For Teachers
Interview Guidelines - The Immigrant Experience
Tips on conducting interviews:
Prepare for the interview. Learn a little bit beforehand about the person you're going to interview.
Think about the questions you'd like to ask in advance.
Avoid asking questions that may be answered "yes" or "no".
Give the person being interviewed time to think about their answers, do not jump in to fill the silence.
Be respectful. Be aware that you may ask questions that bring back bad memories, or that they do not want to answer. Do not push them to answer.
Sample questions (feel free to add/change questions):
If you are interviewing someone who was born in another country:
- Where were you born?
- Could you please tell us about how you to came to Canada?
- Why did you leave your home country? Were there particular things at home that made you want to leave?
- What did you bring with you from your home country?
- How old were you at the time?
- What was your first language? If English or French was not his/her first language: ...how did you learn to speak English or French?
- What education did you receive? What kind of work did you do in your own country?
- When you began working in Canada, how many other people from your country were working there?
- How did you interact with Canadians and with im- migrants from other countries?
If you are interviewing someone who was born in Canada who's parents, grandparents or ancestors immigrated or migrated within Canada:
- Where did your family originate?
- How did your family come to Canada?
- Why did they come to Canada? Was there something in particular at in their home country that forced them to leave?
- Did they bring any particular objects with them from their home country?
- What kind of work did they do in their home country?
- How did they adjust to life in Canada?