The following speech was prepared and presented by Yumin Guo at the TBMA LINC School Graduation on June 12, 2008: 

Good morning teachers, TBMA staff, fellow friends and classmates. We are gathered here to celebrate another successful year at the TBMA LINC School. We worked very hard and as a result, the English language has become a little bit more comprehensible to us. Learning English is not easy. Let’s face it – English is a crazy language. There is no egg in Eggplant nor ham in hamburger; there is neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins were not invented in England nor French fries in France.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don’t fing and hammers don’t ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn’t the plural of booth, beeth? One goose and two geese, so one moose should become two meese? And how do you explain that a slim chance and a fat chance can be the same? If teachers taught, why didn’t preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Humans???

In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? You must agree with us, some meanings and spellings are not exactly logical. English is a difficult language to learn.

Despite all of these contradictions, we are learning and making progress. When we listen to the radio or watch television, we catch more words we know. When we talk to our neighbour, we can understand and engage in small conversation. When we visit the doctor, we can explain our problems a little bit better. It is the life outside these classrooms that are the real tests of how much we have learned here. Today, our last day of school, is both happy and sad. It is happy because we feel we know a little more English and we feel much more comfortable in our new country. It is also happy because we have made some new friends and we shared some wonderful experiences in our classrooms. We laughed and we cried together. We cared about each other and we tried to help each other whenever we could. Our school was a true friendship center. We know that we can always find people here who will help us with any problems we may have. During the last few weeks, we have anxiously followed the world events, especially the stories that followed the earthquake in China and the cyclone in Burma. As we were secretly praying for our families and friends back in our native countries, we also felt a tremendous gratitude for the opportunity to live in Canada. Thank you Canada for allowing us to live here.

Today is also a little bit sad because some of us might not return to school in September. Some of us are ready to begin working or ready to pursue further education and still others are moving to another city. Some of us will begin a new journey of life in Canada. It is a little scary to leave this wonderful support system behind and begin living independently on our own. Good luck to all of you who will begin a new chapter in your lives this summer.

There are many people that have helped us to come so far. We would like to thank our teachers for their love, dedication and patience. Thank you for the words of encouragement we heard so often. Thank you not only for teaching us English but also for preparing us for our new life in Canada. You have given us much more than the knowledge of English. You have taught us the basic skills of survival in a new culture. You have inspired us to always try our best and never worry about the mistakes we make. We would like to thank the TBMA staff, especially the Executive Director, Cathy Woodbeck and the President of the TBMA Board of Directors, Jim Squier for offering and supporting the LINC School in Thunder Bay. We would like to thank Rosalind Maki and Maria Niny for looking after us and our children on daily basis and responding to many requests every day. We appreciate the opportunity to study English knowing that our children are well taken care of. All of you have made our lives here in Canada so much easier, happier and better. We know that you cannot change the weather for us but thank you for teaching us not only how to survive winter in Thunder Bay but also how to enjoy it.

In conclusion, I would like to wish everybody a safe and enjoyable summer whenever it comes. Good luck in Canada and with your English studies. See you in September.

The following speech was prepared and presented by Raymond Ray at the TBMA LINC School Graduation on June 12, 2008:

My name is Raymond Ray. I come from Burma; from the Karen State. I was in a refugee camp before I came to Canada. I came to Canada on February 26, 2006.

For one and a half years I stayed at home because of my health. I have headaches and ear and eye problems. The doctors are helping me in Thunder Bay. I thank them very much.

I like to learn English and I came to LINC School in 2007 and 2008. I like my studies very much. I would like to thank my teacher very much. She gives me knowledge. God bless her and protect her. I thank all the teachers for their help. God bless you.

The Thunder Bay Multicultural Association staff and Board of Directors congratulate our LINC students and teachers on a very successful year.  Well done!