Making Marriage work?

[nyssa]

I love the mosaic idea

I've met people from all different cultures in Canada who love where they come from/family background but also love and are very proud of being Canadian. It's really nice.

 

[journeyman]

this is because we don't have a 'melting pot'. Canada is based on a "Mosaic" system where by everyone is encouraged to keep their own language and cultural identity, which makes up the beautiful mosaic that Canada is.

Reading this took me back to elementary school!!! (quite a long time ago, I might add) . I remember this being taught as a very main difference (among others) between Canada and the US in terms of ideologies. And to this day, I have always found it normal that people mention their origins when asked where they are from. The "Canadian" part is a given, coupled with your heritage that you bring to make Canada what it is, even if those origins are a few generations back. I myself am of "British" origins (cross of English/Irish) 2-3 generations back, and if I were to move to another country, would always consider myself Canadian.

Interesting stories in this thread.

A big :-* to all of us going through this process.

 

[BeShoo]

More on the "cultural mosaic" idea for those wanting to read up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_mosaic

A couple of weeks ago I took my American partner to see Mosaika, the new sound and light show on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. I had to explain the cultural mosaic to him and why the show would be named as it is. By the way, it runs through September 12 and I recommend it. The previous show which ran the last few years was good, but this one is even better.

There's a bit of interesting stuff on the website, even if you don't go see the show:
http://www.mosaika-sl.ca/

 

[sbwv09]

This is all well and good and completely understandable when the person is a new immigrant. However, I'm talking about people who were born in Canada and raised in Canada and can't speak English or French! That's just beyond my imagination because they obviously had to try very hard NOT to become part of the culture in which they were born.

 

[locolynn]

This is all well and good and completely understandable when the person is a new immigrant. However, I'm talking about people who were born in Canada and raised in Canada and can't speak English or French! That's just beyond my imagination because they obviously had to try very hard NOT to become part of the culture in which they were born.

I could be wrong...but it would seem to me you couldn't be talking about more than a handful of people. Let's be realistic, most people born in Canada to immigrant parents would end up in the public school system where they would, naturally, end up speaking English or French. I even think if they went to a private school they would still be speaking English, otherwise they wouldn't be an accredited school.


So realistically we're talking about a handful of homeschooled immigrants who never learned to speak the language, and if we are talking handfuls..I can think of a least a half dozen people who are 2nd generation Canadians who ONLY speak English fluently and not their native tongue - even though their parents barely speak English.

Just my thoughts...

Lynn

 

[dair2dv8103100]

So realistically we're talking about a handful of homeschooled immigrants who never learned to speak the language, and if we are talking handfuls..I can think of a least a half dozen people who are 2nd generation Canadians who ONLY speak English fluently and not their native tongue - even though their parents barely speak English.

Yes it would have to be a very small percentage that have actually been home schooled or some how else kept out of the school system. I live in a neighbourhood with a very high percentage of immigrants and even the children that where born in and only spoke their mother tongue before arriving learn to speak english fluently, and quickly!! With a few kids teaching them the lovely vulgar terms first just to laugh at them (I am being sadly serious here)

Usually when people ask me I say I am Canadian...very few have probed further than that by saying.. "You are native Canadian?".. to which I have to reply that no my heritage is British/Irish/German and goes back at least 2 generations...but how much easier is it to simply state Canadian

I love Canada ;D

 

[BeShoo]

It depends on the context too. I was at an event today (with aW lot of out of town visitors). When someone asked where I was from, I said I was from here, although I've lived here less than 6 years and I lived near where I was born (in Canada) for 44 years before that.

As for language, I have a friend with German parents. He and his sister spoke only German while they were pre-schoolers, but they had to learn English quickly once they started school.

You can't judge everyplace by Toronto either. Toronto is big enough and has enough immigrants that there are entire "enclave" neighbourhoods where you can live most of your live without speaking English. I don't see how you can go to school there without knowing English, though.

 

[sbwv09]

You can't judge everyplace by Toronto either. Toronto is big enough and has enough immigrants that there are entire "enclave" neighbourhoods where you can live most of your live without speaking English. I don't see how you can go to school there without knowing English, though.

This is exactly the situation.. and of course they did not FINISH school. They went to school for awhile, failed many times and were passed along sometimes until they were old enough to drop out. This happens in school systems more often than most people think (I would know!) Most of these people I'm talking about work in those isolated areas you mention.. and many of them do semi legal things. A lot of immigration fraud too. The reason I know this is that my husband befriended some people in his youth (who have more English than that, of course) who were mixed up in that as well.

I understand that you want to keep some of your old culture but why would you even immigrate if you didn't want to become part of the new culture at all? My culture isn't all that different but I enjoyed going to the various festivals and things that wouldn't take place where I'm from, and I'm also reading up on Canadian history, etc.