BristolUK

Three seasons.
Winter, summer, fall.

Unless you count 'construction' season.

iaink

My kids are in "French Immersion" schooling here. My French is pants and my better halfs non existent.

My kid won the French prize in class this year, despite the presence of native french speakers!

I guess Im saying that it not that big a deal.

jimmydean

My reasons for moving to Canada:------I had retired in the UK and wanted a new base from which to explore North America and it turned out that obtaining a visa to live in Canada was the easiest way of doing this...

Partially discharged

My wife and I are the exact same....our children are 17 and 13. The 17 year old (daughter) just finished high school and graduated with very high marks (although I do find marks in general are inflated here), the french immersion certification and an international certificate. They started in french immersion in kindergarten and by about grade 1 or 2 they were ahead of my wife and I.

To deny your children the opportunity to learn another language because you couldn't or didn't have the opportunity is quite short sighted.

I know this has been discussed before, but here in Ottawa, the better children academically tend to gravitate towards french immersion.

neneromanova

Wow, thanks for that. Never been called short sighted before.

I don't want to move to Europe. I want to move to either Canada or America. Hubby doesn't want to go to America so we both agree on Canada. That's why I'm on the Canadian section. If they can learn french in school or part of an immersion programme then fair enough. But I'm not living in a country where I can't speak the language and having no friends there. (I find it hard enough to make friends as it is, I don't want to add a language barrier into the mix)

Thanks to everyone who commented about why they moved to Canada A lot of your reasons are the same as I've been thinking (Entitled to behaviour and Chav attitudes. etc)

dbd33

Within 300 yards of this desk there are now certainly twenty, probably fifty, tattooed people with no obvious means of support, many of whom have the sunken cheeks and rotted teeth associated with meth use. Some prostitute themselves, many beg, all spit a lot. Hooded garments are prevalent even in this weather. They may, of course, be the only chavs in Canada.

JonboyE

On the education thing, bright children can pick up languages easily if they are immersed in them. Not all. Some have a limited capacity to retain and use vocabulary. Learning a second language will halve their vocabulary in each.

To the OP. Canada is a foreign country. If is different. Some of the differences you will enjoy. Some you won't. Are you the kind of person who can focus on the differences you enjoy and minimize those you don't? Or are you the type of person who finds change difficult and will spend their time fretting about the differences you don't enjoy?

If the former then come on over, have some new experiences, have some fun. It does not have to be forever. If the latter be aware that you may be miserable for a while.

[Edited to add] I think this personality trait is much more important and more indicative of whether or not moving to Canada will suit you. More so that the number of chavs.

iaink

I shudder to think how many words she would know if she hadnt done immersion then! I think this is a very good point. Its easy to overlook the fact that you will have a lot to learn, and in part maybe thats because there is a shared language and maybe you assume its not going to be all that different.

Then the little things start to annoy you and its downhill all the way to the airport after that.

Attitude and expectations play a big part in that, as does understanding why it is you want to put yourself through this move in the first place.

MarylandNed

Unless there's a serious physical or learning disability, every kid I know was able to pick up a language via immersion regardless of how bright they were.

Where did you get that from? Multiple studies have shown that learning a second language actually improves your English.

JamesM

+1

JamesM

It's all well and good cooking up these dreams with your husband but immigration is no stroll in the park.

Can you actually get into Canada or the US? I suggest you look into that first and then do some proper research and come back with decent questions.

The last thing you want to do is subject your children to an ill thought out fantasy.

Paul_Shepherd

You could only really say that about the GTA.

Souvy

I moved here purely for sex. I could just as easily have gone to Cambodia, had the same bird been involved.

Having access to a GP might be nice but I can't remember the last time I needed one.

I am a bit beyond needing to worry about the education system.

My backstabbing neighbour has the key to my house. She'll be using it lots over the next couple of weeks when we're not here (looking after my cat). Another neighbour, a teenager, flatly refused to take any money off me for mowing my grass while I'm not here.

Backstabbing bastards, the lot of them!

caretaker

Not sure if I'd move for sex or not but the night is young!

MillieF

Me too in spades!

Our son was born in France and spent all his Primary school years there, we are a bi-lingual family generally, I would like to think, but even so moving to Canada, albeit to a French school, with an 11 year old, wasn't simple.

If 'you' want it to succeed it will do, but if you drag your feet and hesitate and hate it, then kids pick up on it PDQ. You don't 'vaguely' think of this sort of move once you have children, you do it flat out as a family, or not at all.