Date Set for Arabic Lessons in PG – Update
Prince George, B.C. – A date has been set for Prince George residents to learn some Arabic and help welcome Syrian refugees to town.
The lessons will take place February 3 from 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm at the Immigrant and Multicultural Services Society (1270 2nd Avenue) in the upstairs meeting room.
Participants can expect to learn some Arabic greetings and if time permits writing your name. The lessons are volunteer driven and have not been funded by the government.
“It is quite possible there may be families that come in that only speak Arabic so I thought it would be important for us to be able to learn a little bit of Arabic to welcome them to Prince George,” organizer Richard Parks told 250News earlier this week.
For people who want to learn more intensive Arabic after the event, he says there will be a sign up sheet to see how much interest there is in further classes.
Comments
Isn’t it just about time that people coming to Canada adapt to Canada not the other way?
Official languages are or are supposed to be English and French.
you can bet if you moved to their country you would speak their language.
You don’t get around much, do you Racer? People all over the planet try their English, regardless of how mediocre it might be, in order to make English-speaking visitors to their country feel more welcome. Give it a try some time – what’s it going to cost you?
English speaking country, traditions, customs, what the hell is wrong with learning the language of the country that is giving you everything for free? IF one was headed to the middle east for a vacation then brush up on your Arabic lessons.
I think one family has already arrived, and perhaps we will get another, other than that we will not see to many refugee’s in this part of the Country. (This may change as the larger cities find it more difficult to take refugee’s)
Seems like this is a feel good exercise put on by IMMSS.
When is this trend of people pretending they give a rat’s ass about the refugees going to end? Let them live in peace and stop using them as displays for your alleged compassion.
“You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”.”
I am almost with axman on this one with the one proviso that there are some people who do care about this issue and others who care about other issues.
Who are we to chastise them for that?
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Then there are people like bcracer who suffer from xenoglossophobia, an affliction much more common to English speakers than speakers of other languages.
I am almost with axman on this one with the one proviso that there are some people who do care about this issue and others who care about other issues.
Who are we to chastise them for that?
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Most people who are truly passionate about helping others do not do it for the accolades or public acknowledgement. You won’t find them posting about their efforts on public forums. They’re usually too busy.
It is not about them not learning English, or adapting to “our ways”. It is a couple quick lessons to learn to say “hello, welcome, the bathrooms are located over there” and a few other necessary phrases so that “we” are able to help “them” adapt.
These lessons are not being set up for anybody to become fluent in Arabic.
Second family arrived last night. I kind of think it’s funny that anyone would think lessons in a few token phrases would mean refugees aren’t going to learn English. They WANT to learn English. They WANT to have careers and pay their own way. That’s what they were all doing before the war got so bad. Nothing terrible is going to happen if a few people learn how to say hello in another language.
I refer to the Parks comments in the article.
IF this is a case of conducting a workshop in Arabic perhaps mostly for the Syrians to learn English language skills, is can see its usefulness.
BUT, this appears to be a program that promotes Canadians to learn Arabic so we can greet these new Canadians! NO, no, no, that is not right!
It also appears that the program is also supported financially by the provincial government; Or was it for something else that IMSS received a grant for – a couple of days ago.
No, this lesson has not been funded. It is volunteer driven. Greg Fry.
صمؤخةث فخ حقهىؤث لثخقلث
just curious , why all of a sudden do we need to learn Arabic because we have one Arabic speaking family, yet not once was it suggested we learn the languages for the other people who immigrated here?
I have no problem with having it available.
go ahead all my hangeroners, press the down thumb all you like…I know you are to childish to respond to my comments so you hide behind a thumbs down.
bcracer, someone told you that you need to learn Arabic? Strange, nobody has told me that, nor do I suspect anyone has actually been told that.
For those who are not fluent in Arabic the earlier post says “Welcome to Prince George” Took about 30 seconds to figure out how to post in Arabic so NBD for me but would be meaningful for the refugees to see a welcome message in their language.
The first family to arrive reportedly all speak English already. I saw an interview with the mother conducted in English with no interpreter.
I hope I can make it . I’d love to add to my other three languages not counting being able to greet and order food in Spanish . The more languages one learns , the more languages one can learn . Salome .
“go ahead all my hangeroners, press the down thumb all you like…I know you are to childish to respond to my comments so you hide behind a thumbs down. ”
I’ll respond. We do not have one Arabic family. We have many. And we are expecting more, and for them to be able to fully integrate, they will need a small bit of help, from their sponsors, who are liable for their financial needs and also for helping them be able to self sustaining inside of a year.
As of last evening there are 2 Syrian refugee families living in PG. More are on the way. None of them are Government sponsored, and they must be looked after financially by the organizations who brought them here. The volunteers in those organizations need to be able to communicate with them.
IMSS is there to assist in settling refugees, and any other immigrants, and they teach ESL, but their mandate is not to teach Arabic, and so they don’t.
If you would like to arrange language lessons for one of the many other languages of other immigrants here, go ahead. I might come.
Having fun learning a few words in Arabic and Hebrew, which are both Semitic languages, through youtube with no hint of fear or hatred.
youtube.com/watch?v=1AysXmkG3ck#t=178.55576
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