Coming to Canada...

Hi everyone,


My name is Antonio and I am 25 years old. I come from a family of 5 living in Sao Paulo, Brazil where I used to work in construction for the city. While I am able to get constant work in Brazil, it doesn’t pay enough to support my family and I am the sole provider for my mom and four siblings. Through word of mouth, I’ve heard that the construction industry in Canada is quickly growing and that is why I made the decision to move here just a short while ago. Eventually I hope to make enough money and to have a home so that I can bring my family over, but that will have to be after I’ve figured out my work and living situation for myself first.


Since this is my first time living outside of Brazil, I do have quite a few concerns. First and foremost, my mother tongue is Portuguese, and I only have a minimal amount of English skills. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find any construction jobs like I had planned to here in Canada yet, just because all the employers I had interviews with said that my English isn’t good enough for me to work with their company. Secondly, money is of great worry to me as well. I do have to send money back home every month, but I also need to pay for living and food expenses for myself while I live here as well. This leaves me very stressed and constantly worrying about whether I have made the right decision to move here or not.


My plans so far for my first year in Canada basically involve me working two jobs – dish washing and tending to a gas station. While this does allow me to make enough money to live in Canada and send money to Brazil for my family, it doesn’t give me very much time to improve my English skills, which is important for me to do in order to find a job in construction. Fortunately, I was informed that I could enroll in some MOOCs, which are Massive Open Online Courses that offer classes in just about any subject and you can learn and do assignments whenever you want, and take all the time you need. So far I’ve enrolled in English communications, reading, and writing classes, as well as a construction skills class to increase my skillset for my job in the future. I hope to be able to do my homework and learn between my jobs, and bring my English skills up to par.


- Antonio

First Impressions of Canada

My name is Marie. I am 33 years old and I come from Bordeaux, located in the southwest of France. I was born and raised in France. French is my native language; however, I know a little bit of English from watching American movies and television with subtitles. I am coming to Canada with my husband and two children, ages 5 and 7. My husband was transferred to Vancouver for his job. We plan to be in Vancouver for 3-5 years, but there is a chance that this move may be permanent.

In Bordeaux, I worked full-time as a real estate agent, but will not be able to work in this field while in Vancouver. To be licensed as a real estate agent in British Columbia, I would need to meet the English-language proficiency requirements, and I do not meet these requirements. My university degree is from the Université Montesquieu - Bordeaux IV, taught entirely in French, and I have never completed any coursework in English.

I am excited and nervous to live in a different country, as I have only ever lived in France. I will try to learn more English while I am here; however, it is comforting to know that French is also an official language for Canada. I’ve even found so far that all products that I can buy from the store are labelled in French and English, which is very helpful. I am doing my best to read only the English descriptions on the products and only looking at the French when I am stuck. I have learned a lot of new words this way and it also helps that a lot of words are the same in English and French!

My children are starting school right away, so I do worry that I will lonely and bored during the day, as this is the time that I would normally be working; however, my husband’s company is paying for my English-language training while I am here, so I will have my daily classes to keep me busy for at least half of the day. His company has recommended a program that they send all of their employees to who are transferring to their Vancouver office from offices in non-English speaking countries. I look forward to meeting the other students in the class and hopefully meeting some new people.

My First Impressions of Canada

Hi everyone,

My name is Sahar Jallad, 45 years old, and I come from Esfahan, Iran. I recently moved to Canada with my sister to create a better life, and leave all the corruption and war behind. My first few thoughts about Canada are that there are many cultures here, and many people from Iran. I feel a sense of community and home, as I do miss my friends and family in Iran. I hope that this community will help me feel less sad about leaving everything behind.

My English skills are okay, as I grew up speaking Farsi, and I came to Canada thinking that I would be able to work in an architecture firm. This is not the case. I find it very hard to get work because my degree is not taken seriously here, and companies are not impressed with my English skills. I am concerned that this will be very difficult to manage my finances, as I have to work almost 15 hours a day at both my jobs at a local restaurant and retail store to help pay for my bills. Also, I send money to my family back in Esfahan and I find it hard to go to work and pay for my bills. I do not even have the chance to save money to go back to school, and trying to find an English class to take for free that fits my schedule is tiresome. I would like to take online classes, but I am not motivated enough to complete the work. I feel that attending class will force me to do the work, but I do not have time because of my long workdays. I hope that I will find something soon that fits my schedule and will be free or at least cheap.

I plan to look for work experience in an architecture firm and improve my English skills by talking to locals and pushing myself to speak English. After I gain some experience, I hope that the firm will take me more seriously and allow me to work, at least part-time. I would like to attend English classes, as I have heard that MOSAIC is a good program for English learning. I hope to complete my goals by the end of the year.

-Sahar

Some Feelings to Share as a Newcomer to Canada

Hi everyone,

My name is Nguyen. I am from Vietnam. I am 18 years old and am a student. Canada is ranked one of the countries that have the best learning quality, so I decided to come to Vancouver to seek for higher education. However, my English is limited, which also is my main concern when I first came here. As a result, I want to study English for one to one and a half year to prepare for university learning in the future. I plan to apply for UBC and major in Finance. After completing my bachelor degree, I hope to find a job here in Vancouver. I want to stay in Canada because of the multicultural culture impression that Canada gives me. Before I got here, I was afraid that I could not fall in line with people here. However, surprisingly, I feel welcome and feel that I am a part of the community. Also, with a multicultural culture, I learn a lot about other people’s culture, which is an asset for me in the future when I need to work with people that come from different background.

Though I have a good plan for my future study, I am still struggling in communicating with other people in English. I did some research on English as a Second Language (ESL) courses before and after I came to Vancouver. These researches showed me that Canada welcomes international students come here to pursue education. A lot of institutions, colleges, and universities offer English courses for students to improve their English skills. Therefore, it is not a problem for me to find an English class in Vancouver. Through recommendations by relatives and my researches, I decided to apply for Langara College. I got accepted and will start my study next week. I got into a program called Langara English for Academic Purposes (LEAP) program. I chose this program because it is more related to the skills that I need for university learning in the future.

This is my first time study abroad, so I do not have any experience about learning in foreign countries like Canada. Consequently, on one hand, I am very excited. On the other hand, I am nervous that I cannot keep up with all the learning and my fellows. However, I am still looking forward to attending my class on Monday. I hope that my decision is right and helps me get closer to my main goal.

Cheers,

Nguyen