your husbands job in america?

[Together4ever 1]

My husband isn't here yet either but he is in sales. I think the hard part will be the English. He speaks pretty good english but his writing is a different story and he'll have to fill out proposals and sales invoices so he's definitely taking some sort of ESL when he gets here. I picture him starting out as a sales rep at a Staples or something since he has a lot of experience with office supplies. He used to be a sales manager figuring out inventory levels for various companies and such so maybe he can work his way up to that again. Now he sells beauty products to various barber shops and salons and he's doing very well with that because of his personality but things work so differently here. Back there he just pops in and shows them what he has and they give him orders but I'm not sure if things are that "personable" here, you know?

anyway I don't see him having a problem just based on what his field is. I feel for those who have specialties such as doctors/lawyers though. That must be a pretty big ego buster when you come here and can't get hired.

Moh had people come up to him on the street downtown on 2 different ocassions and offer him an opportunity. One guy was an army recruiter. When Moh told him he is Egyptian the guy REALLY was interested in getting him in and recruit him because he could speak Arabic. The other was a guy who worked in an office that wanted an Arabic translator. The Army thing gave me nightmares, but the translator thing might be something to consider and maybe not difficult to find.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

My husband will be going back to school when he gets here, insha'allah. We'll figure out the rest later.

[MrsAmera 41]

My husband worked in a friends pizza restaurant for quite a while when he got here. Now he is working with a company that does inventory in stores. He is also going back to school and working on his associates degree. I think the English thing was a big hurdle. Even if you think your SO speaks great English you might be surprised when they get here - as well as the writing issue - that's a huge deal. Most jobs want fluency in writing and speaking. The writing is the hardest thing to become fluent in.

[doodlebug 3]

My husband worked in a friends pizza restaurant for quite a while when he got here. Now he is working with a company that does inventory in stores. He is also going back to school and working on his associates degree. I think the English thing was a big hurdle. Even if you think your SO speaks great English you might be surprised when they get here - as well as the writing issue - that's a huge deal. Most jobs want fluency in writing and speaking. The writing is the hardest thing to become fluent in.

Right now Usama writes phonetically....kind of.

[sereia 0]

yeah i really hope my fiance can pick up on english FAST when he's here. he's taking a class 3x a week now but i know it will come much faster once he's here. my friend who works in the same field as abdelilah is studying says he needs to be fluent for him to get a job. : i need to figure out ways to help him speed up the process of learning. i plan to put post-its on everything in the apartment so he will know what everything is. enrolling him in an immersion class. watching tv. listening to music. what else is there?

[noura 0]

yeah i really hope my fiance can pick up on english FAST when he's here. he's taking a class 3x a week now but i know it will come much faster once he's here. my friend who works in the same field as abdelilah is studying says he needs to be fluent for him to get a job. : i need to figure out ways to help him speed up the process of learning. i plan to put post-its on everything in the apartment so he will know what everything is. enrolling him in an immersion class. watching tv. listening to music. what else is there?

we put the subtitles on the tv for the hearing impaired so Said can read what's being said.... I find myself watching subtitles more than the show!

[Dwarf_Ogress 0]

Marlon is not here yet but in Jamaica he worked as an optical technician for many years without a degree. He then moved to England for over 6 years and worked for various factories. He just returned to Jamaica last year and currently he is managing a bus and a taxi. We have spoken about what he wants to do here and either he will attend classes to get a degree for optical technician or he will work construction because I told him how much they make here. While he is here and cannot work and beyond, he assured me he wants to cook, clean, and do the laundry! When I asked him what I was supposed to do he told me just to sit and look pretty! lol We'll see!

[ELW 5]

Thanks for the interesting thread! My guy is an accountant but they use a different computer program there. As soon as he comes I plan to sign him up to ESL classes to polish up, and also Quickbooks & other accounting courses. The parking company thing is an interesting idea I’ll keep in mind – just in case. When it is hard even for us locals to get a decent paying, enjoyable job – I was wondering how hard it would be for even well-educated immigrants. (And it was SO sad reading how it isn’t so easy even for doctors to find work here!)

[amal 4]

yeah i really hope my fiance can pick up on english FAST when he's here. he's taking a class 3x a week now but i know it will come much faster once he's here. my friend who works in the same field as abdelilah is studying says he needs to be fluent for him to get a job. : i need to figure out ways to help him speed up the process of learning. i plan to put post-its on everything in the apartment so he will know what everything is. enrolling him in an immersion class. watching tv. listening to music. what else is there?

we put the subtitles on the tv for the hearing impaired so Said can read what's being said.... I find myself watching subtitles more than the show!

I do the same thing. Why is that!!?? I don't need the subtitles, so why do I have to read them?? hehehehehe I have to watch the movie twice .. 1 with my husband as I read the subtitles and the 2nd time is for actually watching the action! lol

[noura 0]

yeah i really hope my fiance can pick up on english FAST when he's here. he's taking a class 3x a week now but i know it will come much faster once he's here. my friend who works in the same field as abdelilah is studying says he needs to be fluent for him to get a job. : i need to figure out ways to help him speed up the process of learning. i plan to put post-its on everything in the apartment so he will know what everything is. enrolling him in an immersion class. watching tv. listening to music. what else is there?

we put the subtitles on the tv for the hearing impaired so Said can read what's being said.... I find myself watching subtitles more than the show!

I do the same thing. Why is that!!?? I don't need the subtitles, so why do I have to read them?? hehehehehe I have to watch the movie twice .. 1 with my husband as I read the subtitles and the 2nd time is for actually watching the action! lol

:lol: I don't know but I can't help myself...

[hollyw 0]

yeah i really hope my fiance can pick up on english FAST when he's here. he's taking a class 3x a week now but i know it will come much faster once he's here. my friend who works in the same field as abdelilah is studying says he needs to be fluent for him to get a job. : i need to figure out ways to help him speed up the process of learning. i plan to put post-its on everything in the apartment so he will know what everything is. enrolling him in an immersion class. watching tv. listening to music. what else is there?

we put the subtitles on the tv for the hearing impaired so Said can read what's being said.... I find myself watching subtitles more than the show!

I do the same thing. Why is that!!?? I don't need the subtitles, so why do I have to read them?? hehehehehe I have to watch the movie twice .. 1 with my husband as I read the subtitles and the 2nd time is for actually watching the action! lol

I do that too!!!! It's so frustrating, I just can't keep my eyes off those damn subtitles.

The funniest thing about my husband being out and working with other americans is that he will pick up phrases from his coworkers and clients that I don't normally use and it totally catches me offguard.... recently I have heard "hey, are you kidding me?" and for awhile he always said "very delicious"..... for instance, he would make dinner and then after we ate, instead of saying "was it good?" or "how did you like it?" he would say "was it very delicious??" Another one is "I'm fed up!" He has also started swearing in english a lot more (usually after a night of bad tippers).

You'll be surprised how quickly it comes once they are out in the working world. The same thing happened to me in Paris... it just comes so much more easily than being in a class.

[sarah and hicham 3]

yeah i really hope my fiance can pick up on english FAST when he's here. he's taking a class 3x a week now but i know it will come much faster once he's here. my friend who works in the same field as abdelilah is studying says he needs to be fluent for him to get a job. : i need to figure out ways to help him speed up the process of learning. i plan to put post-its on everything in the apartment so he will know what everything is. enrolling him in an immersion class. watching tv. listening to music. what else is there?

we put the subtitles on the tv for the hearing impaired so Said can read what's being said.... I find myself watching subtitles more than the show!

Hicham has been here for 6 months and I would say he's just about fluent in Enlgish already. He barely spoke any when he got here. He took English classes from the literacy council- it was one on one tutoring and they helped him speak, read and write. It's free and I bet they have classes just about everywhere!

[doodlebug 3]

yeah i really hope my fiance can pick up on english FAST when he's here. he's taking a class 3x a week now but i know it will come much faster once he's here. my friend who works in the same field as abdelilah is studying says he needs to be fluent for him to get a job. : i need to figure out ways to help him speed up the process of learning. i plan to put post-its on everything in the apartment so he will know what everything is. enrolling him in an immersion class. watching tv. listening to music. what else is there?

we put the subtitles on the tv for the hearing impaired so Said can read what's being said.... I find myself watching subtitles more than the show!

Hicham has been here for 6 months and I would say he's just about fluent in Enlgish already. He barely spoke any when he got here. He took English classes from the literacy council- it was one on one tutoring and they helped him speak, read and write. It's free and I bet they have classes just about everywhere!

Wow thanks for sharing Sarah! I just googled the literary council and through some links found some volunteer esl places in my area. I never even knew this stuff was offered free of charge and just assumed that he'd have to attend a college to take a course. Great idea!

[sarah and hicham 3]

yeah i really hope my fiance can pick up on english FAST when he's here. he's taking a class 3x a week now but i know it will come much faster once he's here. my friend who works in the same field as abdelilah is studying says he needs to be fluent for him to get a job. : i need to figure out ways to help him speed up the process of learning. i plan to put post-its on everything in the apartment so he will know what everything is. enrolling him in an immersion class. watching tv. listening to music. what else is there?

we put the subtitles on the tv for the hearing impaired so Said can read what's being said.... I find myself watching subtitles more than the show!

Hicham has been here for 6 months and I would say he's just about fluent in Enlgish already. He barely spoke any when he got here. He took English classes from the literacy council- it was one on one tutoring and they helped him speak, read and write. It's free and I bet they have classes just about everywhere!

Wow thanks for sharing Sarah! I just googled the literary council and through some links found some volunteer esl places in my area. I never even knew this stuff was offered free of charge and just assumed that he'd have to attend a college to take a course. Great idea!

You're very welcome. It really is a wonderful resource that I didn't know about either until I started checking into ESL classes. Everyone I called reccomended the literacy council instead. It's a great service!

[Becky&Sam 0]

Sam has a degree in hotel business management. When we met he was working on contract in Vienna at Hilton, but let that go to be in Cairo full time for the visa. He is now working as a manager for Grand Cafe in Giza on the Nile. The company that owns this is Americana which is a company that operates many western food chains in the MENA area (TGIFridays, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, Fish Market, etc) Hopefully when he arrives here this will help him with obtaining a job here related to this business. Many of his certifications and courses he has been taking are in English and are American based training. He would really like to go back into the Hotel industry and eventually our future plans will be that we will have our own restaurant!!

Edited February 4, 2007 by Becky&Sam