A recent SJT Initiative student intern shares his personal experience as a Canadian immigrant youth:

“When I arrived in Canada at the age of twelve, I was excited and looking forward to meet new people. I didn’t know how the school system is going to be and I didn’t have anyone to help me accommodate to this new culture and environment. I was surprised when I saw people from more than 150 countries; it was wonderful to have multicultural society. Most of the people in St. James Town are helpful and friendly. However, language was an issue for me. I studied back home in another language and it was hard for me to switch everything to English. I actually knew some English when I arrived in Toronto, but I was feeling anxious to speak.

When I joined the elementary school, I was stunned and discouraged to see my classmates speaking good English. I didn’t want students to make fun of me. So I sat in the class for about one month and I avoided speaking to students. Sometimes I wished I was back home, but the war in my country forced me to move to Canada. So I was grateful that I got an opportunity to study and live in a peaceful place. My parents and teachers told me English is not a huge problem. They told me it takes time and if I try hard, my English will improve rapidly. I realized if I don’t try, I will go nowhere. I knew the basics in English and my accent differed from my classmates. Students from my country translated the instructions given by my teachers. Eventually, I started to speak the English that I knew from back home. Some people were surprised to see me speaking English, some people were correcting my mistakes and some people made disappointing comments.

As days passed, I started to make lots of friends. In the beginning most of my friends were from my country. But eventually I started to communicate with students from other countries and most of them were happy to see me trying to chat with them. My English improved day by day and there will always be room for growth. I was glad that I knew the basics in English. The English that I learned back in my home school helped me to pick up English faster. It’s tough to learn any language if you don’t know the basics. It took me approximately two years to fully explain my thoughts, communicate well with people and to get evolved in Canadian culture. Later on I started to assist new immigrant students because I knew their conflicts.

I think St. James Town is a great place for newcomers. There are lots of resources, cultural organizations and services for newcomers at St. James Town. There is no doubt that living in St. Jamestown has helped me to overcome my struggles. Since there are many diverse immigrants at St. Jamestown, newcomers feel comfortable living here. I had access to resources and I met different people from different countries at St. Jamestown. There were numerous students like me and I heard their stories and we had similar problems. Sometimes there were misunderstandings because of the language barrier. Nevertheless it gave us an opportunity to work together and make new connections.”