How hard was it for your spouse to learn English? How did you help?

[Corey-Mariya 14]

Rosetta Stone works great for alot of people. Practice makes perfect and the more people that talk to her in english the quicker she will master the english language!

[mox 298]

Thanks Mox and Slim.

She is still in the Ukraine, and my preferences would be a private tutor or regular lessons. The problem is that she is working 60+ hours a week with no end in sight as well as taking care of her daughter. So we are looking for something she can do in her free hours to help strengthen her vocabulary.

We do speak on Skype every weekend at least 4 hours each day as well as instant messaging through out the week.

Believe me when I say your average Russian woman can work a 60-hour week, take care of her child, and still have enough time for two 2-hour English lessons a week. It's only a question of if she's that motivated to get a jump start on her English. If it's not so important, no worries, she'll pick it up here.

Rosetta Stone works great for alot of people. Practice makes perfect and the more people that talk to her in english the quicker she will master the english language!

My experience with Rosetta Stone was sub-par, maybe the English lessons are better. My biggest problem with Rosetta were the bad translations. For example, "Я есть рис" for "I am eating rice," but this actually translates to "I am rice." That's just one example I remember.

[eekee 182]

Thanks Mox and Slim.

She is still in the Ukraine, and my preferences would be a private tutor or regular lessons. The problem is that she is working 60+ hours a week with no end in sight as well as taking care of her daughter. So we are looking for something she can do in her free hours to help strengthen her vocabulary.

We do speak on Skype every weekend at least 4 hours each day as well as instant messaging through out the week.

Believe me when I say your average Russian woman can work a 60-hour week, take care of her child, and still have enough time for two 2-hour English lessons a week. It's only a question of if she's that motivated to get a jump start on her English. If it's not so important, no worries, she'll pick it up here.

Rosetta Stone works great for alot of people. Practice makes perfect and the more people that talk to her in english the quicker she will master the english language!

My experience with Rosetta Stone was sub-par, maybe the English lessons are better. My biggest problem with Rosetta were the bad translations. For example, "Я есть рис" for "I am eating rice," but this actually translates to "I am rice." That's just one example I remember.

"Я есть рис" translates to "throwing your money away." Even if you wanted to say "I am rice," you would say "Я--рис." You'd be better off with no course at all and just learning from immersion than using Rosetta Stone.

[K1researcher 0]

re: Rosetta Stone ..

it is great .. IF you have a basis in the language. It does not teach any grammar and defeinately not and complex sentence structure. It is a super awesome supplement to good grammar and voc works or private instruction. Problem is that it is way to costly for a supplemental aid. It is neat though. Better than CD courses

[mox 298]

re: Rosetta Stone ..

it is great .. IF you have a basis in the language. It does not teach any grammar and defeinately not and complex sentence structure. It is a super awesome supplement to good grammar and voc works or private instruction. Problem is that it is way to costly for a supplemental aid. It is neat though. Better than CD courses

Well sure, if Rosetta Stone were *free* or just a few dollars, then yeah, it might be of some value if you already had been studying the language enough to recognize a bad translation when you saw one. And by "some value," the only value I can think of would be that you could sit at your computer and listen to Russian being spoken, which is a tiny bit helpful if you don't have someone to speak it with. As a supplement I can only see that it would cause confusion. I remember being absolutely out of my mind confused when I would see the suffix change on a word for seemingly no good reason, and then another word wouldn't change at all in the exact same context. Why do the words go one way when I have a head ache, but another way when I have a tooth ache? Who knows, Rosetta gives you zero clues. Rosetta preys on people's desires to learn a language quickly, but the fact is that unless you're one of those few people who are really good at picking up languages, you need to buckle down and learn the language from the bottom up. Rosetta acts counter to this.

As an aside, this site offers a "word of the day" in many languages, including Russian. They don't offer English though:

http://www.transparent.com/wotd/index.htm

[Danno 1,228]

Come to think of it, my wife has a series of cd's which are "listen and repeat style" she bought in Russia.

I have tried to email these type things before but usually they are bigger than the allotment for any one email.

[Brad and Vika 129]

The first time I met my wife in the U.S.A she already spoke english almost perfectly! She is twenty years old and learned it at her school! 5 months later she was fluent just like the average American

I am sure she must do better than the average American. After all, our newspapers are written at about the 8th grade reading level. When I listen to groups of kids talk in text/web shorthand phrases, or semi-ebonic hip-hop, I despair.

[Brad and Vika 129]

Thanks, guys! Yes, I guess the best way really is to speak more English in him. We both know how important this is. And especially once we arrive in the U.S. we will be speaking much more English at home.

To clarify, speak exclusively English. Don't back down unless it's imperative he communicate something like a broken arm. A full immersive environment is the best and fastest way to go. I know some are suggesting to take it slow, but until he has a grasp on the language he's going to feel isolated. It will be painful, but it'll also go quickly. Trust me, this works.

Sticky notes, videos, and the like will help, but speaking--constant speaking--is where it's really at.

Most decent sized cities have pretty cheap English as a second language courses, if you want to try a less draconian method than total immersion. It is however, true that if you get cold enough, lost enough, or hungry enough, you learn faster to speak whatever language will cure that condition.

[mox 298]

It is however, true that if you get cold enough, lost enough, or hungry enough, you learn faster to speak whatever language will cure that condition.

Heh. Freezing, starving, and dropping your spouse off in strange neighborhoods until she speaks English: Not the Mox School of Relationship Enhancement recommended method, but please post before and after photos in this thread.

[Brad and Vika 129]

It is however, true that if you get cold enough, lost enough, or hungry enough, you learn faster to speak whatever language will cure that condition.

Heh. Freezing, starving, and dropping your spouse off in strange neighborhoods until she speaks English: Not the Mox School of Relationship Enhancement recommended method, but please post before and after photos in this thread.

I don't recommend it either, but you did suggest that more immersion was better Refusing to speak Russian to the guy at all does seem like a fairly irritating way to teach him (to me) also - however fast he learns that way.

Edited February 8, 2009 by Brad and Vika

[amberdima 6]

re: Rosetta Stone ..

it is great .. IF you have a basis in the language. It does not teach any grammar and defeinately not and complex sentence structure. It is a super awesome supplement to good grammar and voc works or private instruction. Problem is that it is way to costly for a supplemental aid. It is neat though. Better than CD courses

As an aside, this site offers a "word of the day" in many languages, including Russian. They don't offer English though:

http://www.transparent.com/wotd/index.htm

that website is fun!

[K1researcher 0]

It is however, true that if you get cold enough, lost enough, or hungry enough, you learn faster to speak whatever language will cure that condition.

Heh. Freezing, starving, and dropping your spouse off in strange neighborhoods until she speaks English: Not the Mox School of Relationship Enhancement recommended method, but please post before and after photos in this thread.

I don't recommend it either, but you did suggest that more immersion was better Refusing to speak Russian to the guy at all does seem like a fairly irritating way to teach him (to me) also - however fast he learns that way.

Immersion is how my linguistics school in did it. For 9 hours a day you couldn't not speak English only you "new" language. And they forced you to ask things so there was no motioning or grunting either. In all honesty.. it is the best way to learn but you need serious passion to make it through that.

[Danno 1,228]

It is however, true that if you get cold enough, lost enough, or hungry enough, you learn faster to speak whatever language will cure that condition.

Heh. Freezing, starving, and dropping your spouse off in strange neighborhoods until she speaks English: Not the Mox School of Relationship Enhancement recommended method, but please post before and after photos in this thread.

I don't recommend it either, but you did suggest that more immersion was better Refusing to speak Russian to the guy at all does seem like a fairly irritating way to teach him (to me) also - however fast he learns that way.

Immersion is how my linguistics school in did it. For 9 hours a day you couldn't not speak English only you "new" language. And they forced you to ask things so there was no motioning or grunting either. In all honesty.. it is the best way to learn but you need serious passion to make it through that.

What... Only 9 hours a day???

When you get into the "MOX English by immersion Program" it's 25 hours a day, you'd better not even utter a Russian word during sex!

[mox 298]

What... Only 9 hours a day???

When you get into the "MOX English by immersion Program" it's 25 hours a day, you'd better not even utter a Russian word during sex!

No Russian during sex is technically a rule, but unlikely to be noticed.

[Corey-Mariya 14]

The first time I met my wife in the U.S.A she already spoke english almost perfectly! She is twenty years old and learned it at her school! 5 months later she was fluent just like the average American

I am sure she must do better than the average American. After all, our newspapers are written at about the 8th grade reading level. When I listen to groups of kids talk in text/web shorthand phrases, or semi-ebonic hip-hop, I despair.

Haha It was an expression. She is taking college English and speech!