Thanks to Newincanada (for starting this thread and providing valuable inputs) and all the contributors for their inputs.

I found the info to be very useful and relevant. I wish and hope that more people contribute to this thread.

Cheers.

Awesome valid points. But on light note, as suggested by Russell Peters’ father, we need to do a barbeque and make some hodogs to invite our neighbors and be Canadians.


1) Language classes and its benefits; has anyone attended?
--I haven’t attended those classes personally, but I know few people who attended them. If you think your command on language is weak or just has lack of confidence I would suggest you to go for it. I’m sure there are different types of course but the one I’m referring to is ESL.


2) Any etiquettes training,
--Not sure if there’s any training but you’ll learn them slowly with the time. The more you interact with people the better you’ll get. Best place of interaction is your neighborhood parks.

3) Friendly community
--Can’t say much about other cities but here in Ottawa I found people in East end are more friendly than other parts of town.

4) Important places in Canada with historical importance;
--Depends on particular province or city you are in.

Please don’t quote me on any of the above. Those are my personal views and hope will be somewhat helpful.

Happy Belated Canada Day.

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Inderpal Singh
Sorry - yesterday was the deadline for all complaints
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Hi Inderpal,

First thank you for your time and giving your inputs, it was very thoughtful of you to wish the Canada day, appreciate that.

Haha, Russell Peters, very good start Inderpal, as a matter of fact, i am a very great fan of him and he really points a lot of these matter(interaction and methods of integration by first gen immigrants) in a very harmless, humorous way, personally I would recommend all immigrants (especially the first generation) should see his shows, its lots of fun and learning about ourself on the cultural shift platform, one can even see a lot of his shows clippings on youtube. The below link will list atleast 15-20 clippings, however you should not miss these :- Beating your kids, Indian Accent, be a man, White Canadian accent and the list is long.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=russell+peters&search_type=&aq=o

No!, I am not trying to promote him here for my personal liking or any commercial gain, but i have felt that at least once it should be watched this is my personal opinion. If nothing else he will definitely make you laugh.

As requested, Inderpal, I am not quoting anything on your comments 1,2,3 & 4 ; except, thanks again for you time and inputs and am sure its helpful.

Friends from across Canada, please share your inputs on the topic and specially on the 4 questions raised, based on your personal or any information on reliable sources you may have.

More inputs, more helpful. If you can share any of your personal experience on these topics just brief in less than 100 words so to keep it to the point

PEACE ALWAYS
newincanada

Friends,

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=talking+canadian&search_type=&aq=o

The above link will lead you to Youtube in which you can get a good idea about Canadian English, specially if you check out the videos titled Talking Canadian, its in 5 parts, I did download them and watched carefully, its a very good start if one really wants to learn the pronunciation and the tone of the voice etc. Also it gives the history of Canadian english and specifies the commonly used words which are only in Canada.

There are several other videos too to learn more on improving your accent, tone of voice, local dialects etc.

Hope this will be useful. If you are coming to Canada for the first time as immigrant or even as a tourist or to visit family and friends am sure this will make you prepared to talk like a Canadian if not at least to be familiarize to Canadian english

Enjoy the language learning on youtube eh!

newincanada

Though I would not suggest to put up an accent artificially , but if it helps communicating better with your peers , then go ahead ...... language's objective is to be understood ..... we should be adaptable to changing circumstances ........ guess thats why Brits learned Hindi ...

I pick up variances I encounter and include them in my communications ...some words I recall picking up the pronounciation after being in Canada .

coupon becomes koo-pawn
mentor becomes ment-ore
inventury becomes inven-torie
record becomes ray-kurd ...

pharases I wasn't aware of before .... touch base , same page , pitch in ...

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Fido.

Thanks Fido for the inputs, I agree with you on artificial accent, but if one still wants to develop the accent, one need to start practicing it in private time and record the same and playback to self and rectify the errors and when confident try it out.

In my personal experience if you talk sounding similar to the other persons style / tone of voice (not in funny way of course) then you are instantly accepted and liked. It makes a bridge between two people from different cultural grounds instantly.

Body gesture and dressing also helps in communication.

Just taking liberty to explain the phrases mentioned by Fido, so those who are not aware can get an idea

Touch base: to talk briefly to someone

Same Page: when two people or more are following the subject and having same understanding on the subject , in short have clear understanding equally

Pitch in: To contribute or join in together for a task , etc

http://www.thefreedictionary.com" rel="nofollow">LINK
This site is a very handy and detail oriented, personally I use it when in doubt

Once again thanks for your time and posting. Later also if you have to contribute kindly do

I am glad to see responses, friends please share your inputs, it helps everyone.

PEACE ALWAYS
newincanada

A historical place may be an archeological site or an ancient monument or structure with some sort of heritage, cultural or aesthetic values linked with it. Here is a listing of some of the historical places of Canada as I could research out

Sheffield Park Black Cultural Museum
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Royal Ontario Museum
Hockey Hall of Fame
Royal Alberta Museum

The Sheffield Park Black Cultural Museum is located on Highway 26, about 2 miles west of Collingwood on the Georgian Bay shores. The Museum, offers fascinating stories of generations of pioneer families who have been living in the Collingwood Area. This museum is one of the popular historical sites in the city of Ontario.

This historical place in Ontario located in the Dawn Settlement of Dresden. Uncle Tom's Cabin is sited on the property that was bought by Josiah Henson. Major attractions of this Cabin include several artifacts and souvenirs, replica structure of Uncle Tom's Cabin, the Saw Mill and the grave of Josiah Henson.

The Royal Ontario Museum is the largest museum in Canada, located at the corner of Queen's Park Avenue and Bloor Street. The Museum exhibits a whole host of archeological items, visual arts and specimen of natural history. It also has over 40 galleries and is one of the leading historical places of Canada.

The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in the BCE Place downtown, Toronto and has a recorded history of hockey over 100 years. The Hall of Fame has many interactive games and several historical exhibits on display like the leagues' major awards and trophies like the Stanley cup.

The Royal Alberta Museum is located on 102 Avenue, Edmonton and it is one of the major historical sites of Canada. Its oldest and permanent displays consist of the Syncrude Gallery of Aboriginal Cultures. This Gallery is acclaimed worldwide and showcases the history of the aboriginals over 11,000 years. The Museum's other long term attractions include Natural History Gallery, The Bug Room and the Wild Alberta gallery.

Some other important places I could find are as below
Markham Museum & Historic Village - Toronto
Fort York- Toronto
Colborne Lodge - Toronto
Scarborough Historical Museum - Toronto
The Gibson House Museum - Toronto
Brooks Aqueduct - Alberta
Fort George and Buckingham House - Alberta
Rutherford House – Alberta
Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village – Alberta

If you know any other places, please contribute.

As mentioned earlier the objective is to consolidate all information in a one page screen so that for newcomers it gives overall idea about the country and can plan how to prepare for getting integrated into the fabric of society much easily or at least gets proper direction for getting integrated.

PEACE ALWAYS
newincanada