The first time I arrived in CIP, I could not imagine that one day I would miss it so much. During my 8 weeks here, CIP brought me a lot of feelings: sad because of homesickness, motivated by my teachers, inspired by many younger students, worried about the test, excited when I leveled up, nervous before some challenges and fascinated when I would overcome.

 

I had not studied English for a long time. When I came here, i was shy because sometimes no one could understand what I said. I was afraid of speaking English and I missed home so much. I didn't know what I should do. Fortunately, I had a good connection with my buddy teacher. She cheered me up, motivated me with all of her enthusiasm. In additional, all of my teachers in CIP are caring and friendly. Each teacher has his/her own way to help me study English. In CIP, I had four 1:1 Classes, two Native Group Classes and Optional Classes.

 

I remember our special class with Teacher Lloyd very evening. We had to learn and practice American accent and pronunciation which was extremely strange and difficult. We tried to study hard and after one month, our pronunciation has significantly improved. The group class of Teacher Chip strongly impressed me because I found out many creative ideas not only for studying English but also for my job. I really like the way CIP allows students to change their classes every week. In two months, I had changed to many teachers and classes because I wanted to experience how to study with new teachers as well as new classmates. I learned more about new culture in Teacher David's and Teacher Gary's classes. I practiced speaking English every morning with Teacher Snay's class and improved my listening skill through understanding my friends' opinions.

 

  Although I had a lot of benefits from my group classes, the most influential classes were the 1:1 classes. this was the first time i had a chance to study in this model and I was impressed. I had to speak English a lot, more than ever before. I had four classes and each classes focused on one skill. However, speaking and listening were the most important skills that I enhanced because they are not only my weaknesses but also many Vietnamese's ones.

 

I love the way my buddy teacher corrected each sentence of mine. Now I am familiar with how I should correct myself when I speak. I remember many essays which were full of red ink from Teacher Ali. I was interested in studying with Teacher Farrah that I could talk about everything and share a lot of feelings and experiences. Last but not the least, my mind was opened when I studied with Teacher Brendan. he gave me a lot of new information about various subjects and helped me whenever i needed. day by day, I felt more confident and comfortable.

 

Besides my friendly teachers, I had many new friends from other countries in CIP. I had a great time to communicate with them to experience new culture. Especially I had a perfect roommate who inspired and encouraged me all the time. We talk to each other everyday, played games and went to volunteer together. CIP was also the place that my Vietnamese friend and I became closer. Actually we worked in the same university but we did not know each other before coming here. Now we can share about many things with each other and especially we can discuss in English fluently. Apart from studying, I love CIP because there are many activities here. I joined all of them and each event gave me a new experience. The EOP challenge gave me a routine that was speaking English all the time. The debate made me more confident to speak English in front of many people. The charity which is organized two times per month helped me understand more about Filipino society and culture. All of them brought many opportunity for participating and improving my English.

 

To sum up, CIP is a great place that brought me many chances: studying, playing, making new friends, challenging and changing. I am no longer scared of studying English as before. I really love English and feel extremely fascinated and comfortable with it. I really appreciate my teachers and CIP.