Learning English at a Young Age is an Advantage

Kalihi Waena Elementary School May Day
Celebration.  I was in the 5th grade when I  was
selected as a "kahili bearer."

The average age range of our students at the American Institute for English Proficiency is 20 to 30 years old.  Many of our students finally came to our school to improve their English and communication skills because they are looking to boost their careers, gain confidence and employment, or seek personal enhancement.  They are mostly Filipino professionals from different industries, and because most of them are working, they can now afford to study English.

One of the reasons why many of them do not speak English well is because they did not enjoy their classes.  Furthermore, they didn't believe that English and strong communication skills would one day help them in their careers.  After some years in their respective industries, they have come to reach the glass ceiling and impenetrable walls, and they no longer feel that they are as competitive as their colleagues.

Fortunately for me, I moved to the United States when I was just nine years old.  At an early age, I realized that strong English and communication skills would be my edge.  In high school, I was the editor-in-chief of our newspaper and the literary magazine editor.  I was also  the captain of the debate team.  I even participated in speech competitions,winning awards in dramatic interpretation, and I was a member of our school's theater group.  In college, I continued participating in speech and debate competitions, winning numerous awards in speech, specially in my final competition held in Vancouver, Canada, where I won Western America Communication Association's Impromptu Speaking Championship.  At the end of my college life, I was selected as the commencement speaker. 

I strongly believe that I became a good speaker because I started at an early age.  As soon as I knew that I would need strong communication skills to compete in the "real world," I was determined to continually improve my English and communication skills, which would, in turn, enhance my critical thinking and build my confidence.  I remember joining a reading program at our local school library; it was especially enjoyable because I could get stickers for each book I read.  I even remember the very first ever gift that I got from a teacher, a dictionary.  She told me that one day, I would be a great speaker.  Today, I am the co-founder of the American Institute for English Proficiency, and my clients include celebrities, politicians, call center managers, doctors, and lawyers.  I have worked with major local and multinational firms. 

I urge parents and older siblings to encourage their young ones to start at an early age.  Do not allow your children to be handicapped with poor English and communication skills.  Do not wait till they are in high school, and it becomes harder to acquire the language skill.  And for those who would like to continue learning, it is never too late. 

English Proficiency Scholarship Giveaway

This is my first time working with bloggers and social media practitioners in terms of giveaways.  I know that bloggers individually and collectively have a strong voice and presence online.  Therefore, I have decided to offer them 20 English proficiency scholarship giveaways valued at almost Php 120,000; each scholarship is good for a 40-hour course at either the Makati or Quezon City branch of the American Institute for English Proficiency.

The group courses include: C3 Course (Conversation Fluency, Critical Thinking, and Confidence Building), PSG Course (Public Speaking and Grammar), and CX Course (Communication Excellence).  CX Course is actually a combination of the C3 and PSG courses, and it includes American accent training.  There are about 5-15 students per class.

Since I have never done a giveaway with bloggers and social media experts before, I am very excited to see the results.

Examination Ethics

Cheating is part of the human nature.  Here in the Philippines, we tend to associate this word to the elections.  Whenever the election results come out, we have everyone, including voters and elected officials crying foul.  Throughout my more than six years of teaching at The American Institute, I have come across individuals who have asked me to do something unethical for them.  For different reasons, there were people who have asked us to lie for them.  Here are some of the things we've encountered:

1. Money for Certificate.  The most common one is to give them a certificate even if they have not enrolled in our English proficiency classes.  They will just pay the tuition fee.  Why do they needs these certificates?  They want to present to their employers that they are improving their skill sets.  They want to present to a future employer that they have studied at The American Institute, which would give them a better chance of gaining employment.  They can also present these certificates to the embassy when migrating to an English speaking country like Canada, the US, the UK, or Australia.
   
2. Falsified Certificate.  There have been individuals who have gotten a copy of the certificates we issue, and they reproduced their own with fake signatures.  One technical training center required their students to complete at least 100 hours of English proficiency training in order for them to complete their school requirements and graduate.  These students created their own certificates, but they were caught when the training center called us to verify the certificates. 
   
3. Exam Substitute.  Just recently, I got a call from a foreigner who would like me to find someone who would take the TOEFL or IELTS exam for them.  This individual mentioned that his school required him to have a 7.0 Band on his IELTS exam, and he would be willing to pay someone who would pretend to be him and take the exam for him. 

Of course, we point blank refused to do anything unethical.  These individuals argue that there are some schools who would do that for others.  Well, they called the wrong school.  Some of them even argue that "this is the Philippines."  Well, sorry to say, but we do stand by our corporate motto: Ethics, Education, Empowerment.  Ethics is the first word, and with better education, citizens would become more empowered, as in empowered to create better decisions.  So instead, we clearly tell these individuals that what we do is to help them speak English well so that they do not have to resort to any unethical behavior.

There will always be individuals who would like to take the quick, easy way.  We believe that learning a language isn't necessarily easy, but it could be made possible when one practices, studies, and works hard.  At The American Institute, we make learning more fun and interactive so that acquiring the English language and improving one's communication skills can be more effective.

The Deliberate Art of Practice

HOW many times have you heard the saying, "Practice Makes Perfect?"  Yes, you've heard this cliche numerous times that it no longer means anything to you.  However, if you are a top athlete, artist, musician, dancer, debater, you would know that practice means everything.

People who don't like to practice will never really know the importance of it all.  They want to get better in doing something, but would never really take the time to practice.  Let's take learning a language, for example, like English.  Learning a new language is not just about knowing one day in class and hoping to speak it fluently immediately.  One must do deliberate practice: read, converse, homework.  And did I mention read, converse, and homework? 

I cannot emphasize enough how important reading, conversing, and doing homework are.  There must always be some kind of interaction with English: enroll in a class, watch a movie, hang out with friends and speak in English, and so much more.  One cannot become good in English by speaking Filipino all the time.  As they say, birds of a feather, flock together.  So if your friends are always speaking Filipino, it's time to find new friends.  Well, you don't really have to replace your old friends, just add new friends who are either English speakers or at least trying to improve their English.

So for one last time, no matter how much you want to improve your English, if you do not practice, you will never really improve.

Commitment is Key to Learning English

Commitment does not belong only in relationships. When learning English we, also need to be committed. When we start, we are extremely enthusiastic about learning English. However, when things get rough or as time goes by, we tend to lose this level of enthusiasm. In order to continue building our English and communication skills, we need to make sure that we are committed to our goals. Without this commitment, it will be extremely difficult to achieve our goals when learning English.

So, how committed are you? Do you feel that you have the commitment that it takes to build and improve your English?

Learning Beyond the Classroom

It's always a great time at The American Institute: www.aiepro.com.

At the American Institute, we take learning out of the four corners of the classroom.  We believe that spending time with our students outside of the classroom can help them improve their English and communication skills.

In this photo, Chris (Specialist), Daniel (Specialist), Rosdom (Marketing and former student), Leah (Marketing and former student) spend time with the students in Eastwood.  We listened to a band and spoke in English throughout the whole night.

The others in the photo are July (aspiring call center agent), Pretty (auditor), Ken (aspiring English teacher in Japan), Ziad (aspiring businessman), Jennifer (aspiriing businesswoman), and Edward (engineer now in Saudi Arabia).

Most of our students are Filipino professionals who want to improve their grammar, American accent, public speaking, and confidence.  From time to time, we also have foreigners who prefer to study at The American Institute because they are surrounded by Filipino classmates whom they can practice their English with.

Teaching Foreigners is More Fun in the Philippines

More and more foreigners have been traveling to the Philippines to study English because the Philippines has an English speaking population, the cost is relatively inexpensive, and the country touts many beautiful tourist spots.  Therefore, studying English in the Philippines can be very rewarding, and the American Institute for English Proficiency is the best English school for Filipinos and international students alike.  We have three locations: Makati, Baguio, and Quezon City.