English Classes in Barranquilla??

[Alabamaboy!]

What are some good options for intensive English classes in Barranquilla? But economical. Berlitz is too expensive. The University programs will not work since my girl will hopefully be here in 2-3 months.

I guess I am asking if anyone knows of any private schools or individuals who can do it.

Internet based is also not an option since she does not have internet or computer in home, and frequently the internet cafe nearby has no computers available.

[william3rd]

Is that colombia American organization still there in CTG/BAQ?

[fathertime]

Hey buddy,

with the short timeframe, you might just use Jamie's services, otherwise it may take weeks to find somebody decent that you can trust.  i know it isn't cheap, but at least you know you are going to get legit. teaching with feedback that way.
good luck,

Fathertime!

[Alabamaboy!]

I did use Jamie's service for the English classes with my Evil Ex. And she was not able to make any progress at all there. I even went to two classes with her. And it was a little difficult to say the least because my girl was not able to concentrate well to begin with, but with guys and girls coming in and out of Jamie's place during the session, she really did not pay attention much. And the classes were a little too expensive for that sort of thing. I may have just gotten a bad match of a teacher for her. I think she got a little too chummy with her and there was not as much learning going on as there should have been.

The one thing that was extremely valuable with Jamie's service though was that he was the one that told me my ex was not coming to class on time, studying enough, paying attention. And that was the first huge red flag that  my ex was just not worth all the drama.

But damn man, she was a virtual "go-getter" compared to my current lady.

[Jason1]

   She'll be here in 2 to 3 months? English classes would be a waste right now.When my wife arrived we found several ESL classes that were free.These classes are better that what you paid for in the past.

[Alabamaboy!]

I just need her to be able to be at like 20% level. Just enough that she can at least great my children, say a few phrases. Some basic things. To get the ball rolling and get off on the right foot. If someone has 2-3 months and does not have another responsibility in the world she should be able to accomplish that.

[Ray]

Bama,

From what you have posted, I think I would forget about English classes at this time. Save your money.

If you are expecting her to do a complete turn-around and suddenly get serious about learning English, then you are likely to be disappointed. What you see is what you get.

You would probably have much better success in having your children, family, and friends learn Spanish so they can communicate with her.

As has been mentioned before, some people just don’t have the motivation to learn a new language. Others just don’t have the aptitude for learning a language.

If she is going to learn English, she will have to figure it out for herself. I don’t think any amount of prodding is going to make much if any difference.

My guess, based on the information presented here, would be that she will probably never learn English in a school setting. Whatever she picks up by watching TV is probably all she will ever learn.

My advice would be to NOT order any Spanish language channels for your cable/satellite service. Try to steer her toward English language TV at least for a few years after she gets here and hope that she gets the motivation to learn on her own.

Are you absolutely sure about this lady? If not, then I would seriously consider putting this visa process on hold until you are.

Good luck man!

Ray

[Alabamaboy!]

Ray, I agree with you. I think it is highly unlikely that she will ever be fluent from what I have seen so far. I am just hoping she can learn enough to communicate upon arrival somewhat with my children, and then be able to interface with them to teach them Spanish.

And no, I will not be ordering any Spanish language channels. And yes she will be watching what we watch as a family. If she thinks she is going to go in the other room and watch something else in Spanish if we are watching something else in the other room, then she is going to be heading back home real quick. I already explained all this to her and she said she is aware that is not going to happen, and she does not want to do things that way. She wants to do everything as a family.

About if I am absolutely sure? No I am not. If I were, I would have married her already in Colombia in front of her family. But I did not because I need to see the reality of how things are in the States before making such a big move.

[Ray]

Just a few points Bama:

The fiancée visa should never be used as trial period to see if you really want to marry her. Decide first, then file the petition.

You cannot send her back home. The fact of life is that once she is here, whether or not you are married yet, if you break it off she will be able to stay here probably for the rest of her life if she wants to. About the only way to get deported these days is to commit some serious crime and get caught.

Whether or not you have a pre-nup, you sign a legal affidavit of support and you could very well be obligated to support her for the rest of her life, even if you are only married for a relatively short time.

Question: What’s your hurry anyway?

Ray

[JimD]

"And no, I will not be ordering any Spanish language channels. And yes she will be watching what we watch as a family. If she thinks she is going to go in the other room and watch something else in Spanish if we are watching something else in the other room, then she is going to be heading back home real quick. I already explained all this to her and she said she is aware that is not going to happen, and she does not want to do things that way. She wants to do everything as a family. "

It sounds like what you really want is to import a nana. The "rules" you describe above are apropriate to an employee not someone you purport to love and cherish. Why don´t you let this poor girl go so she can hook up with somebody without all the baggage? I don´t think your attitude is suitable to an international marriage.

[Alabamaboy!]

Hey JimD, if you want to order some kind of sex slave that will spend time with you in the bedroom and cook and clean for you, but when it comes to family time she is in the back room watching telenovelas while the rest of your family is in the living room spending time together, then I think you are the one with the problem. And maybe you should be the one not looking for an international marriage!

I think if your woman is in the other room watching TV in another language, you are basically bringing a household pet/slave over and she is not really a loved and cherished family member at all.

I have a friend who got his wife all the Spanish speaking packages, including Colombian TV channels, and guess what??? She still does not speak English in more than 15 years here! Gee, I wonder why?

If she wants to do things another way, or marry into a 100% Spanish speaking household, she is free to marry another guy. I put everything on the table. If we are in harmony, good. If not, why would either one of us want to stay together?

[fathertime]

My woman watches Spanish channels quite a bit. Sometimes I catch her watching some English channels and at night she has to put up with me and my FOX NEWS channel as we are lying in bed!  O'Reilly, Beck, Hannity, their are just great for foreplay!

I rather enjoy the fact that she is enjoying and comfy with her little Spanish channels at times.  I figure she has years and years to learn English, meanwhile it enables us to get more exposure to Spanish, which I like.

Fathertime! 

[Alabamaboy!]

Just a few points Bama:

The fiancée visa should never be used as trial period to see if you really want to marry her. Decide first, then file the petition.I do not think anyone can predict what can happen when a person from Colombia comes to the United States. And I am not just talking about things from my viewpoint. Where I live is like night and day from Barranquilla so I do not think it is fair or reasonable to think she would want to marry me if she was completly hating life here. Why would I want someone to suffer like that? Either her or me. With my ex wife from Philippines, it was a different story, because they speak English, and have huge community support from other Filipinos.

You cannot send her back home. The fact of life is that once she is here, whether or not you are married yet, if you break it off she will be able to stay here probably for the rest of her life if she wants to. About the only way to get deported these days is to commit some serious crime and get caught.Of course I am not going to tie her up and dump her on the plane, but would pretty much bet my life she would not want to stay here if things did not work out between us within the first three months. Especially with no friends, family, not speaking English, and and the fact that she loves Barranquilla and Colombia

Whether or not you have a pre-nup, you sign a legal affidavit of support and you could very well be obligated to support her for the rest of her life, even if you are only married for a relatively short time.I don't believe that. In theory that is the way it is supposed to work, but I have never heard of anyone actually suffering that happening.

Question: What’s your hurry anyway? My hurry is that I prefer sleeping with a woman than a stack of pillows. And I prefer living in a complete family setting rather than a crazy frat house single guy with two kids setting. And I think that 1 1/2 years is enough time to feel each other out, and learn enough about each other to see if there is enough to take the relationship to the next level. I think any more time than that would be just wasting each other's time. I think dragging things out is more dangerous than moving too quickly. Even though I am older than her, her experation date is probably about the same as min, maybe a good 10 years or so because after that there does not seem to be much interest in Colombianas in their mid 30's.

Ray

[JimD]

Well bama maybe you´re right but let´s hope her motives for being agreable to your rules are sincere and not just so she can get to the US which is the case with an awfull lot of them.

[Alabamaboy!]

Jim, If I had any doubts about her sincerity or that I thought she only wanted to come to the States, there would be no way I would think of bringing her here. I have mentioned it before and so have guys like LSD and others, at least for most of the Barranquilleras I have met, they do not even want to come to the States. They want a good husband and seem to be willing to go where ever the husband lives, but they are not really interested in the "American Dream" like Mexicans or Filipinas seem to be. They love Colombia and especially their city Barranquilla.

I have chatted with a few Paisas however and they all seem super motivated and excited to come to the States and leave Colombia in the dust.

Two cities however that Barranquilleras would typically love to go to though, without hesitation, are Miami and Paris! They seem to always have those two places at the top of their wish list.

[lite sweet dude]

Here's my plan:
Get married in Peru then do the CR-1. Then get her in English classes here if she still wants to. I live in Florida so it's English optional. And I speak enough Spanish that we can communicate fairly well.
She told me she wants to learn English but it's gonna be a major work in progress.
Here's her complete English vocabulary with my comments in parentheses and I'm being dead serious:
Kentucky (she's a fan of KFC but they call it Kentucky in Peru not Kentucky Fried Chicken just Kentucky jiji)
Ohio (she has a friend there)
fashion
full body
spinning (she's a gym freak but I'm not complaining) 
I love you (her only complete sentence in English)
shopping
dancing
Keeping up with the Kardashians (she's a fan...go figure!)