LIVING A NEW CHAPTER
Young newcomers are eager to embrace the English language
It’s the key to belonging for a young newcomer, yet learning English takes time and so much can be forgotten over a summer. No wonder new courses in English as a second language have been a hit at the Toronto District School Board; some 800 high school students are taking courses this July to keep up their momentum. Education reporter Louise Brown finds out what these students have to say about it.
Kate Sta. Maria, 16
From: The Philippines Been in Canada: 6 months Why she’s taking the course: “I want to be a veterinarian, and if I have my own clinic I’ll need to be able to explain things so customers understand.”
What’s hard about English: “Spelling is confusing — the same sound can be spelled in different ways, like ‘toe’ and ‘tow.’ And Shakespeare can be a bit hard to understand; we read some of Romeo and Juliet.”
What’s good about English: “I like English, and I love reading so I’ve read many books.”
Luca DiCarlantonio, 17
From: Japan Been in Canada: 2 years Why he’s taking the course: “I want to be able to take regular Grade 11 English this fall so this let me finish my ESL credits. It also taught me about writing essays.”
What’s hard about English: “The slang! The first thing I had to figure out is ‘LOL’ for Laugh Out Loud. Also the past tense and present tense are harder in English than Japanese.”
What’s good about English: “It’s more friendly. In Japanese, when we talk to a teacher, there’s a special way for talking to older people. You don’t do that in English.”
Niousha Daghighi, 18
From: Iran Been in Canada: 1 year
Why she’s taking the course: “I was supposed to be going to university this year so I’m already a year behind, and to graduate I need Grade 11 and 12 English so the catching up I get with this summer course will save me a semester.”
What’s hard about English: “You can forget words over the summer so this course helps by repeating them.”
What’s good about English: “The grammar is easier than Farsi, which is too complicated. Persian poetry and structure and tenses are so complicated. English is much easier to learn.”
Leon Hu, 15
From: China Been in Canada: 2 years
Why he’s taking the course: “I want to take Academic English in Grade 10 so this helped me prepare for that. I also want to improve my writing skills — I really like to write essays! And it will help with my oral English too.”
What’s hard about English: “Some of the grammar, and the Shakespeare stuff is a little hard to understand.”
What’s good about English: “I think the vocabulary is a little easier than Mandarin, and I learned new techniques for understanding poetry and maybe even writing some poetry.”
Hannah Matugas, 17
From: The Philippines Been in Canada: 5 months
Why she’s taking the course: “To enhance my vocabulary. We learn English in the Philippines — it’s compulsory — but I need to improve my writing in English.”
What’s hard about English: “Some of the words, and also how to use English verbs properly.”
What’s good about English: “Read
ing; I love science fiction.”