep in mind that there are problems with the ESL curriculum in Vancouver, so they can come up with different strategies of dealing with it. That was the hope and purpose of presenting the movie at Simon Fraser".
Action Team is now preparing to show the video in Vancouver high schools in the fall, as part of their advocacy project on the Vancouver ESL curriculum.

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