地球客逍笑說

老艾整理古董硬碟,看到十幾年前艾太旅溫哥華長住時,以讀地方報紙有感時的兩篇讀者投書,當年的重點,除了關心居所在的人事物和時事之外,重點在於打發時間,練習英文讀寫。ㄧ篇讀者投書,寫改在數天以上,而且當年報紙編輯友善移民讀者,艾太當年勇敢熱心投書,每篇都被潤改用詞或文法,以為更貼切本地文化.

移民到語言文化不同的國家,有別於觀光過客,對大人小孩而言,都是衝擊. 但是有機會看看外頭的星空,耗費極大的財力精神時間,機會難得,也非普多數人輕易可得,國際留學生,耗費財力更鉅. 人生的栽培無錢不能,幸運的孩子,有機會不珍視,因無知而犯下法律上無可抹滅的污點,真令人心痛.

以下二00五年的有感投書,那對父母也是來自臺灣. 他們上高中的女兒在一月冬日離家,父母無計可施上媒體頭版找人,在電視上用英文慢慢表達,不怪女兒,但說是為人父母的自己做得不夠,天啊,我們電視機前看了都好心疼這對父母.

Kids don't consider how their parents feel
The Richmond News - Letters
Site updated Sunday, February 13, 2005 10:14 AM

Dear Editor,

The News reported (Feb. 5) the missing girl, Josephine Shih, was lucky to be found unharmed by a security guard who had met her at 6 a.m.

She is lucky Chris Waddell, the nice security guard, stopped her.

Something bad might have happen to her before she got home.

Kids, don't understand if they take a few wrong steps, there may be no chance of getting back to their life.

Those scars never fade.

I recall once my son wanted to experience what hunger was like.

So he took a program called the 30-Hour Famine at high school.

I didn't stop him, but I said if your grandmother knew, she would laugh loudly. She would also sigh, because nowadays people think differently.

Shih's parents said they felt they had not done enough to understand her problems and that they were not angry with her.

Shih, have you ever thought about how your parents feel?

Many immigrants bring their kids here to get a better education.

I am one of them.

We all have had hard times with language barriers, culture shock, differences in school systems, etc.

Nothing is easy, but we go through it step by step.

When you look around the neighbourhood, there are many young adults who have rooted here.

It's tough, but many others have made the adjustment. Kids, can you think twice before you act?



School closure a huge loss
The Richmond Review - Letters
Posted on Dec 18 2004

此篇是當年在列治文多元文化中心學英文,學費極低,政府有補助,後來政府財力預算不足,ㄧ度打算裁減ESL預算,但也熬過去了,現在,也還是鼓勵移民努力學英文,早早學好官方語言. 要不然入籍公民考試,題目不容易的啊.

Editor:

A local English language school offered by Richmond Multicultural Concerns Society is being forced to close after 15 years due to a change in provincial government contracts.
That's pretty sad news for all immigrants whose mother tongue isn't English!

The language barrier, especially when people first arrive to a new place, is difficult. I believe most immigrants have experienced a hard time doing simple chores with locals and at stores and feel frustrated and isolated.

The Richmond Multicultural Concerns Society is a wonderful organization. Mr. Gordon Partovi and the enthusiastic staff, volunteers and teachers, understand newcomers have hard situations, so they provide English conversation classes, and a LEAD program to help immigrants to improve ours English skills step by step.

Since coming to Canada from Taiwan, I have benefited and been encouraged by them a lot. Now, the organization is losing some of its programs. It is a big loss to close a school that helps people learn more English skills and helps newcomers get involved in our community more easier.