In Greenland, a quadrilingual kid’s first day of school

VICTORIA SIMIGAQ

NUUK-Let me tell you about Gabriel’s first day of school in Greenland.

My son, Gabriel, is six years old and turns seven in November.

He’s starting school only this year because his entry-level exam was too low last year, so we had to wait another year to register him in the first grade.

Following that result, we made a list of things to do with Gabriel’s day care centre, Nuka Barnehaven, to help him get ready for this school year.

Part of the reason for his staying back a year is because Gabriel deals with four languages on a daily basis – Inuttitut, English, Danish and Greenlandic.

When Gabriel was born, my boyfriend, who is Danish, and I agreed that his primary language should be Danish because Gabriel can’t use Inuttitut — my first language — in Nuuk. The next best language to use would be Danish, his father’s first language.

Gabriel also hears his father, Klaus, and I speak English at home, which we decided would be a way of meeting our two cultures, Danish and Inuk Canadian, in the middle.

And lastly, Gabriel’s fourth language is Greenlandic, which he has been hearing in daycare since he was one year old.

In Nuuk daycares encourage speaking Greenlandic to help strengthen the language’s identity among the young Greenlanders.

Gabriel nonetheless feels that he’s a Danish-speaker.

I read in Nunatsiaq News of a study that was done by Kativik School Board that children who are strong in one language are better learners in schools.

So we’re all aware that Gabriel’s mixed world of languages has affected his development.

It was a big event for all of us when he started his first day of school in Qorsussuaq, meaning “big green,” the oldest school in Nuuk.

The name comes from the color of the school itself, which was established in 1953 and accommodates more than 300 students every first grade to high school.

There couldn’t be more of a perfect day than Gabriel’s first day of school. We woke up to a warm and sunny morning. I thanked heaven above for blessing us with a beautiful weather to watch our son being welcomed to the oldest school in Nuuk.

To show our pride in our child’s first day of school, we dressed up in traditional Inuit clothes, a tradition that is widely practiced by Greenlandic parents who are very proud of their children starting school.

The men wear the white anorak and the women wear their beaded designed dress with sealskin kamiks.

That day, Klaus and Gabriel wore the Greenlandic anorak and I wore my Nunavik arnautik along with my wolf skin kamiks.

Outside Qorsussuaq, the school principal, Karl Frederik Danielsen gave a welcoming speech to all parents and students.

While the parents stood proudly waiting to send off their children to the new teachers, I whispered in Gabriel’s ear the names of his two new teachers.

Then I pointed at the principal and told him in Danish that it is the school principal and his name is Karl Frederik. Gabriel replied, “Is he the king?”

I was so touched by his innocent response that I agreed Frederik was the king.

But that day, it was Gabriel who was the king because he had accomplished a lot during the one-year wait for his first day of school.

Victoria Simigaq and son Gabriel, centre, gather for the first day of school in Nuuk, Greenland recently. Gabriel, son of a Nunavik Inuk and a Dane, juggles four languages between home and school. (PHOTO COURTESY OF SERMITSIAQ)