English lessons for a foreign student

[ruthie]

My daughter in law is Colombian, has recently arrived here and is anxious to learn English in order to get a job. Our local college in Northwich has said that she needs to have been resident in this country for a year before being accepted on a course because of the Government subsidy. Can anyone see a way round this problem please as private tuition would, presumably, be very expensive.

[boxtops]

Go to your local Adult Education centre, they usually run EFL (English as a Foreign Language) courses at reasonable prices. You are right that a private language school would probably be expensive. Would the Northwich college accept her before the year if she were willing to pay?

[mike11111]

I wouldn't worry too much. In my experience lack of a knowledge of English has been no bar to getting a job in the service industries in this country.

[ruthie]

Thanks boxtops and Mike1111. I will look into all your suggestions. The main problem is that her English is very poor so would not understand what she was asked to do if in an office for eg. She depends alot on our son at the moment to interpret for her. He, himself, is fairly fluent in Spanish which amazed us as he picked it up in about 5 months! Amazing what love will do!!

[CovKid]

How about something like "Teach Yourself English" or "English as a Foreign Language". I'm sure I've seen materials in my local library.

Try W H Smiths, Amazon or Ebay. Also, *ask at your library*. Ask the college what learning resources they recommend. If she is dedicated, she might make quicker progress than at a college, where it would be a couple of hours per week

[Mosaic]

Depending on what motivates and interests her, getting or making audio instructions to listen to and follow will help. In addition, simple things like post-its on objects around the home with their name on - cooker/ refridgerator / fridge/ door/ television etc - will help - as would doing quizzes based on simple phrase like 'I Spy'.
And watching programmes on TV that interest her IN ENGLISH not in mother tongue!
She will need constant exposure to interaction in English and she will need to make a huge amount of personal effort.
However, if she is motivated she will succeed. Expect her to be quiet and watchful initially but with encouragement this phase will pass.
Ultimately, she will be in a position to work as a language tutor teaching conversational Spanish (admittedly with a south American accent).

[piggynose]

Hi ruthie, yr son´s listo as they say, i´ve been living with my novia for over a year now, and still talk very little spanish. i live in madrid by the way.
any advice from yor son would be appreciated.
I beleive Malta a good place for english courses,

saludos