Moving to Canada without speaking English
My greatest challenge in life was my year abroad in Canada. You probably believe I was full of joy and could not wait to fly to the other side of the world. However, it was utterly different.
The reason why I wanted to go abroad was for my English skills. Until grade ten, they were horrible. I could introduce myself, but that it was. I was therefore worried about the first weeks in Canada. Will they understand me? How much can I communicate through body language? Will Google translate be helpful since the quality of it could be better?
In addition to my language insecurities, it was somewhat strange to fly to the other side of the world and not know where I would go to bed that night. It was different compared to a holiday trip. Where you book your hotel, check where it is, check the quality, and so on. But I just had a picture of my new host parents who will pick me up at the airport. I have had a lot of questions, uncertainties, and if — thoughts. But, despite that, there I was in September 2017 — I had just turned 16 years, could barely speak English, and flew alone to the other side of the world to spend a year in Canada.
The first few weeks were exciting! I met so many new people, and every day, something new happened: the first day at the host parent’s place, meeting the new host family for the first time, the first day in high school, the first time going to tryouts, eating your first Canadian poutine, your first time going to a Canadian hockey match, and, of course, your first coffee from Tim’s! The Canadians are proud of their Tim Hortons chain, and it is impossible to imagine a Canada without it, haha!
So, the fear of coming into a new place and being lonely was unfounded. Of course, I also missed all the people from back home, but that is normal. This also taught me to value my relationship with my parents, family, and friends, and be thankful to have them in my life.
What surprised me the most was that I could enjoy the first few days despite my serious language difficulties. During the first two months, communication was challenging for me. But like everyone says, if you live in another country, you learn the new language quickly. Finally, around Christmas time, I learned so much English that I could easily communicate. I still had some grammatical mistakes in my sentences, but the people across from me could easily understand me. It was one of my biggest goals this year. Later on, around eastern, there was one morning when I woke up and was the happiest person alive! That morning, I realised that I was dreaming in English at night. That was a phenomenal feeling. After struggling for years in English class, it was something I could not imagine happening.
During that year, I collected so many experiences that are too many to discuss here. However, the three most significant learning points for me were, firstly, that life starts at the point when you are afraid of doing something. Because this shows you something great could happen in your life. Secondly, be thankful for the relationships that you have in life and do not take it for granted, because they could be gone tomorrow. Thirdly, a foreign language could serve as a springboard to open many more doors in your life.
This year might be the biggest reason I ended up studying two terms abroad in England.
