language hurdles

[ngant17 1]

My K1 fiancee Vilma recently emailed me and stated that she is a little worried, she doesn't feel that she can become very fluent in English after arriving here. She can read words but the speaking and listening parts are the big hurdle for her. I told her not to worry about it, a minimum vocabulary in English should suffice in the beginning. Besides, her native language is Spanish and as we plan to live in Florida, there is a substantial population of Spanish-speakers here which would help to smooth her transition in a work environment.

I wonder if anyone has any experiences about this, i.e., how long did it take for your K1/spouse to adjust to different language situation here, especially in the local workplace? Are there any suggestions for me? My fiancee is not young, she is 45 which is close to my age, so I guess it gets more difficult to learn languages as you get older. I'm willing to become more fluent in Spanish, as that might help on the home front.

[desert_fox 32]

My K1 fiancee Vilma recently emailed me and stated that she is a little worried, she doesn't feel that she can become very fluent in English after arriving here. She can read words but the speaking and listening parts are the big hurdle for her. I told her not to worry about it, a minimum vocabulary in English should suffice in the beginning. Besides, her native language is Spanish and as we plan to live in Florida, there is a substantial population of Spanish-speakers here which would help to smooth her transition in a work environment.

I wonder if anyone has any experiences about this, i.e., how long did it take for your K1/spouse to adjust to different language situation here, especially in the local workplace? Are there any suggestions for me? My fiancee is not young, she is 45 which is close to my age, so I guess it gets more difficult to learn languages as you get older. I'm willing to become more fluent in Spanish, as that might help on the home front.

My wife (51) from Spain entered in mid-December and the neighbors can understand her now.

[pri 0]

Hi ngnat you should post this under Off Topic as it is not related to K1

Thanks

[myfellah 0]

I am sure it might be easier for her than she is thinking. I also know they have ESL classes that are free and can be found in most areas (English for Speakers of other languages or English Second Language, I have seen it both ways). My husband was tested and is taking the classes as a good reinforcement of what he knows and was giving him something to do at that time. Good Luck, it will all work out. I know easy for me to say since I didn't have to learn a different language

Doreen

[MeL37 0]

Hi Ngant17: My name is Melvin I'm hispanic and my fiancee Patricia is from Colombia, what we did ever since we decided to get engaged and start this whole process was that she enrolled in school for english back in Colombia, it was not easy for her at first (she is 37) but in just about 8 months she learned a lot, I realize that this might not help you now, but you can try to have your fiancee enroll in esl classes for adults once she's here in the US, watch tv in english most of the time I know this helps because that is how I got started years ago, also you could try buying for both of you the "ingles sin barreras" (english without barriers) system, it is a little expensive but it is good.

Take care,

Mel

[motu 5]

My fiance came here without knowing much English and she is taking ESL classes but she talks to all her friends and family in Spanish and is making very slow progress (we took an interpreter to our AOS interview also.) She is in her 2nd semester of ESL classes (level 4) and may have to go another semester or 2 (they only go up to 6 levels!) She has been here since late August - she does have friends/family in Florida some of them actually speak extremely little English (even after 2 or 3 years) but are working! Good Luck

[snz1802 0]

Hi Ngant17

your wife will probably feel right at home in Florida, especially if you are from south or central florida, as 1/4 to 1/2 the population there seems to be hispanic now. The reason I say this is because I live in florida also, and everywhere you go you find someone who speaks spanish. Sometimes, english seems to be the second language in certain areas. She does, however, need to learn English, and I would say classes would be the best bet for that. Florida has ESL classes all over the place, try a community college or a Votech center.

[lucyrich 19]

One key to learning English quickly is immersion in English. While a Spanish-speaking community may help her feel comfortable, it won't necessarily help her learn English quickly.

Lucy's been making fast progress through her ESL classes offered at a local community college. The classes are more than half native speakers of Spanish. But she's somewhat jealous of her classmate who is Indonesian and another who is Romanian. They are making faster progress than any of the Spanish speakers, because they have no alternative but to speak English full-time.

Learning to be fluent in a foreign language is a difficult and sometimes frustrating thing. The technique of total immersion which leads to the fastest learning can be very frustrating. Whereas sticking to situations where one can get by on one's native language is much more comfortable and reassuring, it tends to slow the process of learning English.

Let her have as much English language immersion as she can tolerate without going crazy, and she'll learn quickly. Age isn't a barrier.

[Brian121247 0]

I teach English to mostly Spanish-speaking immigrants in the St. Petersburg, FL area. The classes are free and very effective. Your fiance won't have a problem learning English and should be fairly fluent within a year if she studies regularly. She can take classes at local universities or community colleges, or find a free class. Contact Christine Cimilluca at the University of South Florida in Tampa (ccimillu@coed.usf.edu or call 813-974-2780) for information on free classes or other educational offerings in the Orlando area.

You're fortunate that her native language is Spanish - the alphabet is the same, and there are many common words with English. My first wife was Russian and she was able to pass an accounting course after a year of studying English here (and she was older than your fiance). My present fiance is Chinese. Neither Russian nor Chinese have much similarity to English. But I call my fiance in China every day for about 30 minutes and have her repeat English words from a dictionary, and repeat simple sentences. Her English is good enough after 1.5 months that she can understand basic things I tell her and she can tell me simple things about her activities.

If you want to get a dictionary for her, buy the Oxford Picture Dictionary, English/Spanish edition. It has great pictures of all the words, so it's fun to look at. I've seen it at Barnes & Noble, or order it from Amazon.com.

Tell your fiance not to worry - there's a lot of help avaliable, especially in Florida! She'll be speaking English fluently before she knows it.

P.S. - Turn on the captioning on your TV so she can see the English words as she listens to the audio. That's the trick that all the Russian immigrants use in San Francisco!

If I can help, send me an email.

Brian

[pauladebus 0]

My K1 fiancee Vilma recently emailed me and stated that she is a little worried, she doesn't feel that she can become very fluent in English after arriving here. She can read words but the speaking and listening parts are the big hurdle for her. I told her not to worry about it, a minimum vocabulary in English should suffice in the beginning. Besides, her native language is Spanish and as we plan to live in Florida, there is a substantial population of Spanish-speakers here which would help to smooth her transition in a work environment.

I wonder if anyone has any experiences about this, i.e., how long did it take for your K1/spouse to adjust to different language situation here, especially in the local workplace? Are there any suggestions for me? My fiancee is not young, she is 45 which is close to my age, so I guess it gets more difficult to learn languages as you get older. I'm willing to become more fluent in Spanish, as that might help on the home front.

Well you can reasure your fiance that most major cities in the US are very heavily populated with Spainsh speaking individuals. If your city is not a 50/50 mix, you can always move to the west coast where Spanish speaking people out number "English only" speaking people... tell her there is nothing to worry about speaking Spanish in the US. I am very fluent in Spanish and that is only because the kids I went to school with taught me... lol.... she doesn't have anything to worry about... good luck!!!