Dear Editor,
Re: “Meeting to Bridge Language Gap,” News, Feb. 24.
I believe the city has been accommodating enough to our Chinese community. Don’t get me wrong. I Iove the Chinese and I love Chinese food.
However, it’s sad that this meeting about public safety has been positioned as a problem of not being able to voice their concerns due to language. So, do they want to have Chinese translation on municipal signage and at city hall meetings?
The solution is to learn the language. Before I came to Canada, we were required to take and pass an English proficiency test.
Peter Liu even added that it’s too much to expect new immigrants to wait four or five years to learn English before they can actively engage with city council and local politics. Seriously?
When I was in Shanghai, one of the largest business districts of China, I had to show my hotel card for the taxi driver to understand where my hotel was. I had to show the server in the restaurant a picture of the food I wanted to order. I did not complain nor expect them to understand me. I was in their home country, and I knew I needed to adjust. I should have learned basic conversational Chinese
Alfred Cordero
Richmond
