BEING a Filipino taking up a mandatory English course as a second language in Ontario is certainly quite a challenge. First, I was already a nursing freshman in college in the Philippines when I migrated here. But the education system in Ontario cannot credit my university studies back here in the Philippines and even though English is the second language of my country, that cannot be counted either.

Because of the peculiar education system in this province, I need to go back to two years in high school and take up English as a second language because I’m a foreigner. Canada’s education system is so decentralized that Ontario’s rules quite differ from the rest of the provinces. If you think of it 180 degrees around, there’s a lot of positivism to it. I excel in English than my other foreign classmates because I have already learned the language by heart even though I was yet in day care. (We used to speak English at home). I was like 3 then; I’m all over 18 now.

The other advantage is I get to meet certainly lots of friends, congenial girls and hot boys alike but all non-Canadians like me. There are Chinese, Singaporeans, Nigerians, South Koreans, Germans, Mexicans, Israelis, Palestinians, Syrians, Russians, Czechs, Polish, Finnish and other nationalities in our class. Since we are a diverse group of only 15 persons or so in the special class, we tend to be so close towards each other and we talk of varied topics. We talk about the recent sweep of the Canadian team against the hockey team. We talk about the ongoing Rugby World Cup in France, Cardiff and Edinburgh. We talk about the Italian Grand Prix and the recent win by defending champion Fernando Alonso and the subsequent Belgian Grand Prix which will be held this September 16 in Spa, Belgium. Coincidentally enough, there is a Belgian in our group and she boasts to us how Spa has earned its name. There are lots of hot springs in that city and they are said to rejuvenate both body and soul. On one occasion, she even invited us to come visit her place in Belgium.

And since we are a diverse group, we often share with each other our respective first languages. In particular, I share my experiences as a Filipina way back home. I introduced them to some Filipino viands which my mom helped me cook and which I brought to class. They consisted of paksiw (marinated roasted pig) and rice. In return, I also learned several insights from them. I found out that European languages have some nomenclatures in common. I recognize that j in some Eastern European languages are pronounced as y like Reykjavik or Janus. I recognize that v is pronounced as f and w is pronounced as v in German like Volkswagen.

One French student shared to us that there is a domed city in their place which is 2 square kilometers wide. It is so huge that it looks like the set of the Jim Carrey-starrer The Truman Show. And dig this – every inhabitant of that campus is nude and it is called Cap d’Agde. See? There are lots of things that I’ve learned while immersing in this language program.