Best way to learn English (for now)

[Tuanv 2]

Hello guys,

Can you guys recommend some techniques to teach English? I am trying to teach my wife English. So far, she has used Rosetta Stone but she find it boring.

[Anh map 2,098]

Enroll in a class. And practice speaking with others.

[Tuanv 2]

She cannot enroll in class at the moment but I will enroll her at an ESL campus when she get here. I try doing that but she has a heard time understanding me. Right now, I am thinking of giving words to study and test her on them.

[ann and aties 9]

she can try www.livemocha.com and see if she likes it better than rosetta stone. good luck!

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Talk to her on Skype or Yahoo for an hour or two each day using headphones.

I found that Phuong had a very difficult time trying to learn the pronunciation from trying to mimic my speech. What she often heard was not what I actually said. However, spelling the word using Vietnamese phonetics helped her a lot. Some words are going to be difficult, no matter what. Many words that end in hard consonants, or words with several consonant sounds in sequence can be difficult because those types of sound sequences don't exist in Vietnamese. For instance, if you try to teach her to say "spray" then she will either say "spay" or "sray", but she'll have a very hard time putting the "p" and "r" together in sequence. You can often divide those into two syllables while she's learning them, like "sper-ray".

Phuong has made enormous progress since coming to the US. She takes ESL 4 hours a day, 4 days a week. There's a still a lot of words that are persistent problems. For example, she says "cloh" instead of "close". My step-daughter is doing much better. She can read and comprehend most things written in English, and is even reading books now. Her pronunciation still needs a lot of work, though.

I'm having a bigger problem trying to get them a driver's license. Both of my step kids failed their first driving test. My step son forgot to turn on the wipers and headlights in the rain. My step daughter nearly creamed a parked car pulling out of the DMV parking lot. Fortunately, she was in the driver's training car, so the test administrator used the second brake pedal to stop the car.

[Dai. 7]

My wife learn english off movies and TV shows, after a year of living here in texas she watches movies with out subtitles and is able to follow the whole movie and understand conversation.

[Anh map 2,098]

It's got to be more than just studying though. It's using the language in daily life (speaking, listening, reading) that will help the most. And helping them to be confident about speaking.

Edited December 12, 2010 by Anh map

[Dai. 7]

^^^ Thats True!!

My wife goes out on her own day to day being by herself to shop and she interacting with more and more people, making her english much better.

[Tuanv 2]

I guess I should not have laughed at her pronunciation. I am going to speak English with her more often and see where it goes from there. Thank for replies, guys.

Jim, does your wife pay for ESL class?

[Anh map 2,098]

I guess I should not have laughed at her pronunciation. I am going to speak English with her more often and see where it goes from there. Thank for replies, guys.

Jim, does your wife pay for ESL class?

Linh's English pronunciation is WAAYYY better than my attempts at Vietnamese. Confidence is huge. For Linh it also has a monetary component. Her clients feel more comfortable with her because they carry on conversations. That seems to translate into suggesting services and better tips.

[BinhJerome 14]

Hello guys,

Can you guys recommend some techniques to teach English? I am trying to teach my wife English. So far, she has used Rosetta Stone but she find it boring.

Not trying to sound rude, but if it is important to her even if it is boring she needs to stick with it point blank. I installed a few programs on Rich's Fiancee's computer when she stayed with us for 2 weeks, and it is working great for her. Boring as it may be, if she wants to go to america then she will need to learn english, and she will have to deal with it being boring, that or hire her a tutor, or send her to a language center, there are tons of them in HCMC, another option is www.hellochao.com I dont know much about this site, but if she goes there, she will hear my voice and Mark (MekongMark) as we both work there.

Yes you shouldnt have laughed at her I teach young children at V Star, and if you laugh at them, they loose confidence and desire to learn. No matter how bad it is, if she is trying that is WHAT matters. She just needs confidence, and this means you need to compliment her when she says something right, and NEVER laugh at her again. Also get her to start doing little words, hold up something in the webcam and tell her what it is, get a small box, and save the things she knows and quiz her on them, when she gets them all right, get new ones. Make it fun, and let her know she is doing good.

Jerome

[Ning 619]

Hello guys,

Can you guys recommend some techniques to teach English? I am trying to teach my wife English. So far, she has used Rosetta Stone but she find it boring.

My husband worked with me every day to teach me English. I can say that one idea he had really helped me & that was music. He brought me some Cds to listen to. I learned the words to the songs ( Alan Jackson for example ), then we talked about what the words meant; how a song is written. He also had me watch videos on You Tube of music & other subjects.

He also taught me to drive but like Jims family members I failed the test the first time. I failed before leaving the parking lot due to speed! Then forgot to slow in a school zone. Passed second time around.

[Casprd 167]

Search for an English corner in her city. Many of the cities in Asia have these. For the most part it will be locals and college students trying to practice, but there will all so be some English speakers there from time to time. This will give her a chance to use English in conversations which will help a lot. I know my wife speaks very well and she reads and writes pretty well, but she has a tough time when English is spoken.

Rosetta stone is ok, but it does move incredibly slow. The "speaking the language from the first lesson" is misleading. Instant Immersion or Pimsleur are better for speaking english IMO just because they move more quickly making it more interesting to learn.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Jim, does your wife pay for ESL class?

$40 per semester. It's dirt cheap. It's part of the adult school program run by the local school district. You should probably check with your school district and see if they offer something similar.

My step-son and step-daughter are also enrolled in the same ESL program, but they are each at different levels so they're in different classes. My step-daughter is almost ready to leave the ESL program and start the GED program (she left VN in the 11th grade). She took the entrance exam for the pre-GED class, but came up a tad short in English comprehension. She'll need at least one more semester in ESL. The timing actually works out good. By the time she finishes the GED program she'll have had her green card for a year, and will qualify for in-state tuition at community college.

[Tuanv 2]

Not trying to sound rude, but if it is important to her even if it is boring she needs to stick with it point blank. I installed a few programs on Rich's Fiancee's computer when she stayed with us for 2 weeks, and it is working great for her. Boring as it may be, if she wants to go to america then she will need to learn english, and she will have to deal with it being boring, that or hire her a tutor, or send her to a language center, there are tons of them in HCMC, another option is www.hellochao.com I dont know much about this site, but if she goes there, she will hear my voice and Mark (MekongMark) as we both work there.

Yes you shouldnt have laughed at her I teach young children at V Star, and if you laugh at them, they loose confidence and desire to learn. No matter how bad it is, if she is trying that is WHAT matters. She just needs confidence, and this means you need to compliment her when she says something right, and NEVER laugh at her again. Also get her to start doing little words, hold up something in the webcam and tell her what it is, get a small box, and save the things she knows and quiz her on them, when she gets them all right, get new ones. Make it fun, and let her know she is doing good.

Jerome

I'll check the link out. I learned my lesson: I will never laugh at her again. Thank for the reply.