When I made the decision to study English in Sydney, I was one of the people who really wanted to be fluent. It was the most important decision for the rest of my life, moreover I had to quit the job I had been in for 5 years in Korea.
I tried to look for a school as soon as I arrived in Sydney and some agents recommended me some speaking schools such as JET, La Lingua etc. But I didn’t choose those schools because I thought I needed to start the basic grammar first at all. (but I found I was wrong) So I chose a school that had many nationalities and the class was elementary. I found that I already knew the basic grammar, but I couldn’t speak much although I was the student with the highest marks in the class. Most Europeans were talkative although they didn’t know grammar and their English was improving faster than the Asians. I wanted to speak as much as I could but it took a long time to translate Korean to English in my head.
After the school, I thought I ought to find a suitable school and I had a trial lesson in JET to learn about the system called ‘The Callan Method’ I didn’t understand what the teachers said and it made me self-conscious. but that’s why I chose JET because I wanted to be like the other students who were following the fast speed of lessons. I was very confused during the first week. (actually it’s not over.) but I made an effort to listen to what the teachers said. In 2 weeks, I found I got used to the way of the Callan Method and I was getting interested in speaking. (but sometimes, making sentences was very stressful..)
I think one of the advantages of studying in JET is that I could improve my listening skills in a short time as well as my speaking skills because I had to concentrate in order to listen to what the teachers said and another thing is that I could think in English when I tried to say something. It was very difficult for all students, especially Korean and Japanese, because we have different constructions of language.
Now I have more confidence than before coming to JET. I’m not afraid to speak English. The choice of JET was the best I’ve made in Sydney.
