RLS

I read many suggestions here about how to have my SO learn some English. Many suggested sending her to an English school or hiring a private tutor, etc. Some suggested buying her a translating machine. I did that, by the way, when I was in China. However, I came up with something that is working faster than I thought possible. I communicate by email to my English speaking friend in China. I write some simple basic conversational sentences. He calls her and translates them to Mandarin, then says them in English to her. He repeats it so that she knows the meaning of what she is saying. I call her every night and I go over the sentences to reinforce what she is learning. It works! I cannot believe how fast she is learning. I am amazed because I know how difficult it must be for her. I was an English teacher for a while and I know how difficult English can be even to those who speak it. I am only having her learn very basic words right now because I don't want to overwhelm her. Anyway, I thank you all for your suggestions. I guess I'm using a little bit of each. Ron

Amen to that - thank you Frank

My wife's teacher can either give information on his classes or recommend some near her. Call Mr. Liang at 0771-2806199. Referred by Weihua. 191206[/snapback] Thank you, Mike, for that information.

I'm not sure if it is the right forum for this, but, I would like to hear from those of you who have gone through or are going through the language barrier. I have started communication with my SO on the phone. She knows very little English and I only know a few words of Chinese. I absolutely love hearing her voice on the phone and just saying the few words we know is better than nothing. I would like to get her into some basic English classes, however, she works 10 to 12 hours a day and has very little spare time. To those of you who are familiar with Nanning, would you recommend or do you know of a private school where she could learn some English? I would appreciate any information you can share with me. TY --Ron

All of you are just too good to be true. I'm sure of more bumps, more questions, more moral support and more success.

Success! Finally! I got the phone card, and, after dialing a few thousand numbers, I got my SO on the phone. She was happy. We exchanged a few words that we know. I won't mention them here. She laughed and I laughed and somehow it all worked. We both said I love you quite a few times. It felt so good to hear her voice. Thanks everyone - Ron

I want to thank David (above) and yes, I'm still here. I hope I get something from her later tonight or in the morning. Every morning, when I go to work, the first thing I do is check my email. I am going to get a phone card like most everyone suggested. We won't be able to understand each other, but, she does know what "I love you" means. Thanks from Ron

Sorry Ron for getting off topic... But as much as this thread is about your personal plight, it is also about communication. I was just trying to explore another avenue. American cell phones don't send Chinese characters... but from a website maybe you could. Wouldn't it be nice to send your SO a text message in Chinese... For example " ÎÒ°®Äã " http://z.about.com/d/chineseculture/1/0/U/8/iloveyou.gif I'll look into it and start a new topic if I get anywhere with it. ... again sorry, I don't want you to think I was trying to downplay your personal crisis. 190510[/snapback] No problem. I did not think that. Ron

Just for the record, I have no doubt you sent the money. I'm just playing the devil's advocate from her side. 1. You promised to send money. 2. She doesn't have the money. 3. YOU made her lose face at the WU office. Of course you didn't lie but how is she supposed to know that? Looking into dynasky or similar services takes a few minutes and you can place the call immediately. You may not be able to communicate much but you can gauge her feelings. If you are able to establish reliable communication and have a real commitment to each other to pursue the K1 visa process, then there is not pressure from you. The pressure is from the process. Set the proper expectations and get rolling. On another note, my neighbor, who married a Bulgarian woman got documents translated by www.ultratranslate.com that satisfied USCIS. 190495[/snapback] Thank you, Mike. I like the way you tell it like it is. I understand and that does not bother me. I see your point about the money transfer, or should I say, "failed" money transfer. Ron

Once again, I thank you all for your suggestions. I will look into getting a phone card. It drives me crazy not to hear from her. I don't know what is going on. She could be sick. Her father is sick at times. I guess it is more frustrating because I'm trying to get things organized and sent. I don't want to pressure her in any way. I guess what Mike said could be taken as a "lie", however, my intentions were good. I did send her money and it was available for pick up. They just gave her a hard time at Western Union. I know I must be more patient. CFL is teaching me a lot of things about myself. Thanks again, everyone.

There may not be anymore RLS posting. I am not hearing from my SO. She does not communicate with me on a regular basis. She does not have a computer and relies on a friend's computer. I am not a fortunate as some and cannot communicate with her. I love her and I think she loves me. I don't thing she is aware of how much is involved to get her over to the U.S. I don't think she has a clue on how difficult it is. I am trying my best. As I said, I love her very much and I feel deep inside that she loves me. I go for two or three days without an email from her. I don't like it. It leaves an empty feeling in my gut. I don't know what to do.

I can't add too much cause I'm fairly new in here, however, it all reminds me of a Beatle song: "Her name is McGill, she calls herself Lil, but everyone knows her as Nancy." My So's real name is Yonghua. She calls herself Ahua, but she wants me to call her Ivy. Actually, I asked her which she preferred and she said either Ivy or Ahua is fine with her. She likes the American name of Ivy. As far as legal name changes, I won't get into that. Just don't call me late for dinner. Ron

Congratulations! Someday Ivy and I hope to be there.

I meant "read" what you have posted. Sorry, I had three beers.

Ladies and Gentlemen: I really am a "Newbie." But, if you read down through the comments on some of these posts, you will see how one contradicts the other. One says x, y z, the other says, a, b c. When you get through reading all the posts and replies, you come out scratching your head and wondering where lies the "true" answer? I know people are posting from their own personal experience and that is appreciated. However, can there really be that much discrepancy in this procecure? If so, we are ALL in trouble. That's just my opinion. As Dennis Miller says, "I could be wrong."

RLS, If my answer to your post asking for the Embassy address upset you in anyway then I apoligize. It was a bit vague for me to answer in it's original form. I was simply asking further questions to give you a more specific answer. I think MOST ALL here try our best to be helpful but we do comprise many unique personalities. I've perceived having my fur rubbed the wrong way also but GENERALLY further posts made it clear that the person was just trying to help- maybe a problem with wording things, maybe me. Also I think a lot like TY in the above regards- short of some very specific personal content or idle chatter I do not use PM's much. I found out a while back a lot of good info regarding the CR-1 process (as it became more viable last year) was being passed by PM and THEREFORE not available to all. 188005[/snapback] Thank you. I appreciate that.

Thank you for that James. I know most people have good intentions. Ron

I'm finding out that there are some very helpful members here and some have sent me very patronizing PM's like I'm some kind of idiot. I don't appreciate it. I'm just new at this and I'm trying to get information. So far, I have been polite in asking. Those who have helped me, thank you, and I appreciate it very much. Those who are patronizing and sarcastic - well, you know what you can do.

Then how can you explain the fact that there are thousands and thousands of Chinese tourists coming to America everyday? They all had to get their visas somehow.

I think I'm going to end up doing what Mike and Sherry suggested by typing the information on a separate sheet and refer to the Item No. I have tried the other suggestions and got my computer using Simplified Chinese, then I had trouble getting it back to English. I was still not able to paste anything on that PDF form. I also tried translating my SO's name and address by using Babelfish. It came out "weird!"

Yep, your page encoding didn't think it was a Chinese page. Change it manually and it looks fine to me. 187137[/snapback] How do you change it, Lee?

I got Chinese Simplified downloaded, but when I paste characters on the form, only the top part of the characters show. Most of it is hidden. I was not able to change the font size.

Adobe Reader will not let me paste Chinese characters to the fillable I-129 form. Any ideas on how to do it?

That's fine except my SO has already filled out her part in English and also the part that requires the written Chinese. Now, will I have to redo the whole thing, send it back over to China, have her fill it out again, then send it back here? Please tell me no. Ron 186975[/snapback] She doesn't need to fill out any part of the I-129f. There is information about her but that can be typed. The same is true of the G 325a. It can all be typed except her signature. The written Chinese can be placed on an attached sheet that you simply refer to in the appropriate blanks on the form. Even the Chinese characters on my attached sheet were typed in Chinese and emailed to me. I pasted the characters into a Word document, printed it and attached it. The only issue I had with the forms was that one Chinese given name had too many letters to fit in the fillable form. I printed the name on a mailing label, cut it out and stuck it in place. My wife has never touched any piece of paper I actually mailed to USCIS. With the exception of her "signature" on her G325a, of course. :-) 186980[/snapback] Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

That's fine except my SO has already filled out her part in English and also the part that requires the written Chinese. Now, will I have to redo the whole thing, send it back over to China, have her fill it out again, then send it back here? Please tell me no. Ron