‘I answered a French paper in Luganda’ - Mutesasiras recall academic struggle in Canada

The sibling singing duo, now back in Uganda, say they faced a lot of hardship trying to settle in the Canadian school system.

Their struggles, they say, were mostly with the languages.

Canada has both English and French as its official languages.

When they left Uganda in 2020, Ezekiel was in P.7 while his sister was in S.3. In Canada, they were placed in Grades 9 and 12 respectively.

In Canada, the siblings say, they found the languages to be complicated.

Although in Uganda they were studying at Kampala Parents School, in Canada they struggled with the English accent.

Esther and Ezekiel recently arrived back in Uganda from Canada pulse uganda

“The English was too much there,” said Esther in an interview with YouTuber Kakalamu this week.

“We were in a good school here, but on the other side, they are whites, even the accent changes,” she said.

For Ezekiel, as a 9th grader, he had to take up French classes as a must, and yet he’d never spoken a French word before.

“Everyone was speaking fluent French and I knew nothing; I was just quiet in class,” recalls the 15-year-old.

“It is even worse that they have to teach you French in French…At some point, I was so frustrated that I decided to answer their questions in a language they also didn't know. I answered the French paper in Luganda.”

The siblings say they also had to strain to adapt to other changes at school such as having to use laptops in class rather than taking handwritten notes.

Ezekiel and Esther returned to Uganda last month together with their younger sister Elizabeth.

Esther just recently graduated High School, while her brother is in 10th grade, the equivalent of Senior Four in Uganda.