How well does your SO speak and use your language?

[ya falaha! 0]

I don't recall this being discussed broadly except for in red flag topics.

How well does your SO use/comprehend/spell/read/communicate in English? I'm assuming all of our SOs have some sort of grasp on the English language but how much of a grasp do they have and how are you dealing with the ESL issues?

I'll start...

Mo speaks and comprehends English very well. He has a bit of trouble pronouncing certain words but this has never posed a problem with us. He will occasionally ask for a meaning of certain words that he's never heard or used before. He also reads in English. He read all of his own visa paperwork and with a bit of help (in the spelling department) filled out all forms for himself. He tends to spell phonetically especially with more complicated words. I'm confident with a little help he'll over come this obsticle. Overall we've never had a problem communicating or understanding each other.

[LaL 418]

very well. when I first met him, and as I listened to him speak, I had to ask when did you immigrate to Canada? "last year" was his response (2002). I was shocked! It sounded to me like he had been here for a decade!

He taught himself english with the little help the schools there provide, read everything in english, and in university most everything was done in english due to the technical nature of the subjects.

Drive thru's are another issue though.

[ya falaha! 0]

My husband did the same...was mostly self taught. His family didn't even know how well he could speak/understand English until I showed up. They kept asking him how he could want to marry a woman he couldn't communicate with, lol. Although all of his sisters speak English (with differing levels of fluency) they very rarely used it with each other.

[mybackpages 0]

Idir's english is very good, but his vocabulary is limited. This has changed drastically since we have met-through exposure to english through me. It's our main language for communication. (French verbs make me crazy!)

His will defiinately need ESL classes for writing and grammar.

The only time we have problems communicating is when i find myself using colliquial phrases. Idir has commented that she has problems with listening with some american accents- esp those that tend to drop a lot of letters when speaking.

[Jenn! 918]

Idir has commented that she has problems with listening with some american accents- esp those that tend to drop a lot of letters when speaking.

Wadi always gives me a hard time about not pronouncing the letter 't' unless it's at the beginning of a word. I never really realized that I do that. To my credit though, I do say my 'r's, even though I am from Boston.

Wadi's english when he came was limited to a few phrases - very beginner level. Now he's really progressed a lot. I mean, now I can leave him alone with my family and not be worried that they can't communicate. He does a pretty good job reading too. We're working on expanding his vocabulary.

[ya falaha! 0]

I understand Mo's accent very well but others not accustomed to hearing an accent do have trouble understanding him at times. Like Idir, my husband's vocabulary could use a little broadening but I think he does quite well. What I find very surprising is that Mo's vocabulary is more broad than my ex husband's when I met him (he had been in the states for 4 yrs already). My ex didn't get to Mo's level until a few years after we were married. I find that very surprising and remarkable considering Mo hasn't been out of his country let alone to an English speaking country before.

Edited April 11, 2007 by moody

[LaL 418]

Idir has commented that she has problems with listening with some american accents- esp those that tend to drop a lot of letters when speaking.

Wadi always gives me a hard time about not pronouncing the letter 't' unless it's at the beginning of a word. I never really realized that I do that. To my credit though, I do say my 'r's, even though I am from Boston.

Wadi's english when he came was limited to a few phrases - very beginner level. Now he's really progressed a lot. I mean, now I can leave him alone with my family and not be worried that they can't communicate. He does a pretty good job reading too. We're working on expanding his vocabulary.

lol i get slack for saying put it on the cow-ner (instead of counTer) or budder (buTTer). or the most favorite on to pick on me about

buh -ins (buttons)

[mybackpages 0]

Idir has commented that she has problems with listening with some american accents- esp those that tend to drop a lot of letters when speaking.

Wadi always gives me a hard time about not pronouncing the letter 't' unless it's at the beginning of a word. I never really realized that I do that. To my credit though, I do say my 'r's, even though I am from Boston.

Wadi's english when he came was limited to a few phrases - very beginner level. Now he's really progressed a lot. I mean, now I can leave him alone with my family and not be worried that they can't communicate. He does a pretty good job reading too. We're working on expanding his vocabulary.

lol i get slack for saying put it on the cow-ner (instead of counTer) or budder (buTTer). or the most favorite on to pick on me about

buh -ins (buttons)

I drop g in every ing word- hopin', drivin', walkin' etc... never noticed I say buh-ins too but i do! Usually i am really good about speaking well- maybe from being around a lot of non-native english speakers or doing a lot of public speaking. BUT when I am home and relaxed watch out- my english is not so good!

[wildroze22 0]

my so is fluent... usually more so than he believes. he works for an american company here in israel, and spent almost all of his undergraduate years communicating in english. for some reason he thinks hes not fluent though... mostly fear im sure.

his family thinks i speak crazy fast and are always making fun of me for it (they are not fluent in english at all)... and dont realize i feel the same way about their hebrew! native speakers almost always speak wayyy too fast...

[Marry American 0]

My fiance speaks very good english. I can not even detect his accent. My other family members notice it slightly. He writes english good, occasionally he mispells words. He also reads english very good. We never had any problem communicating.

[ya falaha! 0]

I don't speak fast per se but I do speak faster when I'm talking to native English speakers. Mo notices a difference in how I speak with him as opposed to how I speak with my friends. He can't keep up when I'm talking to my friends. He tells me...I lose a lot of words when I hear you talk with your friends.

my so is fluent... usually more so than he believes. he works for an american company here in israel, and spent almost all of his undergraduate years communicating in english. for some reason he thinks hes not fluent though... mostly fear im sure.

his family thinks i speak crazy fast and are always making fun of me for it (they are not fluent in english at all)... and dont realize i feel the same way about their hebrew! native speakers almost always speak wayyy too fast...

[Donna A 4]

i could always understand hassan but i did notice when he first got her other people would always say "what" when he would talk to them. i dont know if they just expected an american accent so they didnt pay so much attention and then when he had arab accent it was a surprise to them or what.

i think his english has improved alot in the time he has been here.

he usually says things the way they are spelled like compromise as com promise. well it is spelled like promise and not like compromizzzzzzzzzzzzze. but he is doing alot better now.

he said something funny the other day but i cant remember what the word was.

[JODO 2]

My fiance speaks and writes English pretty well. He does sometimes confuse the b and the p when speaking,but that seems to be fairly common with Egyptians and I always correct him ASAP if he slips into that mode. Too, there are times when he tells me I am speaking too fast,but I always find this laughable because I am Southerner and I know that I have a slight drawl. Anyway, no plans for him to take ESL classes,but I've already signed up for an Arabic class in June.

Edited April 11, 2007 by JODO

[doodlebug 3]

Usama's fluent in terms of speaking. His accent is pretty thick obviously since he's never been out of Egypt. Sometimes he has a hard time with one or two words that I say but that's because, unlike Jen, I have a wicked thick Boston accent!!! He gets confused when I drop my aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaars. lol.

He took both English and German courses in college so he knows that one too. Sometimes I wish he had taken French since that's what I took in high school but oh well.

He needs help in writing sometimes. Like he texted me the other day that I make him so "hoot". lol. And he'll text me that I"m his "angle". But I know what he means.

[sereia 0]

my fiance spoke VERY little english when we first met. luckily i took 4 years of french in school so we could communicate that way in the beginning. for years i kicked myself in the butt for learning french instead of spanish. now i see my reason why ...years later! destiny i guess ....

also it helped with him teaching me some arabic. i seem to pick it up pretty fast! but over time my fiance practiced more english and has been taking ESL classes in morocco and its GREATLY improved. i can't wait until he gets here and can be immersed in it and see how much more it improves. however, his grammar is pretty bad. definitely need to work on that but hey, my oldest brother is american and his grammar is bad as well! lol

Edited April 11, 2007 by abdounjen