Will Maria Stay in the United States or Be Sent Back to Her Country?

Posted byREALIAPosted inEnglish Lessons (practice all your skills)

Word Wall

Let’s practice some of the vocabulary words and expressions from the listening. Read through the examples. Then, try it below.

First, read through the vocabulary words from the story:

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.

portrait of a mother and daughter together
  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. There was such a relief, like, you prepare for the worst outcome and you’re pleasantly surprised when it’s not that outcome. 

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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Learn English Grammar! Click on page 3 to practice grammar in context.
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