English Corner helping immigrants 'excited to learn another language'

A group that meets weekly in Summerside, P.E.I., is not only helping immigrants learn English, but also helping them create community.

It's called the English Corner and on Wednesdays at 11 a.m. people gather in the lobby at Credit Union Place to work on their English.

The group was created by Theresa Charbonneau, who wanted to continue something she had started when she lived in Prince George, B.C.

Charbonneau's native language is English, but she also learned French at a young age.

While living in Prince George, she wanted to retain her second language — so she'd meet with other women at coffee shops to work on it.  

'They lost their first language'

"I kept my French alive during the 30 years I was out in B.C. I knew the value of just coming together and socializing."

When she moved to P.E.I. five years ago with her husband Yves, she decided it was a good time to start up another group. Since launching it in January, she's had participants from Mexico, the Philippines, and Syria.

This week the husband and wife were joined by three members of the Aldos family — a family originally from Syria who moved to P.E.I. in 2016. 

The family of six was forced to leave their country due to the Syrian civil war, which began in 2011. Medyan Aldos said the family fled to Jordan where they spent nearly six years in a refugee camp. 

"There's no school," he said. 

If we learn English quickly, we can do anything.— Medyan Aldos

"That's why my kids, they lost their first language. They couldn't read. They couldn't write."

Upon immigrating here, members of the Aldos family enrolled in English classes at Holland College.

"We were excited to learn another language because we came here to have a new future, a new life. The war crushed our country. The war crushed our dreams there."

The 40-year-old said learning a new language at his age has been difficult, but finds the English Corner extremely helpful. It's even helped him pick up on some P.E.I-isms. 

"I met … the retired people in the Tim Hortons and they say, 'Hey, how are ya?'"

Charbonneau said it typically takes people three visits at the English Corner for them to feel at ease.

"They'll go to Tim Hortons and socialize and talk to people," she said.

"They don't have to come here all the time. They just have to do it themselves."

'Education is like the light'

She said the friendships she's built and the confidence she sees in her students is what drives her.

"I feel I'm in the right place at the right time," she said.

"In French I would say 'Je me sens bien dans ma peau' it means I feel OK in my skin." 

Medyan would like to see more of the conversation corners pop up on the Island. 

"If we learn English quickly, we can do anything," he said.

"We have an idiom in Syria … education is like the light."

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