ESL listening comprehension activities suitable for exploring the ABC Long Journey Website in the "Go back to where you came from" unit of work

1. LONG JOURNEY WEBSITE
(http://www.abc.net.au/longjourney/intro_broadband.h
tml)
What’s a journey?
It’s the process of travelling from one place to
another place.
INTRODUCTION
You are about to embark upon a journey. Not just
any journey. You are about to travel with young
refugees and share their experiences.
There are 4 chapters in the young refugee’s
journey, with Australian schoolkids commenting along
the way.
We will make suggestions, but you will be in
total control.
You may click on any chapter, person or memory
stone at any time.
This story is simply about experiences of being
a refugee and young.

2. Take time to EXPLORE the website and then try to
complete the activities in the following pages.
QUESTIONS
1- What are the names of each of the chapters in
this website?
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
_______________________________________
2. Explain why each of the chapters is called in
that way
Chapter _____________ is called this way because
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Chapter _____________ is called this way because
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Chapter _____________ is called this way because
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Chapter _____________ is called this way because
________________________________________________

3. ________________________________________________
________________________________________________
LISTENING CLOZE
Listen to these stories and write the missing words.
You can use the words in the box to help you.
Bavhithra (Age 13, Refugee at 8- Sri Lanka)
1- Homeland Conflict
Memory Stone: Disobey and you die
If you disobey the_______, you are dead. You _______ get to
say anything. You don’t really have a choice. If they say
it, it’s the______. You don’t really get to dispute it. If
you do, you’re _________not alive the next week or so.
don’t orders

4. law usually
Memory Stone: Violence a normal life
Interviewer: How hard is it to live a _______life and to
also live in violence?
Bavhithra: Hmmm. When I _____ here, it seems like really
_________ But when you are there, it was the normal
_______, was the violence.
came life
incredible normal
Memory Stone: Seeing people killed
You just learn to ______with it. It’s like normal. You see
somebody getting killed. You would be shocked, you would
be_________, you would be sad but you wouldn’t really like,
it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary. It would be like
an____________day. If something like that ______ happen,
then it would be extraordinary.
angry ordinary
live didn’t
Memory Stone: About the rebels

5. Bavhithra:It was really a battle between the LTTE…
Interviewer: The LTTE?
Bavhithra: Yeah, The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. They
were like, people like me (well I was gonna say you!)
Like…They were just girls and boys who wanted to _______for
their land,who wanted us Tamils to _______peacefully and to
have their own rights to ________around freely through the
country. And… it was really a battle between Sri-lankan
___________and them. The people who really got hurt were
innocent Tamils and civilians. They were like in the
middle.
move government
live fight
2- The journey
Memory Stone: Escaping home
We had to leave and my mum and dad just bought some milk
and stuff for us and, like, some _______for us and we
left. And therewas like about, I don’t know, 5
______people leaving Jaffna that day, I guess. The roads
were blocked. Nobody knew where they were going, most

6. people. They were_______, lost. They didn’t have anything
that they owned. They left their homes, their savings.
Some ________people, they couldn’t travel so they were
left behind. It was all chaos.
clothing million
confused elderly
3- Reflection
Memory Stone: Enjoying peace now
Interviewer:How different is Australia?
Bavhithra:First it seemed kind of, not offense, but dull
sort of thing. But then, it was ___________. You no longer
have to be _______of planes that might drop a ______on you,
you don’t really have to be scared of the army that might
hurt you.
Interviewer: Did you drop to the ground when you first
heard a_______?
Bavhithra: Yes, my sister did!
comforting bomb
plane scared
Choose ONE Child in the story and answer the following
questions

7. 1- What country did the child escape from?
2- Why was the child and his/her family forced to escape
from his/her own country?
3- Write 2 events the child experienced in their journey
to Australia.
4- Did the child had to go to go to a Detention camp?
What did they experience there?

8. 5- What is the child’s reflection about living in
Australia? How do they feel about living here?