Do I must go to UK or USA to learn English perfectly?

Question

Hi, I'm Brandon, I have been studying English since January, but I have to study more subjects. I'm learning the grammar rulers, Although there are many words and verbal constructions that I don't understand still, but I'm doing an effort.

I believe that I write well (more or less), but many many times I don't understand: songs, and people talking.


Do I must go to UK or USA for learning English?

Indeed...Did you understand the text above?

Little greetings.

Answer 1

Your English is perfectly understandable, and very impressive if you've only been learning English since January! (ok, there are a couple of mistakes, such as 'rulers' instead of 'rules' and 'doing an effort' instead of 'making an effort', but I don't think anyone would have any problem understanding what you mean, and your grammar is fine!)

I study German at university and I had to spend my 3rd year in Germany as part of my course. Going to Germany REALLY improved my comprehension skills and fluency, so I can definitely recommend that you spend some time in an English-speaking country. If it makes you feel any better, understanding German songs can still be difficult for me too sometimes.

I understand that going abroad isn't always very practical, especially if you have responsibilities such as a family, but if you could spend a couple of months abroad, I'm sure you'll feel much more confident about understand people and speaking.
'Abroad' could be England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the USA, Canada, Australia or New Zealand (sorry to anyone I've left out :-)), so you have a bit of choice. Are you learning British or American English? Maybe that could help you choose somewhere you'd like to go to. If spending a couple of months away really isn't possible, maybe you could try and spend your holidays in an English-speaking country instead.

Don't worry too much about accents - everyone has a different accent, and there's nothing you can do about it, so why worry about it? See it as a positive thing - at least you'd be learning 'real' English, and not some artificial English out of a text book.

Answer 2

Many countries speak "English" and for the most part it's going to be the same and technically you don't "really" need to go to any of them. It's the "slang" and accent that get's you. Like what UK might call an "elevator" or how someone in Australia would say "Good on ya mate!" for doing good. Or how Southerners in the US have a draw, making there vowels long. Or someone on the East Coast having soft a's. So on and so forther. I would get some tapes/cd's/dvd's to listen to/watch. This will work just as well. Unless you actually want to take an extended vacation/holiday to any part of the world that uses "English" as a first language, I wouldn't spend all of the money on travel expenses.

Answer 3

If you have been studying English for only 4 months you are doing amazingly well. There are many people for whom English is the mother tongue who write questions that are less easy to understand than yours.

Incidentally English is a Germanic language so those Little Englanders who claim it for their own are wrong and must thank the Germans for the root of modern English. Honest.

The similarities among US, British, Canadian, Antipodean etc English far outweigh the tiny differences of which so much is made by the ignorant and bigoted. I think you would find any English speaking practice with a native speaker useful especially with your good command of vocabulary and grammar.

TV and radio are good sources of good English especially if you listen to/watch news and documentary programs. Sadly, at least as far as Britain is concerned, I would not recommend trash TV such as soaps and reality shows, some of the accents are deeply impenetrable!

Where are you currently? Are there not native English speakers you can practice with? I'm in Germany and there sometimes seems to be more English spoken here than German!

Go to New Zealand - they speak good English, have a nice climate and the natives are very civilised.

Good luck, my friend.

Answer 4

Well done for trying and putting in the effort learning a 2nd language is really important. I'm juggling 3 at the moment, two being French and Spanish..

To learn English perfectly you must spend atleast a month in England. USA pronounce things a lot differently and spell things differently too, it won't help you but make your English worse!

I had no trouble understanding your English, you made a few mistakes but you did well! You speak better than a lot of English people!

Keep up the good work..

xX

Little greetings ;)

Answer 5

Hello,
I know what you must be going through. I live 16 years here in the USA. I moved here when I was 27 years old and with very little English knowledge. Nevertheless, it does not matter where you live you can apply and learn the English language once you put your mind and your energy into it.
From my experience, I went to English as a 2nd language program for adults right away . I went five days week for eight hours straight. We learned vocabulary's, we learned to read, to write and to speak it. There are wonderful programs and nite schools avaiable where you can advance your skills. Also practice writing through pen pals. I have a pen pal from England. She has helped me complete my English grammar. Wish you good luck.

Answer 6

Going out among English-speaking people helps, but there are English speakers all over the world, not just in the U.S. and U.K. Find out who speaks English near you, particularly native speakers, and talk with them and evaluate their feedback every day. Also, get a computer program that provides feedback on your pronunciation. A "saturation course", that is a course in which the students speak English for hours every day, is a big benefit. I am sure that English speakers and effective language learning are available at an affordable cost in other countries besides the U.S. and Britain.

Answer 7

I don't think you *have* to go to the UK or USA to learn English perfectly, but it would definitely be a big help for you to visit an English-speaking country to be immersed into the language and have the chance to speak it daily. Songs are naturally harder to understand because of how much more poetic they are. People talking is also hard because they talk fast and don't speak every word perfectly clearly. Don't worry; keep learning and eventually you'll start to get it. =)

Answer 8

Not sure why the rest of the genius's who answered couldn't understand you, I do quite easily. You are doing very well, if you say you only began in January.

The best thing would be to find an English, or American person in your country to chat with. Conversation is the best way to learn. But England is probably better than anywhere to learn English.

Answer 9

Berlitz has good courses in making English as a second languages.
The best way to speak the language is to immerse your self in that languages culture and don't talk anything but the language you want to speak.

There are a lot of countries that speak English. Canada? U.S. UK? well pick the one that suits you but remember their is a difference in the English they speak in the UK and the English they speak here in the states...we as Americans sometimes have a hard time understanding people from different areas of our own country..we talk slang..or a different dialect from the main core Americans...Southern States are different the Northern States..etc
Also Americans are accused of speaking with a "twang"...a Canadian told me that..lol
they always can tell a Yank..after we start talking

Answer 10

I think that all Hispanics must learn English, and a lot of Americans are starting to learn Spanish