Thanks for all your kind words. My mother-in-law asked me if it feels any different being an American citizen. It does feel different. I really feel part of this country now. I think it was another step taken towards incorporating to life in this country, a big step actually. I still miss my country and I will always love Peru and its people. I will always proudly say where I come from. But reality is that I live here now and I am happy here. This is the place I call home. This is my home.
To respond to a few questions that you asked. I am from Lima, Peru.
How did I learn English? That’s a long story. My thoughts are that I really, truly started the never-ending process of learning English here in the States. The easiest way to learn the language is to seat on your butt and wait. Now the fastest, better way is to experience the language. Children are the only ones who can learn a language easily. Unfortunately, for grown-ups like us things get a little more complicated unless you are gifted. I am not.
The long story is that I studied English in Peru for a while before coming here. It did help me a lot to understand the English grammar before coming here. I really like the English school I went to. There were good teachers there. There, teachers speak to you only in English since day one whether you understand it or not. The down side is the most of the teachers are not native English speakers, so you don’t really get to hear the “real English” so much. That was a big problem, because when I came here five years ago, as most newcomers, I didn’t understand almost any of the English spoken by native speakers. So, after a month of living here I forced myself to get a job in an office where only English is spoken. I won’t lie to you. It was very hard at the beginning, but after sometime answering phone calls, writing letters a hundred times, “the help” of some rude clients and Microsoft spellchecker my writing skills improved and my ear got trained. I think I am able to understand 95% of what people are saying even if they speak pretty fast, but I still have a long, long way to go to become fluent.
Most of my work since the beginning has been answering phones and writing letters, so getting a job in an office environment with English speaking clients will certainly help your wife or fiancée to learn the language pretty fast. I soon figured out the more I waited to get a job, the more insecure I became about my English skills. My husband has played an important role in making the process smoother. No to mention that the people I work with have always been very supportive. Encourage your wife to find a job. It doesn’t matter if it is a part-time job. It will help her to develop her English speaking skills, gain confidence and build a résumé. I would apply for jobs where they explicitly mention they value diversity or jobs that require some Spanish speaking abilities. Also, remind your wife that her Spanish is an asset that could open doors to her not an obstacle. Reading books from her favorite Latin American writers translated into English also help. I love reading books of Chilean author Isabel Allende translated to the English language. I didn’t find much value in going to ESL classes, because not everybody goes at the same speed. Based on my experience, most of the people going to ESL classes are in the very basic level. College English classes helped the most. You have to write a lot. I am not taking about English 101, but the introductory classes like English 094 and 095.
Another thing that helped me was reading this board. Everyday language is used here all the time. I took mental notes of your expressions, slang, phrases, etc.
Now, I am not saying that you should isolate your wife from Spanish speaking people. Having friends who speak your own language helps her to get accustom to her new country. She just has to be serious about wanting to learn the language of the country she is probably going to live for the rest of her life.
Something that I want to mention and that I will always remember is what an English teacher in Peru told me once. She had a student whose English writing was very bad. She tried to help the student without success. One day she asked him to write something in Spanish for her. She then confirmed that although Spanish was his first language, his writing abilities in Spanish were as bad as his English abilities. She then concluded that if somebody is not very good in his own language; it’s going to take longer for that person to learn another one.
Remember love of love, support and patience with your wife will go a long mile.
To respond to other questions: I came here on a Fiancé Visa. The process of getting my residence was Ok for me. When time run out for them to issue a new residence card, I just went to the Seattle office and inquired about it. The nice guy at the front desk told me it would take another 3 months for me to get a 10-years green card. He stamped my passport extending my residence for one year. Then he told me to wait for a little while and went inside. He came back and congratulated me. He told me he spoke with his supervisors and they decided to approve my application for removal of status on the spot. He didn’t ask me if I was still married. There were not questions asked at all. Did I get lucky or what? My residence card came two weeks after that. So my I-751 was already approved when I applied for my residence, but I think I didn’t need to wait for that to happen.
I better finish this long post now before you start yawning if you haven’t yet. Thanks for reading. Feel free to ask questions if you want.
Red Clay please say hello to my paisana for me.
