Hi, my name is Mark Mingwei Chan. I'm 16 years old and I'm from East Ayrshire and I go to Kilmarnock Academy. I'm also a member of Scottish Youth Parliament representing Kilmarnock and Ervin Valley. I am an immigrant born in Ireland. We moved in 2011 with my whole family and my heritage is from Hong Kong. And English is my second language, my first being Cantonese, and that's what I'll be focusing on for th(is). The key barrier is the language barrier, is a particularly difficult one because immigrants will come and go, but we chose to remain. And of course it was quite difficult for me to communicate. To others like my peers…it was particularly hard to participate in democracy, I only started getting interested in (it) when I became older and when I only took the subject and looking at other people who has English as a second language, they never participated in politics because they never took an interest, and the particular jargon that's used and the language at the formal language they use. And politics it is quite difficult to understand. I learned English through watching TV programs, and those were mostly American, so it was hard for me to adjust. And in my role as a member of Scottish Parliament, to understand that these words that they were using in Parliament all the time. …possibly a solution for this is for people like me who have English as a second language is….further support and the curriculum and the Scottish Education curriculum for people - for specific classes tailored towards understanding and the wider society. So politics and how to do taxes. It can involve a round of stuff for these people who have English as a second language. And that's me.
Difficult to relate without the experience. Support for the curriculum is interesting. Recognise the number of different accents in this country.
Provide access and support to pursue interest in Parliament for those with English as a second language
Jargon of govt departments. abbreviating everything, can be confusing. Problem about language, in particular second language. Could not get over how good Mark's language is. Language is quite a barrier.
To use plain English. Schools could play a bigger part. Translation, being made available in different languages. Education service at the Parliament. Is Google translation sophisticated enough to use? Something visual alongside would help.
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