How This Saint John Realtor Plans To Break The Language Barrier For Newcomers
SAINT JOHN – Li Song, the managing director of multicultural organization PRUDE Inc., became a licensed realtor at the beginning of this year.
She’s hoping to provide real estate information to her clients in their native languages through a monthly newsletter that’s also easily shareable through various communications platforms.
“It’s important to have [comprehensive] data in a snapshot and for people to have easy understanding instead of going to all the sources we’re pulling in…and, of course, it will break through the language barrier,” she said.
“This type of newsletter can be delivered in powerpoint format and also PDF format and also picture format. People can snap a picture and send it to some people who haven’t arrived yet, that’s another way of showing what’s happening right here at the local level internationally.”
It’s important that they’re easily shareable because have different ways of communicating, she said. The Chinese community tends to use WeChat, the Arabic-speaking community often uses WhatsApp, while other communities use Facebook groups.
“Getting it translated to their language is one thing, but getting through to the community, letting them know, is another thing,” she said.
The newsletters review what has happened in the Saint John area’s real estate market over the past month. While Song is licensed with Exit Realty Specialists, the newsletters are published through her company Song’s Good Associates, Inc., which she runs with business partner Janice Purdy.
The newsletter is around 15 pages long. It includes charts, photos of some properties, a monthly or annual comparison of data, and photos to show the different types of homes – bungalows, semi-detached, et cetera. It also highlights new developments, road constructions, population growth, and includes analyses of taxes on various areas of Saint John.
Song relies on data from various media sources, the city of Saint John, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Statistics Canada, and local real estate boards.
So far, three editions have been published in simplified Chinese with the help of Jack Wang, who has a background in delivering analytical reports to company executives. This is mainly accessible for Mandarin-speakers, many of whom make up the Chinese community in Saint John in the last two decades, Song said. She’s also preparing an English version and she hopes to be able to deliver the newsletters in Hindi and Arabic in the future.
She hopes to feature other businesses’ advertising in the newsletters, which she also shares through her social media page.
“It’s just to give people an understanding of what the local market is like. Because if you have never been as in tune with the happenings and with real estate profession, it’s hard for customers, regardless of whether you’re a newcomer or local, to understand…If you’re coming from away, it’s even more difficult and to really know where things are,” she said. “Of course, it’s advertising for myself as well because I have different listings or houses I would feature there as well.”
Song says newcomers have to understand a new real estate system, including industry lingo, when they want to buy a house. Those coming from larger, denser cities also need to understand how to access public amenities in smaller cities like Saint John.
“It’s very different if you’re coming from a very big city like Shanghai, where you have literally millions of people in one city. Here, the area can be quite a distance and you do need to know what is where – schools, shopping places, bus lines, and what the local market is like,” she said.
Once a newcomer herself, Song remembers being overwhelmed by all of the information she had to absorb.
“The first year is blurry to me. Now even when I take [new people] around to different places, it’s very easy that your mind just gets disoriented. So I try to present it on a map, that’s one thing. You take people around, that’s another thing, and then, by the time they absorb the information, and to fully understand that information, that takes time,” she said.
Her own linguistic and cultural background is an advantage with Chinese clients. But she’s hoping that her knowledge of the Saint John region, coupled with her understanding of cultural sensitivities and her own immigration experience, could help clients of various backgrounds feel comfortable.
An advocate for multiculturalism, her current realtor lawn signs feature her Chinese name, something important to her.
“People are reluctant to put their native name, but I’m proud of my heritage and culture…I don’t hide my Chinese name. This is who I am. So if you have a Spanish name, Arabic name, you should put it on there.”