I'm French and I will move to the US soon.
I've been to the US before (in 1999 for a summer job) and my English wasn't very good at that time, but it was O.K. I think it was O.K. because I hang out with other Europeans who spoke slowly and didn't use difficult expressions.
But I know that Americans don't speak slowly and use a lot of idioms, slang, and phrasals verbs that are difficult to learn because there are so many!
My English is much better now; I got a good score at the TOEIC test (945/990).
I watch a lot of American TV, read books in English, and I try to learn slang.
I don't have any problems understanding written or spoken English, but I'm a little afraid of my spoken English.
I'd like to get answers from people who went to the US without a perfect English. I'd like to know HOW LONG did it take you to be very comfortable with spoken English, and when I say very comfortable it means when you knew you spoke without hesitation, fast, and with no grammar mistakes.
Thanks.
2007-02-07 03:43:51 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
i moved here 5 years ago, i'm from germany. i felt the same way you do, good grammar-no slang. and believe me most americans will know less about grammar than you do. i tried to look up words that don't exist, like bling. it took me about a year to be able to watch tv without asking my husband every 5 minutes,"what did he just say?". and even now i get to learn new words and expressions. but the good news is that americans are very willing to help out. they'll speak slower or repeat sentences, explain expressions. don't hesitate to ask and you'll be fine!
bonne chance!
2007-02-07 09:00:02 · answer #1 · answered by gabriela 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm not sure but I'll give you an example in reverse. My son is on a mission for the LDS Church. He went through a 2 .5 month French only study and then went to Quebec. It took him a few months of only speaking French to people for him to understand that those were words instead of just weird sounds. He's not perfect but he speaks it well. He's been gone for 1.5 years (I miss him lots.) My husband spent 2 years in Paris in the late 1970s and still speaks French. He had the same type of experience as Steven. English is hard because there are so many exceptions to exceptions. Good luck to you!!
2016-05-24 03:09:00 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you spoke English with no grammar mistakes you's speak better than almost all of us in the US! I wouldn't worry about it.
Find someone in the US who will practice with you. Maybe you can find a student who would like to practice their French and the two of you could talk. Spend an hour speaking in English and then an hour in French. Then you would both improve.
If your speaking is as good as your writing you won't have too much to worry about!
2007-02-07 03:52:49 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
it depends only on you, 'cause if you hang around native speakers it will take you about couple weeks. if you stay with French speakers it will take you much longer. Plus as i see your English is pretty good now.
2007-02-07 07:58:11 · answer #4 · answered by snowdrop 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
i highly doubt it will only take a month
2007-02-07 06:57:30 · answer #5 · answered by xodfba 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
within a month or a couple of months.... sure..... my friend is there he developed within three weeks......... dont worry..... :)
2007-02-07 04:32:41 · answer #6 · answered by Arshat 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋