Dear friends,

After doing good amount of reading and communicating to Canadian friends I have understood that to be progressive in Canada one need to follow some fundamental rules like;

Develop strong language proficiency (At least in one English/ French)
Be adaptive to local culture (in all manners; eating, dressing, talking, etiquettes, celebrations etc )
Network with multi communities and not just sticking to own ethnic people.
Enhance education, skills and knowledge, join mentoring groups
Keep oneself healthy and active
Participate in local voluntary activities
Learn the history of the country
Travel and see the country as much possible
Respect work (All color of collars)
Contribute to society

I have certain answers yet to get so am just shooting it here.

1) How useful are the language classes run by the govt run services, especially in developing the speaking skills like pronunciation, accent, tone of voice, local dialects etc. I am considering for people who have scored 7 and above in IELTS in all four categories (LWRS) so assuming these category have considerable good command on language. Has anyone of this category joined the language classes and if so was it useful to develop the above aspects in language improvement? If not, how to gain command on these aspects of language. What was your approach for this?

2) Any good short term course or voluntary org which conducts etiquettes training for non western immigrants? Or how one can learn these in the shortest possible way? Are friends and life experiences only source?

3) Which are the most welcoming and friendly communities as per your personal experience as an new immigrant, what was that which touched you so close for that. (If you had any bad experience, please, please, please do not mention.) Looking only for positive attitude responses here and no clashes for heavens.

4) Which places are a must see in each province in regard to understanding the country; enjoy the beauty, learning the historical importance and life experience.

If you have any more points to add please do so, so that new immigrants can get more knowledge and understanding in getting integrated and have success.

PEACE ALWAYS
newincanada

seems aspiration to integration is a long way yet........

Integration can happen naturally as opposed to trying too hard too quick. It is common for new immigrants to feel secure among familiar community groups. That's perfectly ok. Integration may not happen if that new member continues to stick to that comfort zone instead of venturing out.

Venturing out provides ample opportunity to observe and learn. Simple things that are not common in, say, India, can be learned through observation - example - holding the door for the person behind you, allowing space between the individual in a grocery queue, muttering an "excuse me" when need to barge through a person or people and so on. I tend to nod or give a subtle smile when I notice someone looking little too hard at me. I find that this gesture breaks the barrier among most people and freaks the hell out of, yeah, sadly enough, Indian women. They simply freeze

Don't look for "friendly" communities. Rather, think of humans as humans. If you group the person into a community or ethnic group, we tend to stereotype. However, if you simply consider that person on a one on one basis, you'll find, he/she has lot to offer in common and the stereotyping attitude breaks down and makes it that much easier to integrate.

Speaking - pronounciation and enunciation are important, accent is not. As long as others can understand you, who cares about your accent.

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Dimple2001

Thanks dimple2001 for your time and points, they are been noted.


Friends please shoot your inputs, on language classes and all other points raised.

newincanada

What you have stated are all valid to a certain degree. But I think complete integration happens in the span of a couple of generations.

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If you have a gun, you can rob a bank.
If you have a bank, you can rob everyone.
- Bill Maher

I'll also agree with Dimple and Blorean that integration doesn't happen in one day, it takes time. It is like we build a relationship with a person, in a similar manner we create a relationship with the country and its habitants slowly. Observation and then adaptation are the best tools. Regarding the language, I'm 24/7 surrounded by Canadians and Americans (except home!) and English pops more out of reflex/habit then of want. The best advice I’ve got and would like to share is never try changing your accent; it is very unwanted and looks artificial. The correctness in language, spoken and written is very important though. In etiquettes the best is the calm composure, speaking softly, polite but firm, basic mannerisms (which Dimple mentioned above). One more thing, from the initial stages of immigrating to NA till today, I believe that we don’t carry our personal images but also (more importantly) carry the image of our country with us, any good public behavior can be cited as “this Indian man/lady” in positive as well as negative way. Our behavior can reflect a behavior of Indians and perceived as in general, we should at least try people not to have a wrong perception of us.

Jona

Thanks jonav and blorean for your time and points,which are noted, truly appreciate that. I also agree these things are not something one learns in just few days or months, it takes time.

still my question remains,

1) Language classes and its benifits; has anyone attened? if so please share their experiences, how useful it was, how much time was spend , was it sufficient, what was lacking, what additional thing you learned from such classes inspite you being good in language. Anything of that sort , please share.

2) Any etiquettes training , here i am specific about the Canadian protocols or traditions if any which probably new comers are not aware of, if any one knows please share, otherwise in general below link are very useful and is very handy and such similar ones are in plenty available on the internet

http://www.corporateclassinc.com/about-business-etiquette-training.php
http://glimpse.org/tips/topic/etiquette/
http://definingetiquette.com/
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/country-profiles.html
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/canada.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etiquette_in_Canada_and_the_United_States

3) My question to friendly community was not based on human to human relation, it was basicaly the different areas / regions / wards of the city which one felt friendly and why. I would not think in that manner either to bifurcate people based on ethinicity or any other such discriminatory terms, hope now I am able to clarify what I was trying to point .

4) Important places in Canada with historical importance;

I hope the concept of this tread is more clear , eventually if more inputs are available in more diverse ways a consolidated post can be prepared and can be added. So that like other sticky posts this topic can be created for newcomers under the category like say how to prepare for cultural shift or something like that, (a good caption can be decided later) so in a snap shot it can be a quick reference

All positive opinions are welcome.

Administrator and other seniors can add more inputs to this concept I hope..

I wish you all a HAPPY CANADA DAY in advance.

PEACE ALWAYS
newincanada