Where should I go to learn English?
I have the opportunity to go on an exchange to one of these countries: England, Canada, United States, Ireland, Australia. My goal is to learn English, I would be living with a host family for a couple of months. I know that each country I mentioned are wonderful and they are all different, so it's very difficult to choose. Since my main goal is to learn English, which country would be the best for this? I would love to go to England, because I love their accent. But one of my fears is, that because of their accent, I won't be able to understand them, or they won't be able to understand me. Being in a new country on your own and not being able to communicate with the rest of the people is very scary.
Where do you think I should go? Do you have any opinions or useful information about any of these countries?
Feel free to correct my English, thanks.
12 Answers
I would say that if you are a native Spanish speaker, that the United States would be the best place to go for several reasons. One is the accent thing. In the south, there is going to be an accent, but there are also a lot of Spanish speakers. I think it is safe to say that Spanish is probably the second language for the US. There is an accent in all the other countries, and in some places in Canada, they speak only or mostly French, and French is generally used quite a bit there. Some English varies too, at least between the US, Canada, England and Ireland, but I sure with Australia too. Your writing in English is good quite good by the way. I hope that is helpful to you.
At the risk of sounding super patriotic I am going to suggest that you choose
Australia , the reason being is that although it is a ginormous country there
are very little differences in accent from one side to the other , whereas in
England there are hundreds of dialects which you may find confusing .
Apart from that the climate is great the sport is good and people are ,
well, we are not bad either.
If you know that in the future you are more likely to be speaking with people from England, then go to England. If Australians are more likely then go to Australia. But if you do not know who you will be likely to be using your English to communicate with then you should go with the odds. Since there are more people speaking American English than any other variation, chances are more likely that in the future your English will be used speaking to people who understand American English.
Oh, I also believe that American English is the form easiest to understand by all English speakers. England, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand all have so many things that an American has trouble understanding that a non-native speaker is at an even greater disadvantage.
Sorry if I have offended anyone.
One more point. Do you know the reason for the American revolution against England? In my opinion it was because the food in England is terrible. lol.
Why are you learning English? If it's to live and work in England, go to England. If it's to live or work or travel in the U.S.A., go to the U.S. South Africans also speak English beautifully. ;o) Even English speakers have to get used to the accents in other English-speaking countries. Just as I can now understand someone from Chile or Costa Rica, you can also learn different accents as your ear is trained.
Why not consider Ireland. Britain would also be a good option but I think the accents get progressively more difficult to understand more north you go . Personally, although I live in Dublin I really do believe that the Dublin accent is very clear.
matias-v:
But one of my fears is, that because of their accent, I won't be able to understand them, or they won't be able to understand me.
As it has been pointed out, you written English is good. We don;t know exactly how much you can discern from any variety of English you have been hearing, up to now, if any.
You are bound to understand more of the kind you listen to in movies you watch etc... let that guide you in order to be more successful on your trip and make the most of it.
That's what I would do.
In any event, when you are exposed in real life to the street language, you are bound to get a bit disoriented, but as also was pointed out, you will get accustomed to that soon.
Think the other way round:
What are your interests? Do you want to practice any sport?
What would you like to see?
Why are you studying English, out of interest or because you have to?
How far are you from England or the USA? Do costs matter? If you go to the nearest option you might have more money left to pursue other interests, depending on your age.
Do you have a preference for any particular type of English? Where you taught US type or British English at school?
Personally, I would go to whichever place holds the more interest or promise for me, the language will follow, you get used to the slight differences.
If you can go for several months living with a host family your language skills will improve. Is it part of a work placement and/or is it linked to a language school/ University? I have been to a few language schools but only for a fortnight [two weeks ] at a time and my main aim was a holiday which included language learning. I stayed in Spain and in Mexico. The main differences for me were weather [I had to go in November] and in Spain it was colder than in Mexico and secondly in Mexico the majority of the other students were American. All the countries you mention have a mix of accents. You need to look at where you hope to spend time in the future using your language skills, cost and ease of travel - depending where you live you could have 2 days less factoring in travel time. What your interests are - if you are very keen on a particular style of literature or music then you may want to go somewhere where it is common. Have you listened to people from the various areas you are interested in? Your written English flows well so you are reasonably accomplished. If your visit will include some formal lessons the teachers are likely to speak well. If you go, do you already know what time of year it will be and the area of each country where you will be based? The Irish accent near Dublin is reasonably neutral. I am British and would say come to Britain but I don't think you have given us enough information - you need to be motivated and happy to take full advantage of the opportunities.
One more vote for Australia. We are waiting for you!
If you really want to go to England than by all means go. Do not let something like an accent scare you off. You will get used to it eventually.
Your written English, as others have already mentioned, is quite good.
Best of luck in your travels.
England and the US would be the best options. Well, I think you should choose one of them.
It's important to consider the weather too. I recommend southern California in the USA. There are many Spanish speakers there. That's where I would live if I could, but that's not likely to happen. I am content visiting whenever I can.
