How important is to know English before coming to Canada as an immigrant

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Language has many functions on our lives. Have you ever thought about it? I did. Especially when, some years ago, I was in London, England, without knowing a word in English.

I had to find a job to support myself. And that was the hard part: find a job where I didn’t have to communicate in English. Eventually I found one. I was my cousin’s nanny. And his mother wanted somebody who could speak Portuguese to him. So, it was a perfect fit to me. But it was a part-time job and I needed more. So I found another job. I was a cleaner to a big house and I had to clean it in four hours. Oh boy, that was hard!

At that point I started to “remember” my education and how many efforts I have made to get it. I had a degree on Social Communication and a diploma on Teaching. I started to ask myself what was I doing there. I had to find better jobs. By the way, I have nothing, nothing at all, against baby-sitting or cleaning houses. I just knew I could do better money using what I had learned.

As I was a teacher, I started to look for jobs as a Portuguese teacher, which is possible in London. And again, I found new jobs, but I was working just a few hours and, again, I was not doing enough money.

By the time, I didn’t have money to invest in education and I was literally stacked.

To simplify this story, I ended up going back to Brazil, for many reasons, the main one being the lack of visa possibilities.

So, my conclusion, from my own experience – and that could not be everyone’s truth – is that YES, is better if you can come to Canada (or any other country) being able to communicate in the language.

I am not saying that it is impossible coming to Canada not knowing English. Actually, it is. And I absolutely know that people find jobs even if they don’t speak English well. What is in the table here is how much you are willing to tolerate. Not being able to communicate affects your self-esteem. Affects your ability to sort things out. Affects your belief in who you are.

Language is an important part of one’s culture. It is a vital tool that allows us to learn and to interact with people. We use language to ask questions, to demonstrate how we feel and what we need, to make sense of our experiences.

When you are in a different country and you cannot communicate effectively, you may experience some frustration, maybe a lot of frustration. And you must be ready for that. I have been there and I can tell you that it hurts a lot not being able to deliver properly a message. You feel incapable. You feel vulnerable. So it really depends on how you will look at this situation. You must be aware that you will be going through that.

Do not give up

Learning a new language is something beautiful. Is something meaningful that will enhance your own skills. You will be a better person after that process. You will be better prepared and aware of differences and diversity. You will be able to communicate even better in your own language. It will improve your employment potential and certainly it will help you make lifelong friends. Learning a second language in loco is even better. Is quicker and you will learn the culture along with that language. Take advantage on that and ask questions.

And never, ever give up. Do not feel ashamed! Do not feel diminished. You are doing something that not everyone is up to do. So, take proud of yourself. Just be aware that it will take sometime to learn and you definitely deserve that time.

Jab Jab Cross

A lesson from boxing on how to communicate. Or immigrate.

Let’s start with some definitions, to not take the risk of not being clear.

Jab is a type of punch in boxing where the lead fist is thrown straight ahead and the arm is fully extended. A cross, also called straight, is a power-punch thrown with the rear hand directly to the opponent, in a straight line.

If there is an effective boxing punch combo, this is jab, jab, cross. It is so simple yet so efficient.

The same rule applies to communications. To communicate well with people we have to focus on building a relationship with our audience (being your audience personal, commercial or professional). You must start to create your relationship as early as possible. You engage with the audience before the “cross”. You “give, give” information. Then you “call to action”.

Jab, jab, and then cross. That’s the idea.

To exemplify, think on those grocery stores that promote lots of good and gourmet recipes, usually created by chef-celebrities. They are engaging with their audience, to bring them to their stores, inspired by those recipes.

Who knows me should know that I am super addicted to paper crafts. Card making and scrapbooking mainly. Many of the biggest craft companies make video tutorials along with the launch of a product. They do that to teach people on how to use that product, to inspire consumers and to create the desire to acquire it.

Jab jab cross.

That’s a good recipe, not just for boxing, but also for communicating.

Many companies out there use social media to jab jab cross. Blogs, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter are the mostly used ones.

But how this is related to immigration?

That is very simple. You research, research, and then you decide. You plan, plan, and then you immigrate. You dream, dream, then you achieve.

The basic rule of boxing is also the basic rule of immigration.

It is important that every person who intends to immigrate have a plan. First of all to not fail on their intentions. Second, to not get frustrated or even expend money for nothing. Plans go wrong sometimes, but it is important to consider all the options and all the possibilities.

Last July and August I spent 7 weeks in Brazil. My daughter and I were in vacation, so we decided to visit my family and friends. I have never had so many requests of information about immigration, from people that I didn’t even know. Many people are really decided to immigrate. But most of them still have to do their jobs on researching and learning.

I don’t want to seem snob. Please, don’t get me wrong! That’s not my intention at all. I am just sharing the concerns I had when I was planning our move. The biggest one was learning every possible rule about immigration. Learn about every step and understand it. This makes our life as immigrants so much easier. Being an immigrant has its owns difficulties already. Being able to drop them as much as possible is a huge deal!

Don’t forget: jab jab cross.

Hope to see you soon!

Carol

Immigration and Social Media

Something that draws my attention on the immigration process is the role that social media plays on it. There are two aspects of it that I would like to discuss. First is connection. Second is information. Let’s consider some points to start our conversation.

Connection is the main purpose of social media, right? Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, we know them all and the list goes on.  What a wonderful way to connect with friends and acquaintances, even with those people who we haven’t seen for long time (and probably we wont see them for a while). It’s a way to get along with each other’s lives and know what is going on. On social media we share pictures, ideas, decisions, comments, and political positions. We share what makes us happy, what makes us proud or sad, we share what we are up to. Through social media, we, immigrants can feel a little closer to families and friends. And that is very important to us.

We also can connect with people who we don’t know in person. Either by belonging to a mutual group on social media or simply by having friends in common, we can make new “friends” very easily. Social media bring people together from all over the world without geographic barriers. Amazing! I’ve seen posts with different languages on it. Almost surreal that people can gather together on a virtual place as social media. And that brings me to the second point of this discussion: information.

Social Media as a source of information?

Many immigrants-to-be are connecting with new-comers-to-Canada through social media. I am talking about Canada because that’s my experience. However I would say that the same occurs in many other countries. Great friendships start that way. Specific groups are created to gather people around the same idea. That allows the group members’ to share information with each other, to ask questions, and to exchange points of views. I guarantee that it facilitates a lot to people who are starting their immigration processes. Immigrate requires a lot of research, tons of it! Sometimes we feel lost with so many rules, procedures, and forms. Being able to hear from someone else’s experience is relieving, encouraging, and even helpful.

However, I would say that many people out there are using social media as the main source of their research. And that concerns me a little. Based on the fact that immigration is a law, I wouldn’t rely on social media as source of information. People make mistakes; sometimes people are passionate and share experiences that will be exclusive to them. I would certainly rely on social media as a way to share experiences and feelings, but always being aware that each person is different from another. Experiences can be perceived differently according to one’s previous understandings and mainly, one’s expectations. I would definitely search information on countries’ official websites as Canada and USA for example. If you see good information on social media, do not hesitate to check it out on the proper source.

It is your big move! Give it the appropriate importance and be accurate on your research. I am sure you wont regret it!

See you next time!

The good of being an immigrant

On my previous post I spoke mainly about the good of being an immigrant. I would like to elaborate on that topic. Today I heard something at my daughter’s school, from its custodian, that made me stop and think deeply on that.

I was waiting for my daughter at the gym; she was finishing an extra class activity. The custodian was also there waiting for the girls to finish the activity. And while we were waiting, we were chatting. He seems to be a very educated man, with an exquisite knowledge noticeable within his talking. We were observing the girls wrapping up the activity when he said: I love this diversity (showing with his hands a presumably Muslim girl – she was wearing hijab - playing along with a presumably non-Muslim girl). Then he complemented his thought “is that way they will learn to get along. We need that on our world”. Bingo!

Through diversity we can understand and, most importantly, experience tolerance in a peaceful environment! It seems so obvious, but if we don’t talk about it, using the words and thinking how meaningful it is, we will never see any changes on our world. Being able to get along with people with different backgrounds, from all over the world, make us realize that “right” is maybe not so right. And “wrong” is the right for some. Tolerance is the word for the next generation!

Diversity today is a requirement; it’s not an option anymore.

Learning from the best teachers

We should learn from children. They are amazing! They accept diversity naturally, no explanations needed. That’s beautiful about them! When my daughter started school here in Winnipeg, one year and two months ago, her classmates were so openhearted and so genuine accepting the fact that she didn’t speak a word in English that it melted my heart.

They helped her. They taught her. They embraced her. She learned really fast. After two months she was comfortable to speak her first complete sentences in English.

The most amazing thing I heard from her, by the time, was: “mom, I feel they respect me”. What else in this world can I even want for my daughter?

Let’s learn from them. Let’s embrace diversity. It can be hard understand other’s points of view; it can be difficult respect other’s habits and attitudes. But at least let’s give it a try! Amazing things will happen on our life once we are connected with “the different”. And one of them certainly is tolerance!