I'm so pleased to hear that someone chose to use him.
I only got the book last autumn, but Ranulf is the magus I've spent the most time looking over. I like the concept of focus on Pilum of Fire, a nice tool to master. It was a useful thing to work on for my maga at that time, however that saga has been replaced by another.
I flew out there one year and I don't think I could have met a more welcoming and hospitable bunch of people. So glad I went. I had a great time and, whether you're already in the US or you want to make a longer holiday of it, you will too I'm sure.
Costs, and social awkwardness, made all the more worse by my utter lack of practice of spoken english. Even the hellfest is not easy for me.
I can relate to the language barrier a bit. We gamers from non-english speaking countries may read a lot and write a lot of english, but may lack practice with speaking it. Pronounciation, accent, vocabulary - all that can pose a challenge. Especially when you meet new people for the first time, in a culture different from your own. Sure, we are all gamers, but conventions don't follow the same...well...conventions across borders. But the atmosphere is relaxed and in the end we're not that different at all.
However I've experienced no problems with that, all the english people have been patient and polite. Don't worry that you're not speaking 'proper english' , you're not applying for a job as a BBC announcer.
It also adds to the 'authenticity' of GT 
After all, how many of us munchkin our younger magi to have Latin 4 instead of 5? 
Yes, or even worse: Latin 3 (Hermetic terms) and claim this is good enough to read books!