Syrian arrivals learn English, Toronto culture through newspaper

"What does this mean?", ESL teacher Teresa Wiens asks her class, writing an exclamation mark on the blackboard. She follows with the symbols for periods, commas, quotation marks, and semi-colons -- preparation for an exercise in which they will dictate the day's newspaper headlines to each other.

Wiens has posted five newspaper headlines next door but without photos to avoid giving any extra clues about the meaning of the headline. One student runs next door, memorizing as much of the headline as possible, complete with exclamation marks, commas and periods and then runs back to report the headline to a classmate. Their fellow newcomer writes it down, a test for both of their ability to listen, enunciate and spell and also of their understanding of their new home.

TalarSarkis arrived from Aleppo, Syria, 10 days ago. Sophia, her fellow newcomer, is from Beijing.

One of the first things each of them did when they arrived was find out where the nearest ESL program was.Fluency in English is key to making it in a new country, whether it's finding work, making friends or just getting around. Many Syrians already speak English, but Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) teaches English aswell as the culture of their new Canadian home.

The headlines on this day include a story about overweight squirrels, police carding and bike lanes.

Sarkis has no idea what 'Hey Fatty!" means, in the headline about chubby squirrels. Her Chinese classmate struggles as well. They've both have seen squirrels but both the pronunciation and spelling eludes them.

But by the time the class is over, Sarkis has learned about Fashion Santa, anti-carding advocates and bike lanes. A crash course for a young Syrian in Toronto culture and vocabulary.

"In Syria, all children love learning English," says Sarkis. Most of the movies in the country are either English or French, she says.

Sarkis came to Toronto with her husband and his family, leaving behind her own parents and brothers.

"It's my pain, yes. I cried every day in this month when I'm thinking they are still there and I'm coming here," she said.

She says she knows her father would be delighted to see her in this new setting.

"He like studying," she said of her father. "He told me, 'my daughter, you must study every day until you die.'"

Sarkis says she and her father are "best friends." As hard as it was for her to leave, it may have been harder for him to see her go.

Her father is a pediatrician in Syria. Many doctors have already left Syria, which is why her father doesn't want to leave. There is lots of work to do there. In contrast, there is no work for a doctor who is first and foremost a refugee in Canada.

But painful as it was to say goodbye, she is amazed that here in Toronto, she hardly feels like a stranger because so many people around her are also newcomers, like all the people studying English with her.

At the end of the class, her teacher, Wiens, holds up a photo of the Toronto Star's front page, revealing the identity of this strange animal they've been trying to describe. There's a collective gasp from the room as they realize they've been wrestling with the name of Toronto's most ubiquitous critter.