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