To foreign fiancees/spouses: Learn English before coming to the US

[bora bora 1]

Hi Kidbrooklyn,

There is "no such thing as too much learning", and by all means, everyone should learn as much English (or other language) as they can before moving to another country, both before moving, and more so after moving. In fact, I think that they should make it a requirement that one should learn the country's language before and after they move there. After all, how else will they be able to communicate in their new home country? I wish more immigrants would be motivated to learn long-term throughout their lives for everything and not only do short-term learning for a test and/or job or educational requirement.

One can learn English and/or any other language formally through local classes (there are free ones too, I remember I used to volunteer teaching English to new immigrants in Canada) and informally through conversations, newspapers, magazines, tv, etc. By learning the country's language, one can feel less alone (especially in a class setting), more of a sense of beloning into the new society, and more confident in their communication abilities overall.

I agree too, with the following previous posted message, which sums up my point too:

Don't expect to stop taking English classes any time soon.The learning never stops. There's always a bit of potential for accent reduction, for improving grammar, for learning slang, for learning to use contractions the way native speakers use them, for avoiding awkward sentence structure that native speakers wouldn't use, etc. Many times, an English learner will reach a plateau of functional proficiency, and then stay there for awhile. Sometimes, for too long. But if the US is going to be your real long-term home, you need to know the language well enough that you can always make yourself clearly understood, well enough that you can easily understand a TV news broadcast, well enough that you can overhear a conversation at the next table in a restaurant, well enough that speaking English over the phone to a stranger is as easy as conversing with your spouse, well enough to confidently deliver a public speech to an audience, well enough that strangers who hear you speak can tell that they won't have to slow down or repeat in order for you to understand them, etc. The level of proficiency required to really make this your comfortable home language is not something that's going to happen in just a few years of classes.

Good luck in learning English and good luck with your immigration situation.

Ant (Still learning about everything in life...)

I think asking new immigrants to learn English BEFORE they come is too much to ask...let's be real. AFTER of course.

[ginger1981 0]

I don't think it is a bad idea to take some English classes though. Taking some basic classes will certainly help with communicating upon arrival. But definitly take more in depth classes upon arrival.