montanaro

As the day of my departure for the US is approaching, I'm becoming more and more aware that my English, which is very far from being perfect, will be a great obstacle in both studying and informal communicating at college. I don't have an opportunity to practise too often, so I will for certain experience that language barrier. Can anybody give me some advice what to do (both now and later in the US)? I know I should practice essay-writing, but that's all I can think of.

S33D

I think just being in the States will be enough practice for you. Don't worry about it. Essay writing is not going to help you at informal communication. For that I'd suggest watching some american shows on TV. Scrubs comes to mind.

expatme

For informal communication, watch American TV shows. It will get you use to listening . Depending on where you are going, there are also regional accents, or you will meet people from differnt areas of the country whose speech is slightly diferent.
Hopefully the International Student support at your school ill have some ideas for you as far as formal work goes.
Just listen and ask questions, that's how you will learn.

Grande Antilles

Hi monanaro, are you coming for college or HS? When I came to the US, I did not speak English at all. I was not taking English classes to learn it too. I had a Bio test the first day I went to school even though I did not speak English. So I just go to class and learn to study in English but did know any English beside what was outside of my books. I did not know foods name, game names, you know all the simple things that are essential in our everyday life.

These are some mistakes that I made and wouldn’t advise you to do so. When you first come, it’s ok to ask someone to repeat what others say in English to you in your mother tongue but don’t do it every day. It’s hard to understand the people when they are speaking, especially when they go to fast, but if you don’t have someone to interpret what they say for you, you will learn to listen to English and get everything by yourself. Of course you can ask someone to tell you if what you understand is correct. Don’t translate your notes into your language to study. Because the tests are in English, it’s better to learn your lesson in English. However this does not mean that you can’t put some little translation when an English word does not make sense to you. Your ego might hurt because the language problem might affect your performance during the first few month but you will be able to understand and write English after your first three months. Don’t hesitate to tell people to slow down when they are speaking to fast. Spent sometime with people who speak in English only, I know that you will be tempted to hang out with those who speak your language so you will feel more comfortable . Ask people to correct you if you make a mistake, tell them to teach you the pronunciation of words that you can’t say. The best thing I did before my classes was to read the material first, then translate some few words and look for their definition and reread it to make everything clear. When you go to class ready, you will understand more what the teachers will be talking about.

When you are done with an exam, get yourself a tutor and explain him the mistakes you make to see if they were done because of a language problem because sometimes you know the correct answer but you just can’t do well because some teachers play with words to trick you (specially in multiple choice questions)

But if you do that, your English won’t improve as fast as you would like it too. Reading and writing in English will help you too. When you find a word that you don’t understand, translate in your language, but try also to find it’s definition in an English dictionary so you can understand in which context they use it in English. You should always print your papers and read them to see grammatical and lexical mistake because it’s easier to see them that way than on the computer. If you find a buddy or a teacher who want to help you, you can chose a book to read, then meet with that person and talk about the book. Explain the story to the person.

At the beginning you might have more fun watching movies in your language but as time past, I would advise you to watch them in English without subtitle because if you put subtitle, you will just read them instead of trying to understand what they are saying. When you are watching tv, write new expressions down. If you have time to watch tv, watch news, documentaries and a variety of stuffs to have enrich your vocabulary in all areas.

Some funny thing: When people make joke, if you don’t laugh, it might means that you don’t get it but in order to hide your language problem, you might just laugh too even if you don’t even understand what they were saying. Caution: if the joke is about you ( LOL) you are in deep water

Your language barrier is not always negative. It can help you avoid a verbal fight with someone who wants to insult you. You can just say, excuse me , I don’t speak English and walk off. When you go to stores (clothes store), and sellers are offering to help you, you can tell them “ do you speak … ( your language) if you get annoyed by them and want to do your shopping alone. If you are lucky, they don’t speak it, they will leave you alone.

Don’t focus only on your Academic life, you will improve your vocabulary in various subject if you try to do things that are not related to your studies.

You can see that I still make some mistake in my writting but I guarantee you that the fact that you will just be living year will be enough to help you. Don't worry.
I hope that you will have a good time in the States

srunni

Definitely watch some American TV shows. Not only will they help you learn English, but the mind numbing nature of them will help dumb you down to the average American's level of intelligence so you will fit in better over here :/

clam_chowder

last year, get myself tons of US channels from cable and read novels.

when in here, put alot of "it's like..it's like.." and "you know.." in all of my sentences. lols.
dont worry about essay now,,worry it later when you're.

enjoy all of your last months in your country.

barren_field

It's great that you're thinking about this, because a lot of people don't even consider this before coming to the US to study.

Watching American TV of course is great. Another idea is to expand your vocabulary. I would recommend signing up for the "word of the day" on dictionary.com or getting a word-a-day calendar or something like that.

Another idea would be to go online and read the daily newspaper of a big American city...such as the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, or the Chicago Tribune. This wil not only educate you on what's going on but it will improve your English.

Good luck!

JohnC613

just have confidence when you get here and don't be embarrassed for any reason

BedHead

People have pretty much covered everything, but as someone who has done what you have several times, here's my cheat list both for before and when you are here:

- watch TV
- start the day off in English, not in your mother tongue
- recognize that some days are better than others; this is true in our own languages, but you really notice it in a foreign language
- the single biggest piece of advice of importance is what johnc613 said: don't be shy and have tremendous confidence. It doesn't matter if you butcher English at first because smart people will realize it doesn't mean you aren't smart. Only stupid people will correct you or make you feel bad about your language abilities. Only people that haven't experienced being in a foreign country that uses a language unfamiliar to them will think you are lacking.
- this can be tough, but try to have friends and preferably a boy/girlfriend (I don't know if you are a man or woman, etc.) who speaks English. "On the pillow" language is exchange is the most useful, but particularly bad can be to have only friends who speak your language. On the other hand, pace yourself. It can be overwhelming to do nothingg but immersion without having some resort to your language.
- Get an I-pod if you don't have one, and load it up with all sorts of language tapes if you are only good at reading and writing. Because reading your post, you are clearly good at writing.

Good luck!

zules01

Honestly, your english seems above average, even for natives. I sure know it's more than I can say for some internationals who say they're attending ivies so you should be fine. Don't sweat it.

Just forget about word-to-word translations (they're the worst) and you'll be ok.

Jeremybeach

To the OP,

You don't have to have perfect English at first (Even though you have VERY proficient writing abilities, at least!) I know that listening is a challenge, just like it is for anyone in a different language (like me and spanish.) With time, you will improve, I bet after 2 months you'll see a large improvement, and then by 6 months you'll be almost fluent. Going in with a good background helps a LOT! So good luck and watch shows to help improve your English (but with subtitles to help learn new words!)

And read children's books too, as stupid as that sounds, it helps. Or if they are too easy, then maybe harder books. Good luck though!

Plus...I DON'T EVEN SPEAK fluent english!! And it's my first language. Nobody technically can speak 100% english, because there are always words we don't know...but that's more than what you all needed to know haha. Don't worry too much!

Grande Antilles

By the way, you can set up some tvs so they can have subtitle even if it is not a movie that you are watching. yeah at the begining the subtitles will help you know how to write new words. Like now, I still watch tv ( not movie) with subtitle so I can know how to pronounce words that I can write but can't understand

AspiringInSalem

English is only one part of your adapting to college life here. Cultural adjustment is often a huge issue for foreign students. Cultural norms vary so much from country to country. For some people, it feels like every aspect of their life has been turned upside down. It's not just the language that's different, it's the rules for social behavior. In your country, you know how close to stand next to your friends, what is and isn't appropriate behavior between males and females, how to get the attention of the waiter in the restaurant, and hundreds of other "bits" of cultural knowledge. Now, through trial and error, you get to learn it again in the US. Two important things you need for success are a sense of humor and an ability to suspend judgment. If you have the ability to laugh at yourself and at the mistakes you are going to make, it will be far easier to make friends. And, if you can keep telling yourself that things in the US are not better or worse than they are in your home county, only different, then being here will soon feel comfortable and natural. It's quite an adventure you're undertaking. Best of luck!

tahncol86

I had to learn both english and spanish at the same time when I was in middle school. Personally, watching shows didn't help me that much. However, American, Colombian, Mexican, Puerto Rican, etc. FRIENDS helped me learn my english and spanish pretty quickly. They also helped me with my accents : )

happymomof1

You have been given great advice here. The only things I can think to add are:
At home, read, read, read. Novels, newspapers, whatever. Read novels in English that you have already read in your own language (Harry Potter is good for this). Read non-fiction in subjects that you know well in your own language. If you get Educational TV from the US, watch Nova, Sesame Street, whatever is available.

On campus:
Take advantage of every opportunity that the International Student Office has for you - especially for cultural orientation.
Use the English department writing lab to help you perfect your papers.
Use all of the free tutoring services that your university offers.
If you have a choice, live in a residence hall on campus, rather than in an apartment off campus. That way you will have to interact with people and you will make friends sooner which gives you more informal practice in English.

Have a wonderful time at your university!