By Cathy McNally
At the Cambridge Street Public School, Grade 6 student Thuong Tran told a story to her language class. She memorized it as an exercise in improving her public speaking skills.
But there is a catch. Thuong, who is of Vietnamese descent, told the story in Vietnamese.
Whether it is Vietnamese, Somali or Dutch, many parents want their children to understand and maintain their heritage.
Some parents fear their children will become assimilated into Canadian society, forgetting their background.
Every Saturday afternoon Thuong, along with 215 other children, comes to the Cambridge Street Public School to learn and practice Vietnamese.
The kids range from junior kindergarten to Grade 8, and most are of Vietnamese descent.
Each week, the teachers and students meet together in the gymnasium at noon, where they sing both the Canadian and Vietnamese national anthems.
Then the students go to their assigned classrooms where they learn Vietnamese songs, sentences and stories.
Thuong says she likes going to her Saturday classes because she keeps up with her Vietnamese skills while getting a break from the French school she attends during the week.
Language classes are a growing trend in the capital. In Ottawa more than 60 language courses are offered by the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board.
These programs are offered to all Ontario residents regardless of their language background.
Every year, more than 10, 000 students participate in these free courses, with Spanish and Arabic classes being the most popular.
According to Constantine Ioannou, continuing education officer for the International Languages Program, these programs are very popular in Ottawa.
“Whether or not they are immigrants, many children are given the opportunity to reach back to their native countries and embrace their language and cultural backgrounds,” Ioannou says.
Debasree Banerji, site administrator for the Vietnamese language school, says the program has allowed the students to grow.
“The children learn their language and culture of heritage, and they become confident. The children can then say to themselves, yes, my root is Vietnamese.”
Abdirizak Karod, executive director for the Somali Centre for Family Services in Ottawa, says many Ottawa Somali families face a conflict between parents and their children.
According to Karod, many Canadian-Somali children lose their Somali language skills and their parents become frustrated.
“The Somali language will vanish in years to come,” Karod says. “Somali kids are becoming more Canadian than Somali.”
Mohamoud Abdulle is the Somali language teacher at Glebe Collegiate Institute.
He says the courses offer a double advantage for many students.
“Not only are the students getting credit for high school,” Abdulle says.
“It helps them understand their culture and appreciate their background, which is easy for younger kids to forget.”