I’ve always been nervous about speaking in front of others, so I chose this course to challenge myself and build my confidence.
The lesson materials aligned with my goals, and I especially liked that there were many opportunities to practice public speaking.
The pace of the program was just right for me. I believe each teacher adjusted the lessons to match my level of understanding, which made learning very comfortable.
I would have appreciated having a class specifically focused on pronunciation, as I wanted to improve my pronunciation even further.
The lessons and the teachers’ explanations were always clear and easy to understand. Although I sometimes felt confused by the different methods introduced, the teachers patiently explained everything until I fully understood.
There was some overlap between the Communication Skills and Public Speaking classes, but I actually found that beneficial because it allowed me to reinforce my learning and gain a deeper understanding of the material.
The teachers were incredibly dedicated, supportive, and genuinely invested in my learning. I received detailed and constructive feedback, especially in my speaking and writing classes.
While I would have liked more feedback on my pronunciation, I also understand that focusing too much on pronunciation in every lesson could have slowed down the overall progress of the class. Considering that these were not pronunciation-specific lessons, I felt the amount of feedback I received was more than sufficient.
Some teachers went above and beyond by giving me feedback not only on my speaking but also on my writing and pronunciation, which I found especially valuable. They also pointed out many mistakes and habits that I hadn’t noticed myself, making their feedback extremely helpful in improving my English.
To be honest, I don’t feel that I’ve gained a great deal of confidence in speaking yet. However, I learned a variety of techniques and strategies that I believe will be very useful going forward.
The most valuable part of the speaking classes was the presentation practice. Although I wasn’t able to fully apply my teachers’ advice during the actual presentation because I was so nervous, I believe that the effort and dedication I put into preparing for it will ultimately contribute to improving my English skills.
The skill that improved the most during my time in the program was my writing. Thanks to my teachers’ guidance, I gained a much better understanding of how to write effectively in different situations.
Although I haven’t fully mastered it yet, I learned valuable techniques for both writing and public speaking. I plan to keep practicing so I can apply what I’ve learned with greater confidence in the future.
I believe that if I continue putting the knowledge and skills I gained from these classes into practice, they will be extremely useful in both my daily life and my professional career.
Speaking and listening to English every day helped me improve, and I could feel myself making progress. However, my results on the final listening and speaking assessments were not as good as I had hoped, which made me realize that I still need more time and practice to reach my goals.
If I could suggest one improvement to the program, it would be the two-period group class, Empower Your Voice. Although it is designed as a group class, I was the only student enrolled in the program, so the lessons ended up being conducted one-on-one.
In that situation, I think it would be more effective to reduce the class to one lesson and use the remaining lesson for pronunciation training instead. In fact, my teacher also mentioned that if there is only one student, one lesson would probably be enough, as they had already covered everything that needed to be taught.
Of course, being able to apply everything my teacher taught me takes time and practice. Even so, I hope all of the current courses continue to be offered, as I found every class valuable and beneficial.
To be honest, I didn’t have many opportunities to practice speaking English in real-life situations. I ended up speaking Japanese most of the time with my Japanese friends, and that’s something I regret. Looking back, I wish I had made more of an effort to use English outside the classroom, as I believe it would have helped me gain more confidence and improve my communication skills in everyday situations.
Although I still have a lot to improve, the most valuable parts of my learning experience were the writing techniques I learned in my Writing class and the vocal techniques—such as voice projection—that I learned in the Empower Your Voice class.
These are skills I haven’t fully mastered yet, but they have given me a strong foundation that I can continue to build on through practice.
I would recommend this program to anyone who wants to develop their public speaking skills and become more confident speaking in front of an audience.
That said, I think the experience would be even better with classmates. Having other students in the program would provide opportunities to encourage and motivate one another, making the learning process more enjoyable and rewarding.
In three words, I would describe this program as: Comfortable, Challenging, and Presentation-Focused.
