鈥淚鈥檓 learning Arabic to provide some degree of courtesy and welcome for the new family when the family arrives,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 want not only the arriving refugee families to feel welcome after their ordeal but also to bridge the cultural gap.鈥�
Doherty is part of a new program being offered to the public in response to Canada鱿鱼视频app acceptance of 25,000 Syrian refugees. The university鱿鱼视频app four-week Arabic course has been running since January and the first two sessions attracted a surprising amount of interest from the community.
鈥淚鈥檓 hoping there will be a third course,鈥� said Muhammad Elhabibi, course instructor and curriculum developer. 鈥淐anada is a land of immigration. It is not only the local people, the English-speaking people, it is people who come from all over the world.鈥澛�
Elhabibi says there are more than 20,000 Arabic speakers in the Halifax area, making Arabic the second most spoken language in the port city. The first course attracted 36 mature students who paid $150 each. 鱿鱼视频app two-thirds of them returned for part two.聽
鈥淭he interest in this course was unexpected,鈥� Elhabibi said.
Students who completed the first course 鈥済rasped all the letters and they could write some words,鈥� as well as speak some common phrases, such as greetings.聽
鈥淭hey are very happy with the amount of language that they learned from the first course,鈥� Elhabibi said.聽
Even a limited grasp of Arabic can help a volunteer make a Syrian refugee feel more welcome. 聽
Doherty, 71, who has worked with the Halifax Refugee Clinic, said he is taking the course to close the culture gap for the family that his parish, St. Patrick鱿鱼视频app, has jointly sponsored with St. George鱿鱼视频app Anglican Church. He said it鱿鱼视频app been difficult but rewarding.
鈥淚 am not expecting to be conversant in Arabic,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut I believe I will be able to communicate with an Arabic speaker.鈥澛�
Nova Scotia Immigration 鱿鱼视频app says that language barriers are among the biggest challenges refugees face in Canada. Nova Scotia has more than 570 Syrian refugees and the province鱿鱼视频app Immigration 鱿鱼视频app expect that number to rise.
鈥淭hey will integrate more easily into the society鈥� if they can still communicate in Arabic, said Elhabibi. 鈥淚f you go to another country and you don鈥檛 speak the language, if you find someone who speaks English and you can communicate with them, that will be psychologically great for you. You will have confidence and you鈥檒l feel at home.鈥澛�
Although the course is open to the general public Elhabibi said he had social-service workers in mind when developing the curriculum.聽
鈥淚n many public services, in churches as well, they need to know some Arabic to be able to communicate with the people who frequent these places,鈥� said Elhabibi, whose his wife is a translator at a Halifax hospital.聽
Saint Mary鱿鱼视频app is also operating English classes for refugees.聽
鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to take the refugees to another lifestyle,鈥� Elhabibi. 鈥淭his will give them a sense of assurance. Language can ease the situation.鈥澛�