Newcomers to P.E.I. get driving lessons in their first language

A multilingual Charlottetown driving school that offers lessons in languages ranging from Arabic to Spanish is expanding to take advantage of an influx of newcomers to P.E.I.

Abegweit Driving School began offering classes in additional languages seven years ago to fill the growing demand. The school's nine instructors currently provide driving lessons in Mandarin, English, Arabic, French and Spanish.

"Driving is hard enough so it's better than figuring out two things at a time," explained instructor Stephen Li. "Speaking Mandarin makes students more comfortable."

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Li speaks Mandarin while teaching student Jessica Li from the passenger seat. It's her fourth lesson since moving to P.E.I. less than a year ago. 

We want to help them create muscle memory so they can do this without thinking about it.'— Sameh Elgarib

"I'm from Beijing and I wouldn't like to be driving there — the traffic is worse," she said, laughing.

Stephen Li is well known in P.E.I.'s Chinese community and at his part-time instructing job he's booked solid, 20 hours a week.

One quarter of the school's students are foreign nationals, mostly high school students eager to drive. 

"I've been driving for 50 years," said chief instructor Wayne MacFarlane. "There's no way I would try to drive in India or China, but some folks come here and give it a try — then they come for lessons."   

'It's easier to drive here in P.E.I.'

Instructor Sameh Elgarib, known as Sam, is at the wheel of another teaching vehicle and his student is in the passenger seat. 

Elgarib moved to P.E.I. years ago from Cairo and was recruited by Abegweit. Even though he already has a full-time job, he thought this would be a good side-gig - although it wasn't simple. 

"It took two-and-a-half months to get trained in the classroom, practice teaching and driving, first aid," Elgarib said. 

He speaks Arabic and said a lot of his students are from Syria, but he also has some from Lebanon, Egypt and Morocco — places where driving is dramatically different. 

His student Iman Safadi is terrified, but determined to get her license. 

"I tried for many years but in Damascus and Dubai there is so much traffic and speeding," she said. "It's easier to drive here in P.E.I., people are very nice, it's easier for me to learn here."

Safadi is Syrian and speaks fluent English, but appreciates Elgharib speaking to her in Arabic. 

"There are special expressions with driving, and when you're stressed you'll think in your native language first," she said. 

'Feel the jerk'

Safadi drives tentatively, stopping well before a stop sign in a quiet Charlottetown neighbourhood. Egharib encourages her to be more confident. 

"The rules are easy to understand, but it's the movements like hand-over-hand when you're turning — we want to help them create muscle memory so they can do this without thinking about it," he said.  

The 25 hours of classroom time are in English, as are tests for students to get their licenses. 

Students also have 10 hours behind the wheel and observation time where they sit in the back seat and learn from others. 

MacFarlane sees one common mistake among many new students. 

"Stop signs aren't very important in some countries," said MacFarlane. "We get our students to 'feel the jerk' of actually stopping."

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