12–14 Years Old (Intermediate)

Rohan is a 12-year-old learner. She spent most of her early life in Syria, and moved to Jordan shortly after. Rohan arrived in Canada from Syria only a month before the Me Mapping workshops began, so she is still new to Canadian life and culture and adjusting to her new home and surroundings. Rohan is the eldest of four girls in her family. Rohan speaks Arabic with her family and even with her friends. She also speaks English when she goes to the hospital.  Rohan prefers math as she likes numbers, and her least favorite subject is French because she finds it difficult to speak and understand. Rohan really likes the teacher that she currently has and expressed that is one thing she likes about Canada. She has high aspiration and wants to be a doctor when she grows up. 

Rohan's transcript

Adela is a 14-year old student, who was born and raised in Syria and began school in 2005. She later immigrated to Canada in 2017 because of the war that was happening in Syria. She has a 6-year-old brother who is diagnosed with autism and a younger sister.  Adela hopes to become a pediatrician one day. Adela is a very enthusiastic and bubbly person, who is also very passionate about school and education, her teachers, family, and friends. Adela is very studious and enjoys learning different languages. She can speak Arabic, English, French, and a little bit of Chinese. Adela is very confident in herself and the way she speaks and writes English. She has determination and is self-motivated to learn. he mentioned in her videos that “she practise and practise until she gets better." Adela's first experience at school in Canada was nerve-wrecking because she was afraid of speaking English. However, her teacher was very supportive, which made her feel more confident and at ease. Out of the all moments she has had throughout her school journey thus far, she remembers and emphasizes how her teacher helped her and made her feel welcomed.

Adela's transcript 

Rahima is a sweet and enthusiastic 13-year-old learner. She has one sister and one brother; she is the middle child of her siblings. Rahima speaks Arabic, English and French. She states that she feels the most comfortable when speaking Arabic. When she describes her Linguistic Portrait, she indicates that her heart is Arabic. Rahima can also write in English, Arabic and French. When Rahima describes her timeline, she identifies a low point in her life as being the death of her mother’s uncle, and a high point in her life being a party at her house. Rahima seems social and makes friends easily. Her interests include visiting Paris, and wanting to be a fashion designer. 

Rahima's transcript 

Ali is an eighth grader who recently moved to Canada with his family. Ali is mostly fluent in Bangla, feels comfortable speaking English and can speak Hindi. As a result, Ali has a keen awareness of his plurilingual repertoire and resorts to these languages in learning new languages. In his home country, Ali schooled in English and followed the Cambridge curriculum, however in Bangladesh, Ali feels he spoke more Bengali than English since it is his mother tongue. In addition to English and Bangla, he can read Hindi, Knows Arabic because he loves Arabic food and is eagerly learning French at school now that he lives in Canada. At home, Ali speaks both Bangla and English with his family. Ali loves to play video games and read science fiction and fantasy novels in his spare time.

Ali's transcript

Yaser was born in Syria in 2006 and left with his family in 2010 due to the war. They stayed in a refugee camp for approximately two years and then moved to a house in Jordan where they lived for four years. In 2016, after a brief stop in the US, they immigrated to Canada. Yaser is a multilingual learner who speaks Arabic, English, Farsi, Turkish and Spanish. He likes playing soccer and when he grows up he wants to play professionally, get married and have a family. One day, he would like to become a rich and famous YouTuber, at which point he would love to get involved in playing other sports. His desire to have his own successful YouTube channel stems from the inspiration he gets from the creative and funny YouTubers he currently watches.

     Yaser's transcript 

Idris was born in Syria in 2005 and is currently living in Toronto, Canada. He has three siblings, an older brother, an older sister, and a younger brother. He started school in 2009 in Syria and moved to Lebanon in 2011. This move was likely due to the Syrian Civil War because he mentions that “the fight starts in 2010” but does not elaborate further during his timeline explanation. He moved to Turkey in 2013, then moved to Canada in 2017 and started school again. Idris mentions that he wants to be a police officer because he likes the police that he sees in a lot of movies. Although he does not mention any hobbies or school experiences, it seems that he misses his family and friends who are not in Canada. He states that in 2013, he said goodbye to a friend and his grandparents before moving to Turkey and that there is no one in Canada.  Idris mentions speaking four languages: Kurdish, Arabic, Turkish, and English. 

Wasim is a very positive 12-year-old who is happy to be in Canada. He was born in Saudi Arabia and moved to Toronto with his family in 2016. Wasim speaks multiple languages including Arabic, English, Tigrinya as well as some Spanish and French. Wasim appears to be most proficient in Arabic and English and to a lesser extent in Tigrinya. Wasim has a big family and is one of six children. He has two younger brothers, two older brothers and one older sister, his sister being the eldest. He lives in a multi-generational home, with four of his siblings, his parents, his grandfather and his aunt. Wasim and his family both appear to value education. While describing what he will be doing 10 years from now, he says that he will probably be in school as this is important to his parents. He aspires to be a doctor or an engineer. While describing his timeline, Wasim enthusiastically details visiting Kaaba with his family. This trip to the sacred Islamic site in Mecca, Saudi Arabia suggests that religion is an important part of his life. Wasim outlines three preferences that he finds helpful in the classroom environment. These include one-on-one instruction, teacher advocacy when he is struggling to understand concepts, and attentive and respectful peers.

Rashid was born in Syria in 2007 and describes himself as being happy at the time. Because of the war, he moved with his family to Iraq in 2012 where he went to school for five years. He has two younger siblings, specifically a brother who was born in 2013 and a sister who was born in 2015. When he was nine years old, he immigrated to Canada with his family in 2017. He started school in Canada from Grade 5 and mentions winning soccer games. Rashid seems to have great athletic skills in soccer and enjoys playing this sport. When he grows up, he aspires to be a “house builder.” Rashid does not mention any other interests, nor does he speak about his current age and grade. He has a friend who is also from Syria that he describes as a kind and an understandable person.  Based on his language portrait, Rashid speaks three languages: Arabic, Kurdish and English. It appears he knows Arabic the most, followed by Kurdish and then English. 

Remas is a charismatic 12-year-old learner who was born and raised in Amman, Jordan where she did her primary schooling. Her home anguage is Arabic and she is very fluent in it. She also speaks English which makes her bilingual. She has three brothers and two sisters. Her family came to Canada in the year 2014 and started school in 2015. She speaks highly of Jordan and feels that her education there was perfect. Perhaps this was one of the reasons that she did not want to come to Canada. Still, she persevered and her curious and her always willing-to-learn personality helped her in the transition. When she first tried skiing, she fell in love with it and even won many championships in it. Remas loves to cook rice that reflects her cultural background. She feels blessed to be living with her family and considers her elder brother as a gift. She has a best friend in school who is from Iraq and speaks Arabic as well. She trusts her friend because she is loving, kind, and nice. Remas says that she would benefit from a teacher who not only repeats the instructions but also explains to her the homework.

Salih is 12 years old. was born in Kurdistan in 2006 and lived there for 7 years. Salih attended Grade 1 in Kurdistan. He also lived in Syria for a year before moving to Canada in 2015 and starting in Grade 3. In 2009, he had to get stitches in his head, but he is now fully recovered. Salih likes being in Canada, but he says that he likes Kurdistan "a little more". He explains that he feels cold in Canada and gets tired because he does a lot of walking here. Salih considers Kurdish to be his main language,  and states that half of his brain is Kurdish and half is English. He still eats Kurdish food at home, but also eats a lot of "English food" in Canada. When Salih grows up, he wants to be a police officer so that he can keep his family and other people safe. Salih explains that it helps him when his teacher explains the homework and speaks slowly. 

Masood is a 13-year-old learner. He was born in Canada in 2005 and attended Kindergarten here. In Grade 1, Mansoor moved to Iran. After finishing Grade 5, Masood moved back to Canada, leaving his friends behind. He lives in Toronto now with his mother, two sisters and one brother. His dad is still in Iran. Masood's brother is a doctor, and his sister makes movies in the U.S.A. Masood speaks Farsi and English. Masood usually speaks Farsi at home with his mother, sister, and grandparents, but he explains that he uses English when doesn't know the words in Farsi. Masood wants to become a soccer player like Messi one day. He says that it helps him when his teacher and peers are nice to him and answer his question.

Kaled is a 12-year-old learner. He was born in Syria in 2006, and left Syria in 2010. He lived in Jordan and Turkey for several years before moving to Canada in 2016. Kaled states that he did not go to school in Syria, Jordan or Turkey. Kaled lives with his parents and two sisters. Kaled speaks Arabic, English, Turkish and Kurdish, but speaks more Kurdish because it is his home language. When Kaled grows up, he aspires to be a YouTuber and have his own YouTube channel. He would also like to be a mechanic and fix cars. His favourite subjects at school are art and gym. Kaled states that it helps him when his teacher and peers talk slowly and repeat the homework. 

Abiha is a 12-year-old learner from Syria. When the war started, Abiha had to move to Jordan, but she did not enjoy it there because she said that people made fun of her and she could not understand anything in school. Abiha is happy to be in Canada, and considers it to be the "most fun country." Abiha lives with her parents and four younger brothers.  Abiha can speak in English, Arabic, Farsi and Turkish. She considers Arabic to be her first language but does not speak it much. She can sing some songs in Farsi and Turkish but feels that she does not know those languages very well. Abiha has a special friend at school who is also from Syria and speaks the same languages. She likes that she can talk to her friend about what is going on in Syria, and that her friend can understand how she feels. Abiha aspires to be a teacher when she grows up. She wants to teach others the same way her teachers taught her when she first moved to Canada.

Aliye is a 13-year-old learner who was born in Syria. She lived in Syria for 8 years, until she was in Grade 2. She also lived in Lebanon for 3 years before moving to Canada. Aliye speaks English, Arabic and French. Aliye has a good friend who lives near her grandfather's house. Her friend is from the same country and speaks Arabic, too. When Abiha grows up, she wants to be a doctor so that she can help people when they are sick.

Arwa is a 13 years old, and she is from Syria. She has two younger brothers and a younger sister. Arwa knows Arabic, Kurdish, English and Turkish. She enjoys listening to Turkish music and watching Turkish movies. Arwa has a best friend who is Kurdish and Arabic like her. The qualities that Arwa appreciates the most in her friend is that she is trustworthy and honest. When she grows up, Arwa aspires to be a soccer player, a math teacher, and an artist.

Lara is 14 years old. She was born in Syria and began school there in 2009. When the war started in 2011, she moved to and attended school in Turkey. In 2016, she immigrated to Canada and continued her education. She also lived in the Kurdistan Region but does not specify when. She lives with her mom, dad, brother and sister. She speaks Kurdish, Arabic and Turkish. Lara does not discuss hobbies, school experiences or aspirations. In her video, Lara explains she coloured her shoulders in the colour representing English because English is difficult for her. 

This is  Lara's transcript