"My New World in Canada"

Lea Bahn, a Grade 11 international student from Germany 🇩🇪, shares her experience of going to school in a different national language country. Although I couldn't interview her in person during Spring Break, she still shares her story with me through email and answers my questions:

The bold lettering are the questions being asked. The italics lettering is her answer.

What challenges did you have at the beginning relating to the language barrier of English?

My biggest challenge was not the language barrier itself. It was the situation – being all alone in another country, filling out government forms (not all words were familiar to me) and not knowing anybody here.

How hard was it to fit in and find a place in Canada when you didn't know how to speak fluently?

For me, it wasn't that hard to find my happy place here in Canada, because I already had quite good English skills and because the people here are so open and very friendly. My advice to everybody who is coming here: Don't be afraid to ask for help or meet new people, because Canadians really take care when you get lost here and are very open-minded :) I always had a good feeling talking to my classmates and other Canadians because they really listen to you and try to help even when the grammar or sentences you say are not right!

How did this language barrier impact who you are? For example, if you were talkative before, how did this affect you?

In the beginning, I was completely overwhelmed with the impressions of the country, and I was unsure how the people will react to 'the German girl', but all the worrying was unnecessary because everybody was really interested and nice to me that I forgot about my worries. It didn't take long for me to build friendships with such nice people, and I am as talkative as before (not everybody is so happy about that, probably ;)). Although I realized that the way of having conversations with strangers and friends in Canada is very different to what I am used to back home in Germany. That was really strange for me at the beginning, and it's still weird for me to get asked by strangers how my day is, even though they don't want to hear a real answer. Besides this little culture shock, I am slowly getting used to the big amount of small talk here!

What setbacks (doubts) did you have when you were learning the language or moving to Canada?

While learning English in school, I never really had any doubts. The reason for that is probably that I learn English since grade 1 and I always enjoy to learn new languages and get to know new countries and cultures. Moving here was probably one of the best decisions I've ever made because I am just so happy here. I don't want to miss all this awesome and kindhearted people, as well as the dedicated teachers, and not to forget: my host family! They are literally my second family now! The only thing that I regret about coming here sometimes is the food because the eating habits here are different to those I was used to and I can't get friends with the North American food choices and the fast-food shops. It is neither a doubt nor a regret, but in the first weeks, it was not easy sometimes to understand everything because of the accent, slang and speed that people had while talking to me. Additionally, at the first two/three weeks, I was still overwhelmed by the various and completely new impressions that I got. (the funniest thing was definitely the speaking traffic lights ;))

What advice would you give to those who may be going through a similar situation as you did?

(1) Enjoy every single moment of this experience!

(2) Don't be afraid to ask when you need help or want to meet new people, because most of them enjoy having you around and showing you around in their country!

(3) Try to be open for new experiences, new people, new food and a completely new culture -> they will appreciate your curiosity, and you also make them smile – that's what we want, right? :)

(4) The most important advice is probably: Be yourself and don't lose your character in this new world of the biggest trucks and shops I've ever seen!

(5) Sooner or later, you'll be able to speak very good English, accents are cute anyway! (that's a quote from my Canadian friend, thank him ;))

(6) Try to avoid too many calls or texts in your own language to your friends back home, because you're already so much into English!

(7) Before coming here or when you're learning the language intensively right now, try to watch movies and videos just in English. Trust me, that helped me a lot to get used to it before I came here.

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Overall, how has this experience affected you? Would you say more positive or more negative?

In my opinion, the language barrier that I overcome has only changed/affected me in a positive way and helped me to find myself, my goals and to fight my way through a foreign country. It is a really good experience for me to learn how to represent myself and that I can trust myself even without my family around me. I think there is not a better chance out there to learn another language than going out in the world and just speaking it, doing it and live the new culture. I don't regret coming here, and this adventure just boosts my confidence to the maximum.