Practice English expressions and academic vocabulary words from a story about a mother and daughter facing deportation.

What is this story about?

This story is about a mother and daughter. The mother, Maria, might be deported back to El Salvador. She has lived in the United States for almost 20 years on a temporary visa called TPS (Temporary Protected Status). Her children were born here, and she and her family made a life for themselves in the U.S. The visa allowed her to stay in the United States legally, but they don’t know if their visas will be extended. Listen to Maria and her daughter, Emily, talk about what it is like to face deportation. Will they be deported, or will they be able to stay in the United States? Let’s look at some of the vocabulary words and sentences related to this topic.

First, read through the vocabulary words:

Study Tip! Tap or scroll over the list below to see the definitions.

• Deportation
• Provisional
• Made a life for themselves
• Keep a promise
• Make a promise
• Pain in the neck
• Behind my back
• Relief
• Outcome

Now, look at how these vocabulary words are used in Maria and Emily’s story.

These are quotes from a conversation between Maria (the mother) and her daughter (Emily) talking about the possibility of deportation.

1. “In this week’s episode… you’ll hear the difficult conversations that one family is having as they deal with the recurring threat of deportation.“
2. “Maria Rivas and her husband, Jose, came to the US from El Salvador. In 2001, they were granted Temporary Protected Status or TPS… a provisional immigration status that was extended for more than two decades.”
3. “So Maria and Jose made a life for themselves here… eventually having two children Ethan and Emily… who are US citizens.”
4. The mother said, “And I didn’t promise something that I cannot keep. So I didn’t promise you that everything will be okay…”
5. The daughter said, “I was told that a lot of my classmates talked about it behind my back. In that moment, I was not angry or upset about it because good or bad, I was starting that conversation.”
6. The daughter, Emily, said, “There was such a relief, like, you prepare for the worst outcome and you’re pleasantly surprised when it’s not that outcome. But, when it got extended, you know, we could breathe.”

Can you explain the situation the family is facing? Which sentence tells us how this story ends?

What do you think?

1. Tell about a time when you were worried about the outcome of a situation. What happened? Did you feel relieved at the end of it? Why or why not?
2. What are some ways that you have made a life for yourself in your current location? Do you think it’s difficult for immigrants to make a life for themselves while living in a new country? Why or why not?
3. Has anyone ever talked behind your back? How did it make you feel? Why wasn’t the daughter upset that her classmates were talking behind her back? What conversation do you think that started?
4. What are the consequences of deportation on individuals, families, and communities, both in the country of origin and in the new country?

Got it? Now practice the vocabulary words in context below.

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You did it! You learned new words today! Keep up the good work!

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Improve your listening skills and hear the vocabulary words used in context. Listen to the full story about Maria and Emily here.

What do you think of this story? Keep practicing English and learn even more new words by joining the conversation and sharing your thoughts with learners from around the world.

Practice using grammar in context and then take a short quiz to check your understanding.

Try the complete practice with everything included. Let us take you through the listening, vocabulary, grammar, and joining in the conversation. Here, all English skills are integrated with a real topic! You’ve got this!

Sources

StoryCorps. (2020, August 14). On the Brink of Separation [Audio podcast episode]. In StoryCorps. Retrieved from https://storycorps.org/podcast/on-the-brink-of-separation/