hello
i'm in high school and we have a new girl who has moved here from guadalahara, mexico or something like that, if anyone has any sites, or possible phrase translations, or anything else i would really appreciate it. i would like material that would help me , help her to make her day easier. mostly to carry on a fluent conversation. I speak english and i'm taking french as a foreign language, but i do know some, but little spanish.
thank you
nadine005

If she doesn't speak any English is going to be very difficult for her to carry on a fluent conversation.
You could help her to look in her town for schools/highschools that offer English as a second language. Some of the courses are very basic and focused in day to day activities. They are for free too.

Nuria

¡Ai, Jalisco!
Guadalajara is the Capital of Jalisco and home of Mariachi. Get close to that girl and maybe she will invite you to visit her in Mexico.
My nephew (doesn't speak Spanish) completed Medical School at the Univeristy of Guadalajara. Then he did his internship at Nassau County (NY) Hospital where they have a cooperative deal with that Medical School.
A motivated teenager will by now be picking up enough English ('Quarter Pounder, coke and fries') to survive. Don't worry! She'll make it.

I agree with Eddie, she'll be fine.

Here's a tip from someone who's living in Spain and didn't speak Spanish for the first 9 months or so: This girl is NOT STUPID because she doesn't speak your language!!! Don't treat her as if she's a dope because she doesn't know exactly what's happening around her at all times. If she seems confused, it's because she is, not because she's dumb. Help her out by simply asking her if she's okay. "Okay?" will do it - if she smiles, don't worry. If she asks for help, give it to her.

She's most likely also trying to learn to speak English. Please DO NOT speak SLOWLY AND LOUDLY. Just speak very simply. Think: "Subject-verb-object" Simple, simple, simple. Do you know what a phrasal verb is? It's a verb made up of several words, usually a verb plus a preposition. Don't use them or slang, they confuse the hell out of people who don't know a lot of English. Examples are: "look over", "check out", "drop by", "pin down", "give out", etc... Speak as basically as you can. Choose the simplest way to say something as possible. Instead of "John dropped by to check out what was going on." say "John came here to see what we were doing."

I know all this because my wife's English is good, but not great. So when she's talking to my parents, I constantly have to remind them to speak more simply (and then they... start... speaking... like... THIS... AND... LOUDLY...) It'll take a day or so to get used to speaking "international English" but once you get the hang of it, it'll work great.

-Russ

Russ--such good advice! I would add that you can help her by rephrasing sentences that she doesn't understand at first. Take advantage of all of the synonyms we have in English, and use them to help her follow what you're saying. This will also remind you to NOT simply repeat the same thing she just didn't understand.

NOT: "Want to go to lunch?"..."WANT TO GO TO LUNCH?"..."WANT---TO---GO---TO---LUNCH?"

Better: "Want to go to lunch?"..."We are going to eat now, would you like to come?"

It's a bit like talking to a clever 5-year-old...you wouldn't simply say the same words over and over again if she didn't understand at first--you would find a way to rephrase your sentence.

My 4-year-old daughter, who has a hard time making "g" and "k" sounds, has learned this lesson--she used to get frustrated when people couldn't understand her (she's very talkative and has a great vocabulary--but strangers and other children can't always understand). Now, when she tells people she got a new "bite" ("bike") for Easter and they don't understand, she switches to the alternative of "bicycle," and she's just fine. Just last week, I taught her that word and was amused to hear her practicing it/memorizing it aloud in the car all the way to school. What a relief to have more than one way to say things!

So...speak a bit more slowly and clearly, avoid complicated sentence constructions, and monitor your new friend's comprehension carefully (watch her body language and ask if she understands from time to time). And vary your vocabulary to help her find words she recognizes. You don't want to teach her "baby talk," and any parent will tell you that the best way to teach a little child to speak is to use a varied and rich vocabulary and to parse your words carefully.

One thing that I hated my first year in the US was young people using slang around me. And sometimes they would make a joke, look at me and laugh... I wasn't sure if they were laughing at a joke or making fun of me
The sad thing is that now my husband is in the same situation when we go to Spain

Nuria, I agree...and it's hard to know whether the slang words you hear are safe to use with adults/teachers/parents.

When I find myself using a slang term with a non-English speaker (it's impossible to avoid ALL slang!!), I try to define it or give a bit more information about what it means and when you can use it. Again, it's the same information you would give to a smart child--"here's what this means, and it's not a very nice word to use with your grandma!"

LiM hit the nail on the head with the phrasal verbs. For beginner´s English, these as well as idiomatic expressions and slang should be avoided as much as possible. If you would like to have a list of the phrasal verbs, send me an email and I will send one to you. (ahhh the English teacher in me!)

Both LiM and taravb had great ideas about speaking simply and clearly. The other day, my husband said something to me in Spanish that I did not quite catch. I asked him to repeat and he did, about 10 decibels higher. My response to him is "I´m not deaf!, I just did not understand what you said!!"

Do not insult the girl by repeating louder what you said the first time, try rephrasing your question (or sentence) and use hand gestures to help get your point across!

Good luck!

Hey Nadine!

Think positively ! Total immersion, as we call it here, is after all the best way to learn a language by far; that at least was my experience when I went to Ohio for my senior year of H.S. I spoke French, and had a very, very limited knowledge of English, but it took only about three months for me to feel completely comfortable(with the language) and be close to fluent. You'll see how your friend will improve enormously from day to day. Although, rest assured that in the future she'll have a lot of anecdotes (mistakes, confusing and funny situations, etc....) to tell from that experience

Chica's post made me realize that the sentence "I don't understand" can mean two things in English--the way many people use that phrase, it can mean, "I don't understand what those words mean" or "I didn't hear you clearly."

It might be helpful to let your friend know that she can say, "I don't know what that means," "I don't understand that word," or something similar. That might remind the English-speaker to rephrase rather than repeat.