Learning English is Hard!

[JimmySTLOUIS]

We for the second Sunday in a row I have spent all day helping my wife with her homework. "JLO" in now at the local comm. college in a mid-level to advanced ESL class (2). Once she completes these she should be able to take general classes.

I am not complaining at all, just an FYI. I enjoy being with her doing anything and I cant complain at all. The last year has been great.

One thing about her classes is that the books that she has to read are THE WORKING POOR and NICKEL AND DIMED (another book about the working poor). Its funny that they have people from 3rd world countries reading liberal slanted books about the "poor" in this country.

I know a lot of you know Spanish and a lot of girls have to learn English but when it comes to really reading, writing, comprehending, paraphrasing, taking notes etc, it really is pretty hard to do in a language that is new to you. I think my last sentence is a run on - oh no! I better keep working on my english! Is there spell check here ?

Call me out of it, but College sure is expensive. Just two classes and the books are close to a grand. Plus she isnt making any income at all now. I can handle it but its something to consider for others. Keep in mind that my wife was in advance English classes in Peru and conversation wise was pretty fluent before she arrived. If you are starting with no english then you better have a few bucks.

ALSO
does anyone else miss the old forum? I guess I guess I had grown pretty fond of it. I dont post as much but I always read it everyday. I liked being able to jump right to a persons post who I want to hear from and skip the jerk offs all together.  
Also some of the poll questons seem to be thinly veiled attemps to troll. But I guess everything changes.

Well thats it from here.


TE AMO PERU!!!!

jim

[doombug]

One thing about her classes is that the books that she has to read are THE WORKING POOR and NICKEL AND DIMED (another book about the working poor). Its funny that they have people from 3rd world countries reading liberal slanted books about the "poor" in this country.

The second I saw those book titles, I immediately came to the same conclusion.  Your wife has a very liberal, very feminist instructor who's trying to indoctrinate her students.

Call me out of it, but College sure is expensive. Just two classes and the books are close to a grand. Plus she isnt making any income at all now.

Some tips:  As soon as your wife is advised which books to purchase, immediately jump on Amazon.com and buy used copies.  I buy from there often, and it saves me a bundle--and their "used" books are frequently in excellent condition.  Also suggest to your wife that she consider work-study--a form of financial aid that requires the student to work part-time on campus.  Additionally, in every state, students can apply for PELL grants (a federal school grant that doesn't need to be repaid); further yet, some states--like California--offer fee waivers for community college students based on income.  (I qualified for a fee waiver despite making a generous income).

At the least, she should be getting into the habit of annually plugging in (or renewing) an application with FAFSA:

http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/

By the way, the application process can be done in Spanish.

does anyone else miss the old forum?

Nope.  This forum has loads more features.

Also some of the poll questons seem to be thinly veiled attemps to troll.

Fo' sho'.  But every forum has a few nut sniffers who think their "wisdom" is DA BOMB!

Peace out!

[conocerme]

My wife has been going to the local Community College for a few years now.  I agree with that costs have risen each year.  She has transitioned out of ESL into the mainstream college classes.

The one area that she still needs work on is her word pronounciation.  There did not seem to be many ESL classes that addressed this part of speaking English.

Her accent is still strong so I have been thinking about taking her to a speaking couch.  While I love the accent, sometimes it is difficult to understand what word she is trying to pronounce.  We have not pulled the trigger on the coach yet.  She wants to be a professional so people will need to be able to clearly understand her.

Another problem she sometimes has it putting the subject in the sentence.  Often times in Spanish, the subject is in the verb.

[wizard]

Although my wife's English is very good, she relapses on a regular basis... She spoke English when she came to the US almost 3 years ago... She took 3 ESL clases and moved on to college level classes...  She still has a heavy accent and probably always will, but I can tell when she's been watching Don Francisco on the tube or been talking nonstop to her latina girlfriends on the phone... She suddenly starts to forget the correct pronunciation for words and proper sentence structure in English...

[lapentier]

I agree with everyone here that the cost of college and textbooks seems to be going up at a tremendous rates.  (Too bad that what the instructors are paid doesn't seem to be going up nearly as quickly...)

As for becoming communcative, English is not the hardest language for Spanish speakers to learn.  Can you imagine if your girlfriend/wife spoke Mandarin, Vietnamese, Thai or some other asian language?  

In all fairness to hispanics, English is somewhat difficult to pronounce and has a rather complex style and idiom.  But, on the flipside, it has the advantages of possessing a somewhat simple grammar compared to Latin languages, and a people to go with it that are forgiving of errors.  Although I have never actually been there, I have heard horror stories of Americans going to France and trying to get along with people that were more interested in making one speak perfect French that they were in actually communicating.

Good Luck!

Mark

[Montrealer]

Although I have never actually been there, I have heard horror stories of Americans going to France and trying to get along with people that were more interested in making one speak perfect French that they were in actually communicating.

It happens all the time in Montreal, Quebec.  I can't go to half the island because my french is not up to par.  When I go and make an attempt, they ask me where I'm from, when I say here in Montreal, they often give me crap for not speaking the language properly.  I think it's just a french thing,  :lol:

[Bueller]

IAlthough I have never actually been there, I have heard horror stories of Americans going to France and trying to get along with people that were more interested in making one speak perfect French that they were in actually communicating.

Mark

 

  I've been to the south of France two or three times, never Paris, and was surprised to find how kind and hospitable the people there were despite my not speaking a word of French.