http://smartcanadian.ca/2010/03/10/canada-to-require-tests-in-english-or-french-for-skilled-immigration-class/ Being A Smart Canadian Tue, 17 Jan 2012 09:05:22 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://smartcanadian.ca/2010/03/10/canada-to-require-tests-in-english-or-french-for-skilled-immigration-class/comment-page-1/#comment-57 Adam Thu, 08 Apr 2010 22:24:32 +0000 http://smartcanadian.ca/?p=138#comment-57 These changes don't go nearly far enough. 'Skilled', or not, being able to function in either official language should be a requirment, PERIOD. This is as much for the benefit of immigrants themselves as the host country. A frightening example is the arson incident at a Calgary Chinatown building, adjacent to an apartment complex. The inhabitants were mostly Chinese-Canadians, who had been living here for years, yet the Fire Department required INTERPRETERS to tell them to evacuate. I have middle-class, Chinese-Canadian neighbours--with jobs, bank accounts and drivers' licenses--who can't converse in English. I've encountered University students who can't distinguish 'seventeen' from 'seventy' in speech and medical professionals (radiologists, phlebologists, dentists, pharmacists) who had serious problems communicating verbally. There is simply no excuse for this. Middle-class and 'entrepreneur' (i.e., with more than $400,000 in assets) immigrants should undertake ESL training BEFORE setting foot here. One needn't be required to write a paper on English phonotactics, or whatever--simply COMMUNICATING AT A FUNCTIONAL LEVEL should be demanded. Yet, even wealthy immigrants keep arriving in Canada assuming that they can live in linguistic, cultural and social bubbles. Businesses and governments enable this sort of 'linguistic apartheid' by offering Putongua ATMs, multilingual forms and the like. It's time to admit that linguistic integration is part-and-parcel to the social integration of immigrants in Canadian society. These changes don’t go nearly far enough. ‘Skilled’, or not, being able to function in either official language should be a requirment, PERIOD. This is as much for the benefit of immigrants themselves as the host country. A frightening example is the arson incident at a Calgary Chinatown building, adjacent to an apartment complex. The inhabitants were mostly Chinese-Canadians, who had been living here for years, yet the Fire Department required INTERPRETERS to tell them to evacuate. I have middle-class, Chinese-Canadian neighbours–with jobs, bank accounts and drivers’ licenses–who can’t converse in English. I’ve encountered University students who can’t distinguish ‘seventeen’ from ‘seventy’ in speech and medical professionals (radiologists, phlebologists, dentists, pharmacists) who had serious problems communicating verbally. There is simply no excuse for this. Middle-class and ‘entrepreneur’ (i.e., with more than $400,000 in assets) immigrants should undertake ESL training BEFORE setting foot here. One needn’t be required to write a paper on English phonotactics, or whatever–simply COMMUNICATING AT A FUNCTIONAL LEVEL should be demanded. Yet, even wealthy immigrants keep arriving in Canada assuming that they can live in linguistic, cultural and social bubbles. Businesses and governments enable this sort of ‘linguistic apartheid’ by offering Putongua ATMs, multilingual forms and the like. It’s time to admit that linguistic integration is part-and-parcel to the social integration of immigrants in Canadian society.

]]> http://smartcanadian.ca/2010/03/10/canada-to-require-tests-in-english-or-french-for-skilled-immigration-class/comment-page-1/#comment-55 Sovi Wed, 07 Apr 2010 07:14:34 +0000 http://smartcanadian.ca/?p=138#comment-55 This post increased my knowledge... very interesting..thank you.. This post increased my knowledge… very interesting..thank you..

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