I have been in America for a year, but I'm still not fluent. I'm feeling desperate with no progress. How can you help me?

Answer 1

Fluency in a new language is of course possible over time. It will involve coordinating real life experiences with reading as well as writing. A new language involves the four domains of listening, reading, speaking, and writing so those need to be incorporated in learning, but not necessarily in that order. Listening and speaking are usually the first domains to pursue so that a working "social language" can be reached. Full literacy in a new language will be a time-consuming journey for some and for others it will be easily attainable. Usually, if a person is quite literate in their own language, the literacy skills transfer to a new one with study. It is possible to be "socially fluent" but not yet able to read a novel or write an essay in the new language. Reading and writing will take time, but it is possible. A social language that can be used in day to day life can be achieved usually in a couple years for most, but for some it can be achieved sooner if immersed in the new culture. It's never too late to try. Contact me for help. I've taught for nearly 40 years. My last 10 years were as an ESL teacher and I loved every minute of it

Answer 2

Hello,

I have a master's in teaching English as a second language. When you say you want to be fluent, do you mean in terms of listening and speaking? There are 4 skills related to knowing a second language: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. I have taught all four and can help you with any or all of them. I would need to talk to you to diagnose where your weaknesses are. Do you need to learn more vocabulary? Do you need to learn grammar or verb tenses? Do you need to learn how to use article like the a, and an? Do you have trouble with word stress, sentence stress, intonation, or something else? I would need to talk to you to get a better idea of what you mean by fluent, and then I could create a curriculum to help you achieve the language goals that you have. Depending on your first language, how you learned the 2nd language, and other factors, there could be various problems or errors that you have that are preventing you from reaching the level of fluency you want. Please contact me if you want to talk or schedule a lesson.

Answer 3

I have helped a lot of students become close to fluent throughout my years as a teacher. I've found that simple conversation can be beneficial along with an instructor who will not be afraid to point out incorrect English along with praising students for their progress. Conversation is the easiest way to improve skills!

Answer 4

This is a common problem. If you have studied English, passed exams, read books in English, but still have problems speaking and understanding, I have several lessons that will help. First, I will read a series of simple commands quickly, like, "Touch your nose." "Look up at the ceiling." We practice doing this until your speed and confidence increases. The purpose is to make translating English into your language unnecessary.

Second, many languages are very different from English because of intonation, pronunciation, and stressed/unstressed syllables. I teach students NEW habits for speaking. For example, "I don't want to get out of bed," might be said like this: "I doWANna gedDAUda BED." When you can say it correctly, you start to understand what people are saying to you in English.