What would you be willing to sacrifice for a safe future? The Latin Footprints Project, by students Abigail Saxon and Darcy Butcher, follows the lives of Spanish migrants who moved to Australia during conflict, and will feature as part of the Migration Museum’s History Festival on May 14 and 15 2019.
The project involved interviewing Spanish emigrants in their native language and translating their stories into English. Both students acted as translators, enlisting the language skills they have learnt from their Bachelor of Language degree to accurately capture the stories for an English-speaking audience.
A work integrated learning experience through the LANG3000 Language in Action topic, the placement provided the opportunity for intercultural and communication skills growth together with development in their language area. These placements are innovative and allow students to engage in original community projects.
Extracting the stories in the native language rather than that of the adopted country was important to ensure they were relayed reliably and with deeper recall, through using the familiar language spoken at and around the time of emigration. Interviews in the mother tongue placed the interviewees at ease, demonstrated empathy and compassion, and particularly for those not as fluent in English, removed the risk of miscommunications that can arise through choices in substituting expressions that lack an equivalent English meaning.
Ten of these accounts will feature as part of the annual History Festival, providing an insight into the government conflicts, civil wars and danger experienced by many South Americans, shaping their decision to move to a safer country.
The narratives follow the journeys of these people: what they sacrificed to emigrate, their difficulties in finding employment in their field of expertise without English fluency, and how they overcame these challenges to achieve their goals, learn the language and enjoy the life that Australia offered, while continuing to honour their Spanish heritage.
South Australia’s History Festival runs from 27 April – 31 May. This exhibition will be on display on May 14 and 15 2019. More information here.