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Heywire: Asian and Australian: it's easy to be me

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Teenage boy sits in group with microphone
Heywire: Asian and Australian: it's easy to be me

SUBJECTS:  English

YEARS:  7–8


Many Australians are members of two cultures: the culture of their homes and the culture of society at large.

In this Heywire clip, learn about the experiences of Michael Lam, whose Vietnamese Australian family lives in Townsville, Queensland.

Could you write or record a similar story about yourself and/or your community?

The ABC's Heywire competition calls for stories from 16-22 year olds in regional Australia. Enter to get your story featured on the ABC and score an all-expenses-paid trip to the Heywire Regional Youth Summit in Canberra. More: https://www.abc.net.au/heywire/


Things to think about

  1. 1.How important is cultural identity to you? How would you describe your cultural background? What sorts of influences do you think it has on your personal identity? Has your cultural background posed any challenges for you?
  2. 2.What does Michael value about growing up as part of two cultures? As you listen, make a list of all the influences that contribute to who he is. What problems did Michael experience when he first started school? What did he feel like? What factor caused these problems?
  3. 3.Why would Michael say he was 'also born in Vietnam' when he was actually born in Australia? How do Michael and his family define their cultural identity? Why has learning English been such an important part of Michael's cultural identity?
  4. 4.What's the cultural background of people in your class or local area? You might be surprised by the diversity you find. Consider life without the ability to express to others how you're feeling. How might this affect the way you see yourself and the way others see you?



Date of broadcast: 2012


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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