Next August will be a special time of year for our family because it will mark the ninth year of our immigration to Canada. Although it was nearly a decade ago, I still recall skipping with excitement along the shores of Lake Ontario, examining my surroundings with such curiosity that other tourists watched me with complete bewilderment. Using my camera, I captured squirrels that leapt from tree to tree, geese that paddled and splashed in the water, and seagulls that gracefully glided in the sky. For the first eight years of my life, I have been accompanied by traffic jams on busy streets, loud broadcasting for sales in supermarkets, and the smell of dim sums every morning. Yet, not only did the overall “feel” contrast, there were also distinct language differences between the two countries.
Nervously standing by the entry door was how I began my first day of school in Canada. …show more content…
When others tried to commence a conversation with me, I could only nod my head and smile in embarrassment. In class, I sat at my desk, impatiently glancing at the clock every few minutes, waiting for the sound of the bell for dismissal. Later, I realized that avoiding the prominent language barrier only prevented progress, I had to approach the problem if I wanted to see progress. Therefore, I recovered from my state of dread and became a frequent visitor of the public library, constantly borrowing and returning stacks of audio books. Slowly, I progressed from picture books, to short stories, to novels. Soon enough, audio tapes were no longer a necessity and I could easily understand the chapters by reading to myself. Meanwhile in the classroom, I could comprehend the sentences spoken by the teachers during lessons. Although occasionally I could still mispronounce a word or two, I could manage having normal conversations with others. It became evident that the language barrier which once seemed prominent was slowly