Looking for a "Mandarin' speaking ride school

JD_PICKLE

JD_PICKLE

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Strange request, I know. I have a friend that wants to get her bike licence for Ontario, but her English is next to nil. She had/has a licence in China and now wants to ride here. Any help would be appreciated. Funny comments, not so much ;)
 
I can help
Her out

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"If i was educated, I'd be a damn fool"
 
how is she expecting to be able to read / comprehend our road signs and directions if she cant understand english?
...should learning the language not be her 1st priority?
 
miggs said:
how is she expecting to be able to read / comprehend our road signs and directions if she cant understand english?
...should learning the language not be her 1st priority?
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Bit of a hijack, but interestingly enough, NA is one if the few countries that words on their signs (like exit). Kinda weird to embrace multiculturalism, and then expect immigrants to have to know english to drive. Disclaimer: Woke up late, first coffee, may not have been completely thought out.
OP, have you tried calling any of the schools? My obvious choice would be one from Markham. Also, would probably not let her within 100 meters of CBCanada :P
 
JD_PICKLE said:
Strange request, I know. I have a friend that wants to get her bike licence for Ontario, but her English is next to nil. She had/has a licence in China and now wants to ride here. Any help would be appreciated. Funny comments, not so much ;)
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Call the ministry, they will help you out.
 
I speak Mandarin, live in Scarborough in a heavily Mandarin area and have never heard of Mandarin motorcycle classes. We are lucky to have English speaking classes, as compared to car drivers, motorcycle owners are few. I'd venture to guess that this Mandarin service does not exist.

Maybe you can find a Mandarin speaking riding coach that might help out, but even this might be sketchy. Your friend will need to learn English to pass the written and riding test anyway.

cbcanada said:
I can help
Her out

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What does this have to do with motorcycle classes? Get a haircut, ya hippie...
 
Joe Bass said:
Bit of a hijack, but interestingly enough, NA is one if the few countries that words on their signs (like exit). Kinda weird to embrace multiculturalism, and then expect immigrants to have to know english to drive. Disclaimer: Woke up late, first coffee, may not have been completely thought out.
OP, have you tried calling any of the schools? My obvious choice would be one from Markham. Also, would probably not let her within 100 meters of CBCanada :P
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Not entirely true, unless maybe you are just talking about roadsigns. When I spent a month in Hong Kong, most building exits were labelled either 'EXIT', '出口', or some combination of the two.

That said, I kind of agree that maybe learning basic english should be her priority. If she really cannot understand basic commands/instructions during a course, then maybe it is best to call around and see if one of them will offer up private lessons with an instructor who speaks Mandarin. I'm trying to think back to my course though, and most of the instructions were pretty much "start here, turn left, then stop"...fairly basic, to the point where I might even know enough Cantonese to get the jist of it if the course was in that language instead of English.
 
I was under the impression that most other countries use the universal "running man" sign for exits.
But back on track, agree with you guys about the English.
 
Learning enough for the road is a minor task. I tend not to master an entire language before renting a holiday car.

http://www.chinacanada.ca/ss/down/G1 TEST 2010.pdf

Drivetest offer oral testing for the M1 by appointment, with a qualified interpreter. However, you must understand verbal commands for the road test. They do use simple English though and three months is enough to learn this. Or, you could call all schools and ask if they have a Mandarin-speaking instructor, then do a weekend course with M1 exit test at the end. The Mandarin-speaker may be allowed to repeat the commands.
 
OK, a little more background info. She is early 40's has been driving cars and riding motorcycles since her early 20's. She has had a 'G' licence for 5 years here, the written test was in Mandarin. Not your typical stereotype Chinese driver. She has a Porsche SUV, and a Audi A6, not a scratch on them. She owns and rides horses, likes camping and canoeing. She wants to start touring on a bike, and just wants to hurry the 'M' process. She is a very capable rider.
Her English is meh passable, but she would just feel more comfortable with a Mandarin speaking instructor.
Maybe too much info, and as I type this, I realize she does not need her full 'M' for the riding she intends to do.
Thanks for all your input.
 
I know a place it's called C-lai Motoschool. Oh wait that's Cantonese so it'll probably won't help, my bad.
 
JD_PICKLE said:
OK, a little more background info. She is early 40's has been driving cars and riding motorcycles since her early 20's. She has had a 'G' licence for 5 years here, the written test was in Mandarin. Not your typical stereotype Chinese driver. She has a Porsche SUV, and a Audi A6, not a scratch on them. She owns and rides horses, likes camping and canoeing. She wants to start touring on a bike, and just wants to hurry the 'M' process. She is a very capable rider.
Her English is meh passable, but she would just feel more comfortable with a Mandarin speaking instructor.
Maybe too much info, and as I type this, I realize she does not need her full 'M' for the riding she intends to do.
Thanks for all your input.
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Am I on RedFlagDeals? :D
 
This felt like a dating profile btw...
I am curious to know if any of the schools offer this too actually, through colleges or rider specific schools.

JD_PICKLE said:
OK, a little more background info. She is early 40's has been driving cars and riding motorcycles since her early 20's. She has had a 'G' licence for 5 years here, the written test was in Mandarin. Not your typical stereotype Chinese driver. She has a Porsche SUV, and a Audi A6, not a scratch on them. She owns and rides horses, likes camping and canoeing. She wants to start touring on a bike, and just wants to hurry the 'M' process. She is a very capable rider.
Her English is meh passable, but she would just feel more comfortable with a Mandarin speaking instructor.
Maybe too much info, and as I type this, I realize she does not need her full 'M' for the riding she intends to do.
Thanks for all your input.
Click to expand...
 
I'd start by calling the riding schools and seeing if they have a Mandarin speaking instructor available for private lessons
 
TorontoBoy said:
I speak Mandarin, live in Scarborough in a heavily Mandarin area and have never heard of Mandarin motorcycle classes. We are lucky to have English speaking classes, as compared to car drivers, motorcycle owners are few. I'd venture to guess that this Mandarin service does not exist.

Maybe you can find a Mandarin speaking riding coach that might help out, but even this might be sketchy. Your friend will need to learn English to pass the written and riding test anyway.
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OP if your friend wants to "hurry" the M process, take the advice from TorontoBoy. By the way you describe her, she seems intelligent enough that she would be able to pick up the english language without too much effort.

While i'm sympathetic to her plight, last time I checked, Canada has 2 official languages. Mandarin is not one of them.
 
Slick_Steveo said:
...While I'm sympathetic to her plight, last time I checked, Canada has 2 official languages. Mandarin is not one of them.
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LOL! If you come to my neighbourhood of North East Scarborough/Markham with the epicentre at Kennedy/Steeles, Mandarin is predominant. This area has the highest concentration of Mandarin speakers in Canada. You need not know English to live here quite comfortably. Even the local No Frills and Rona are not only Chinese friendly, but many of the staff are fluent in Mandarin. I'd say that 60% of my street is Mandarin, and as the white folk cash out and move north, new Mandarin speakers move in.

In my neighbourhood the two official languages are English and Mandarin, and I'm not even sure which one is predominant. I have jested with my white neighbours that they should consider taking Mandarin classes. The old grannies and grandpas are very friendly but will never learn English.

Apart from the large and expensive SUVs and horrible/negligent driving skills, I have yet to see a Mandarin motorcycle rider in my area.

Ontario laws and driving tests are in English. She should learn English.
 
TorontoBoy said:
LOL! If you come to my neighbourhood of North East Scarborough/Markham with the epicentre at Kennedy/Steeles, Mandarin is predominant. This area has the highest concentration of Mandarin speakers in Canada. You need not know English to live here quite comfortably. Even the local No Frills and Rona are not only Chinese friendly, but many of the staff are fluent in Mandarin. I'd say that 60% of my street is Mandarin, and as the white folk cash out and move north, new Mandarin speakers move in.

In my neighbourhood the two official languages are English and Mandarin, and I'm not even sure which one is predominant. I have jested with my white neighbours that they should consider taking Mandarin classes. The old grannies and grandpas are very friendly but will never learn English.

Apart from the large and expensive SUVs and horrible/negligent driving skills, I have yet to see a Mandarin motorcycle rider in my area.

Ontario laws and driving tests are in English. She should learn English.
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That is exactly the point I was trying to make >>>>"Ontario laws and driving tests are in English. She should learn English".


Any given community could have their own languages and customs and have the surrounding businesses catering to that community. But it does not mean that language is official in the eyes of the law.

no disrespect intended.
 
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