Every Tuesday evening, a group of young people are seen talking in Nepali in a street near Rose Avenue Junior Public School. They carry with them pens, exercise books and Nepali ‘barakhari’ (alphabet) book. As they enter the classroom, they greet their teacher, Sama, with a Namaste instead of a good evening before they start their lesson.
Some start with reciting the alphabets while some practice writing it; some practice reading lines from their books and others just write sentences. Sama Upadhyay is a very busy teacher. And since her students come from different levels, she has a hard time integrating them in the class. Some of her students were born in Canada, some have come from Nepal and some have a little knowledge of the Nepali language.[break]
In Nepal, ` taught in St Mary’s School in Kathmandu and that experience has helped her teach Nepali in Canada. There are more than 50 Nepali children learning the language from her. Along with her, there are other Nepali residents in Toronto who’ve initiated classes for learning Nepali since 2004.
“At that time it was difficult to get students since there were less Nepalis living in Canada,” said Sama, in between lessons, “These days parents are aware that they need to teach their children their language and so the student population has also increased.”
With the increasing volume of students in the language class, an extra class has been introduced since last year and there are two Nepali language classes actively functioning at the moment. Some students come from far away to learn Nepali, even managing a journey of an hour and more just for the class. There’s talk of adding an extra class to meet the requirements of the rising number of students, informs Sama. The class could operate in Scarborough where more and more Nepalis are settling down.
Parents are very happy that their children are learning Nepali. “It’s not definite that we will always live in Canada,” said Yam Khatri, a restaurateur, “We might return to Nepal one day and if our children do not have any idea or knowledge of the Nepali language and culture, then it’s going to be very difficult for them. Hence, it’s important for them to learn about their language and culture.”
He adds, “It’s a pleasure to hear them speak in their accented Nepali and it’s also the love for Nepal which makes us want our children to learn Nepali.”
Laxman Subedi, originally from Baglung, says, “When we were in Nepal, I would be happy to hear my daughter speak in English. But after we came here, it started worrying me thinking what if she forgets Nepali and that’s why I’ve enrolled my daughter, Anuja, in the language class. I’m happy now that she can speak good Nepali.”
There are a lot of residents in Canada who’ve come from different cultures and the government provides a teacher if there are at least 20 students interested to learn a language. Similarly, for the Nepali classes, the government has managed a salary for the teacher and other expenses through Toronto District School Board. The class is taught every Tuesday from 4:30 in the afternoon to 6:30 in the evening. Along with the Nepali language class, there are 14 other languages being taught in Rose Avenue Junior Public School. Some of the other languages include Tamil, Bengali and Urdu. Toronto District School Board’s Language Learning Program Coordinator Jayanti Rajendra said that the love Nepali students have for the language has moved him.
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