TG4

Doc 1 : The plight of Indian women

*Plight : very difficult and sad situation

The video is a CNN documentary about women's living conditions in India.

The woman explains she was under great pressure from her relatives and neighbours to abort / have an abortion for all her daughters.

600,000 female fetuses are aborted every year. The male / female ratio is a problem in some parts of India. Only 774 girls are born for 1,000 boys.

Many girls are married before 18 years old and they can't choose their husbands. The woman was forced to marry a man who was 15 years older when she was 12 years old. She is 25 now and has 4 daughters.

When a couple gets married, the girl's parents ( = the bride's family) are asked to pay huge (= big)  dowries to the grooms' family.

a dowry → dowries (plural) = une dot

The bride and her family will be harassed to give more money all her life long even if the practice was outlawed ( = is illegal).

If they don't give any money, the girl can be killed or burnt

A  student was molested by a group of 18 men in the street for 45 minutes. People filmed the scene but no one helped her.

Another woman said that 5 men dragged from her house at night to rape her. She recognized 2 out of 5 but only one was condemned.

However the situation has improved a little : 

• literacy rates have gone up ↗

• maternal mortality rates have gone down.↘

• millions of women have joined the workforce

• political leaders such as Sonia Ghandi are role  models for women.

India is the fourth most dangerous country for women.

Half of teenage males think it is justified to beat one's wife under some circumstances.

Freida Pinto On sexism in India

The document is an interview of Freida Pinto, a famous actress who played in Slumdog Millionaire.

She is interviewed about a documentary India’s daughters, which was banned / censored on Indian TV.

It deals with the gang rape and murder of a young girl in New Delhi in December 2012.

It was controversial because of a remark of an attacker / a rapist who blames the woman.

The journalist asked her how important this film is in the debate about women and their place in society.

She was reminded of strong emotions  during the protests / demonstrations  in Bombay, Calcutta + overseas

There is a paradox in India between the number of strong women and some stone age behaviours.

Freida Pinto said that the problem comes from the way children are educated. When a boy is given a full glass of milk, his sister is given only half a glass. From an early age, children get a discriminating message. The little boy thinks he is superior and will grow into an adult who think girls are inferior.

Similarly the girl will naturally think she deserves less than her brother.

It's a vicious circle.

Freida Pinto also said that discrimination is very present in a developped, civilized and modern country like the USA because women still get lower wages ( = salary)  than men.

It's a shameful situation.

02.04 Dreaming big in India – correction

1. Varsha’s family is low on the Indian caste ladder. They wash other people ‘s clothes, they are dhobis. They are a family of seven, Varsha, her parents and her four siblings.

2. Varsha wants to become a policewoman / a cop. She wants to protect girls and women who could be attacked in the street. The attack in 2012 encouraged her to serve her country.

She is attracted by the uniform.

She wants to be better off than a dhobi

3. Her father is opposed to her project. He disagrees with her ambitions. He wants her to break free from the past but he doesn’t want her to become a cop. He did not even want her to go to college. He was afraid no one would want to marry her if she became a cop. He wants to protect her, he is afraid for her safety. He doesn’t want her to iron clothes all her life long.

4. Varsha was able to attend a good school with good equipment and skilled teachers from the age of 6 and she was an excellent student. School was her refuge and she understood quickly it as her way out of her parents’ occupation.

The more educated she became, the more self-assured she was. She got so high results in her 12th grade exam that her father couldn’t refuse to send her to university.

5. India was a former British colony. It became independent in 1947. The country became slowly a more modern place. Education rates have increased and infant mortality has gone down. Indian people used to die young (32 years old), they live longer now. Women have less children. India’s population is increasing quickly and is very young.

Doc 1 : Multicultural London

The video takes place in Southall Broadway in West London, this area has the largest Asian community.

The UK is an ethnically diverse country with many communities coming from around the world/ overseas.

It's a multicultural place.

In 1948 Jamaican immigrants arrived by ship "The Empire windrush". They came to the UK to rebuild the country after WW2 (world War 2)

The UK needed manpower after the bombings of WW2. The immigrants were looking for a job.

Jamaica is a former colony of the UK. The Nottinghill Carnival celebrates this Caribbean culture.

The different waves of immigration:

·     Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani families arrived in the 1950's and 1960's.

·     They were followed by Asian-Ugandan refugees in the 1970's.

·     Somalians who fled starvation arrived in the 1990's.  (to starve) (to flee, fled, fled)

·     In more recent years Eastern Europeans arrived in search of work. They were jobless = unemployed. to hire : employer

All this diversity makes the UK a wonderful / vibrant place to be. But some complex problems can arise. There are conflicts of culture and generations between the parents who were born in a foreign country and the children who were born in Britain.

They don't have the same cultural references.

They don't speak their mother-tongue at school.

Avinda arrived from Kenya in the 1970's and his son was born here. At the time, it was hard for his father because there was no jobs for people like him = black people.

People were racist = they were prejudiced (be prejudiced)

Doc 2 : My life as an immigrant

The main character arrived in the UK in 1962 from Trinidad and Tobago. 

When he arrived , he felt lost /adrift.

He had a rough ( hard) time because of racial discrimination. At the time there were "No Irish, no blacks, no dogs" signs on the shopwindows. 

He found it hard to rent a place (flat)  to live because people were prejudiced against foreigners. (housing = logement)

be prejudiced against someone / be discriminated against

When he found a place, the owner would tell him that the flat / room was not free anymore even if it was a lie. They would suggest him to go and look for another place. = cowardice

Fortunately the legislation changed a few things. Discrimination in public places became forbidden / prohibited / outlawed.

Shango says that the Race Relation Acts didn't change mindsets immediately but people started to wonder about their actions all the same.

People didn't want to disrespect/ to break the law and to be sentenced

It was a slow process.

Les gens avaient souvent des préjugés envers les nouveaux immigrants dans les années 60.

People were often prejudiced against new immigrants in the 1960's.

Culture Clash

The text is an extract = excerpt from a novel entitled Brick Lane and written by Monica Ali.

The characters present in the scene are Dr Azad and his wife and Chanu and his wife Nanzeen. They are friends and fellow countrymen = they come from Bangladesh.

Dr Azad’s daughter, a teenager is also present.

Mrs Azad’s colleagues (= co-workers) are mentioned.

The two families share a common culture and language.

However, Dr Azad’s daughter speaks in English whereas Nanzeen isn’t fluent in English “she caught only a few words”

(catch, caught, caught) be fluent in a lg

She speaks in English to her parents although it’s not their mother-tongue. It’s a sign of her integration and multiculturalism

Mrs Azad says that some Bangladeshi women don’t open up to the new environment they live in.

26.01

Question 6 :

Mrs Azad says that some Bangladeshi women don’t open up to the new environment they live in.

She reproaches them for not trying to fit in.

For her it’s a tragedy that they don’t enjoy the liberty of Western women.

She reproaches them for not being fluent in English.

They blame Dr Azad’s daughter for going to the pub.

These (pluriel de this) women blame the British society for being prejudiced.

Blame someone for + -ing

Reproach someone for + V-ing

They reproach British people for not being open-minded. ≠ narrow-minded.

Mrs Azad thinks it’s a pity some Bangladeshi women don’t take advantage from living in Britain whereas Chanu believes that it is impossible to fit in and preserve one’s heritage at the same time.

Mrs Azad thinks multiculturalism is an asset whereas Chanu thinks it’s struggle between two parts of their identity.

02.02

There are three main characters : Samad and his wife Alsana and their son Magid. Magid is with his friend Irie and a group of other friends is mentionned. 

06.02

The text deals with a boy who is ashamed of his Bangladeshi origins.

They are arguing because Samad doesn't want his son to go to the Harvest festival. Magid has created a fake identity and he wants to be called Mark Smith because it is a typical / common British name.

The Harvest festival is a Christian tradition and since they are a Muslim family, Samad refuses to allow his son to take part in it.

One day, on his ninth birthday, his friends had turned up at the doorstep to ask for Mark Smith. His parents discovered that their son was rejecting his Bangladeshi origins because he wants to fit in.

Samad wants to preserve his roots, he wants his children to do the same. That's why he is so upset by his son who is adopting Western values.

Magid was born and brought up in Britain, so he considers himself more British than Bangladeshi. He must feel torn between his love for his family and his desire to fit in. His mother seems to be more open-minded and understanding even if she is hurt.  (be about to cry).

. Exprimer le souhait / le regret

Sujet + Wish + Sujet + prétérit (prétérit modal car il exprime l'irréel et non le passé)

He wishes his father was a doctor instead of a waiter.

J'aimerais savoir jouer du piano. I wish I could play the piano

J'aimerais avoir de nouvelles chaussures. I wish I had new shoes

je regrette que vous n'ayez pas fait vos devoirs. I wish you did your homework.

Picture 1

We can see a soldier who is pointing his rifle / weapon at a man's head. We can see someone's hand on his forehead.

We can imagine he will be executed. He may be a war prisoner. The kneeling man seems to be suffering / exhausted.

Picture 2

We can see the same man who is kneeling and the soldier on the right is helping him to drink from a flask / bottle. If the man is a war prisoner, he is well-treated.

The scene could also be from a humanitary mission.

Picture 3 : the whole picture

We can see a war prisoner kneeling on the ground with a rifle on his forehead whereas another soldier is helping him.

Although he may be  dangerous, his human rights are respected.

Conclusion:

The goal of the document is to make people aware of the possible manipulation through pictures. They can  be deceived according to the angle or the framing of the picture.

We can be easily misled by pictures that have been photoshoped. Some media use biased pictures to promote a cause or discredit other people. So we have to check the sources and make sure that they correspond to the truth.

28.11

Deep fake 

The document is a video from the Youtube channel endless info.

 Deep fake are fake videos or pictures generated thanks to AI and machine learning algorithms which imitate the characteristics of real humans.

It is more difficult to identify/ spot than traditional fakes. It's extremely hard to recognize it.

It can have serious consequences and create a lot of dammage .

In April 2018, Jordan Peele published a deepfake video of President Obama. In the video, the voice of J. Peele is superposed on the face of B. Obama and said "we 're entering an era in which our enemies can make it look like anyone is saying anything at any time."

This technology is sophisticated and getting more and more dangerous because AI is learning from itself whereas traditional technologies requires human assistance.

Consequently it 's a double-edge sword. If an AI is developed for something benevolent, it's great but if someone has malicious intentions, it can ruin a reputation.

Spotting a deepfake video will become more and more challenging, you must pay attention to  :

·     irregular blinkings

·     inconsistent skin tones

·     cropped effects around the mouth, eyes and neck.

·     unnatural movements

·     changing lights in the background

·     lower quality sections in the video

05.12

CO : they would have let Hitler buy ads on FB

They would have let Hitler buy ads.

This is a speech by the actor / comedian Sacha Baron Cohen.

He said that democracy depends on shared truths but it is on retreat whereas autocracy depends on shared lies.

Violence and hate are facilitated by a handful of internet companies. Hate crimes on ethnic and religious minorities are increasing. ( ≠ decrease)

Algorithms choose stories that appeal to our basic instincts and amplify them in order to create fear and outrage in people.

For him, these companies are the biggest propaganda machines on Earth.

They even recommended conspirationist videos on Youtube billions of time.

Clickbait : they choose content that appeal to our basic instinct and trigger fear.

08.12

In his opinion, it is not a question of free speech. We should not give the most reprehensible people on earth the possibility to reach 1/3 (one third) of the planet.

Freedom of speech is not freedom of reach.

He thinks that if Facebook had existed in the 1930's, they would have let Hitler buy ads to advertize about his ideas.

He asks Zuckerberg to stop micro-targeting lies and to start fact-checking political news. If they realize the ad is false, they should give back the money and not publish it.

12.12

Question 2 :

'Logically' is a British start-up created / founded  in 2017 by Lyric Jain. They developed a solution combining AI and humans to fact-check news, images and social discussions

3. Nowadays people are inundated with informationø because self-publishing is very easy on the internet. = Self-publishing (Youtube channels or private websites) enables / allows the proliferation of informationø.

Anybody can write whatever he wants on any topic.

4. AI is able to process and analyze dataø really more quickly than humans. They can work on a larger scale. On the contrary, humans can detect humour, and jokes whereas AI can't sort irony from threats or tongue-in cheek language.

We could think AI is superior but it also has flaws.

The document is a series of interviews of people who succeeded / who lived the American dream.

They give a definition of the AD and advice ( = tips) to succeed.

Speaker 1 :

It's the ability to move ahead thanks to your hard work and your efforts no matter where you start.

12. 09

For them, college education is the key to success = The biggest tool.

They are all white middle-aged business men who agree that you have more opportunities with higher education.

They think they live in an incredible / amazing /unbelievable country.

You can succeed thanks to your hard work whatever happened to you

   Your brain is a great asset and higher education is an incredible  catalyst.

   Another man says that you have first to get a job and work hard, then   you will figure it out.

   You also have to find your passion. 

Things are moving faster, there are more opportunities now than ever.

    To conclude, we may wonder if some categories of the American   society are excluded from the AD : blacks, Latinos, Natives, Asians,   Women...

15.09

Doc 2 : Central Park interviews

The document is composed of interviews of people in Manhattan (NY) about the American dream. It takes place on a sunny spring day.

According to the first person, the American dream is that you can become anything you want, no matter what your background is, no matter what country you come from and no matter your income background (if your family is poor or rich)

According to a poll made by the New York Times and CBS news, the economy is going through a crisis but the American dream is alive.

be jobless = be unemployed

be fired = be dismissed

For a girl, the AD is to have a great family, a home on the beach and to have enough money to raise her family.

It is the opportunity to meet your dreams.

However (= cependant), achieving / realizing the dream is more complicated. You need a lot of work and luck.

Doc 3 : BBC Documentary

The AD was born with the Declaration of Independence signed on July, 4th 1776. It declared the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for every American citizen.

The AD is not easy to define and to achieve.

Isabel B. came from Russia, her parents were Jews who escaped / ran away from Stalin's purges. She was 10 when she arrived on Ellis Island : an immigration station. Her family came for freedom, not for money.

The Statue of Liberty was the face of a new life in a new world for immigrants.

In the 1950's, America's economy boomed. American people became wealthier in the post war period and immigrants wanted a share of prosperity. They wanted to own cars, ovens and washing machines.

The quest for freedom became a quest for Coca Cola.

22.09

The dream became vulnerable to economic downturns = crisis.

In Brooklyn, many people came from Latin America for economic reasons.

One boy considers his parents have achieved the AD because they arrived with nothing and now they own two houses. (they rent one)

Another girl is upset, she is about to cry. For her the AD is a lie.

Her father has worked hard all his life and is still struggling for nothing. He is breaking his back.

According to the 3rd boy, people are paid low wages and are obliged to have two jobs to pay the rent.

Conclusion : It's far from Isabel B 's vision : start as a janitor and become owner of the building.

Today people have less faith in the AD.

Gender: female 

First name: Ana    Surname: / (anonymous)

Adoptive country: USA   Home country : Mexico          City where she lives now: NY Town where she used to live: Puebla          

Age: 35  Marital status: divorced                               

Her job at home: worked in a sock factory

Her first job abroad: worked in a laundry

Her current job: broker for illegal cleaning women                                                                                                 

Her age when she emigrated: 29                                                                                     Her children: (name, gender, age): Misa (7) and Angel (13)

Number of siblings (brothers and sisters): 7        How many of them live in their home country: 4

10.11

Positive aspects

Material comfort

Thanks to her money, they can buy many things and build a comfortable house whereas before they lived in a poor neighbourhood.

She earns enough money to provide for her family. They have a better living style.

Negative aspects

She is not really happy since she is separated from her family.

She hasn't seen her children for 6 years.

Her son, who was only an infant when she left doesn't know his mother. Ana is successful but she has lost her family. She has become a stranger in her own country.

She must feel guilty not to be with her family. She knows that her children miss her.

Ana's parents and children are rejected by the neighbours because they are envious / jealous.

Doc 1 : Slave trader’s statue toppled in Bristol

Tens of thousands of people took part in anti-racism protests across Britain. (take part in = participer)

In Bristol they pulled down the statue of a 17th century slave trader called Edward Colston, which had stood in the city centre for more than a century. It was toppled and pushed into the river / harbour.

The demonstrations happened after the killing of George Floyd by US police. They covered the statue with red paint to symbolize blood.

crowd - cheer - petition

 20/10/23

The crowd is cheering and shouting / screaming "I can't breathe". Many people had signed a petition to remove the statue but the council failed to act.

One protester knelt on his neck : a reference to the death of George Floyd.

That statue represents years of oppression and hurt.

The protesters hope they 've sent a message not just to the UK or the USA but worldwide.

Despite the government was urging people not to take part because of the risk of catching or spreading coronavirus,  Boris Johnson defended the right to protest peacefully but said the  demonstrations had been polluted by thuggery / vandalism from Bristol

Doc 2 : Is Destroying Controversial Monuments Erasing History or Righting Past Wrongs?

We can wonder whether it is erasing history or making past errors rights.

Many statues celebrating a colonial past have been beheaded, blindfolded or thrown into rivers in many countries, from Belgium to NZ.

They want symbols of injustice to be torn down.

Some historical characters that were put on a pedestal in the past are controversial today,

14. 11

However, everyone doesn’t agree to topple down monuments whose legacy is linked to slavery or colonialism. Some have been removed by protesters, others by the authorities but what should we do with them?

Should they be removed, placed in a museum? Dozens have fallen but hundreds remain.

Problem : many of the great minds who founded the United States were also slave owners?

17.11

3. How will the answers to these questions affect future generations?

If we clean the statues, future generations won't know about the protests against racism. We must make sure that future generations remember what happened in the past. (duty of rememberance)

4. Find 3 different ways in which the statues have been vandalized ?
They have been dethroned. They have been painted . They have been burnt.

21.11

 Q. 5 : Augmented statues means that you add new elements to the statues so that their history becomes visible (with a smartphone for example)

Q. 7 : He suggests that the paint shouldn't be removed and we should keep their marks and scars so that vandalism will be visible.

Q. 8Find another idea with which M. Locke agrees.

He wants to melt the statue to transform it into coins that will be given to people.