The “investment in life” made by Nathi, a former bank employee in Brazil | The confidence to “just try speaking” gained by learning English from almost zero

After studying business administration in Brazil, Nathi built a career in the financial industry. She worked at a bank for many years, and says she grew a great deal professionally through the many experiences she had there.

“After working for a while, I began to think again about my future career. I started to want to try a new kind of work and to invest more in my own future.” With this in mind, Nathi decided to leave her job in her home country and come to the Philippines to learn English. Making such a big change of environment was not an easy decision, but looking back now, she feels it was one of the biggest challenges of her life.

“I needed to learn English from almost zero,” says Nathi. She felt that if she tried to study in the same way in the city where she lived, it would take quite a long time before she could communicate well enough. So she boldly went abroad and chose to learn in an environment where English is used in daily life.

“Here you can be in touch with English not only during class time but also in your daily life.” Nathi says that, besides learning English itself, this study abroad is also an investment in her career. Her goal is to widen her chances of new work in the future and to be able to work in a more international environment.

Because she planned to study abroad for a long period, Nathi first looked for a place where she could concentrate fully on English within her own budget. After looking into many countries, she felt that the Philippines offered a good balance of quality of classes, cost, and an environment where she could use English every day, and so she chose Cebu Island.

“I chose 3D ACADEMY because the content of the course matched my goals.” She says what attracted her most was that there are both one-on-one classes and group classes, so she could practice a lot of English in one day. She felt it was good to have both time to focus on her weak points and time to use English together with other students.

Nathi was also drawn to the multicultural environment, with students of many different nationalities. “Being able to meet people and cultures from many countries while studying English is also a reason I feel glad I chose this place.”

The course Nathi took was the Intensive ESL plan. She had both one-on-one classes and group classes. What has left the strongest impression on her, she says, is that little by little she gained confidence in her English and became able to communicate more naturally than before.

“In the one-on-one classes, the teacher looks closely at my weak points, so I can concentrate on practicing what I need.” In the group classes, on the other hand, she had chances to speak in front of others, hear a variety of accents and learn new vocabulary. “I feel each has its own different strengths.”

Nathi looks back and says the biggest thing she learned through the classes was that there is no need to wait until you can speak English perfectly. “You speak first, make mistakes, learn from them, and try again. I realized that this repetition is what matters.”

After classes finish, Nathi makes time to review what she learned that day and to study on her own, because she wants to make this study abroad as meaningful as possible. She says she values day-by-day effort precisely because, when she first came to Cebu, she could hardly understand any English.

“So that it doesn’t become all about studying, I also enjoy going out to different places in Cebu.” On weekends she goes to beaches, shopping malls, restaurants and other places, trying to experience life outside the school as much as possible.

Nathi also loves spending time with other students. “Getting to know people from all over the world, and being able to talk and go out together, is one of the best experiences of my study abroad life.”

At 3D ACADEMY, Nathi spent time with students of truly many different nationalities, including Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese, Saudi, Russian and French students. “Our cultures and the environments we grew up in are different, but when we talked, I found that many of us had similar goals: wanting to learn English, to know the world better, to have new experiences.” She says that studying toward the same goal alongside people from different countries was a very interesting experience.

Nathi wants to keep improving her English and to use what she learned here as the next step in her career. In the future, she would like to take on a job where she can work in an international environment while using English.

To those who will come to 3D ACADEMY, she has this message: “I hope you come with the intention of stepping a little outside your comfort zone. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes in English or of not being able to say things well. I think it’s important to try to speak as much as possible, both in class and in daily life.” She says that even when you are with people from your own country, trying to use English as much as possible helps everyone’s studies.

“At first it can feel difficult, and you may get tired. But it’s important to trust the process and keep going.” Studying abroad is not only about learning English; it is also an experience of getting to know other cultures, building the strength to be independent, and going beyond your own limits. Through this experience, Nathi says she came to feel that she can take on more things than she had ever imagined.

The plan Nathi took at 3D ACADEMY is “Intensive ESL,” one of the plans in the Practical ESL Course with a larger amount of study.

The Practical ESL Course is the most popular program at 3D ACADEMY, a practical curriculum centered on one-on-one classes that develops all four language skills in a balanced way. You can choose from 4 plans (Mini ESL, ESL, Intensive ESL and Platinum ESL) according to how much you want to study.

Among them, the Intensive ESL plan combines one-on-one classes and group classes so that you are in solid contact with English throughout the day. It is also suited to people like Nathi who want to relearn English from almost zero, or who want to improve their English intensively in a limited time.

As Nathi said in her testimonial, in the one-on-one classes you can practice your weak areas intensively, and in the group classes you get chances to use English in a practical way while interacting with students of many nationalities. Another appeal of this course is that it supports the attitude of “not waiting for perfection, but speaking first.”

Recommended for those who...

• want to relearn English from zero
• want to invest in their English for career advancement or for the future
• want to strengthen their weak areas intensively in one-on-one classes
• want to make friends from all over the world in group classes
• want to improve their English intensively in a limited time

Why not start, like Nathi, by taking the first step?