“English is the universal language”, Celine Dion said in a Japanese advertisement of an English culture school about twenty years ago. At the moment, I was in a tender age, and I struggled with the language in a high school to enter university. In Japan, English is a mandatory subject as a foreign language.
Therefore, I had no choice but to study. Honestly, I hated it and also I always felt the unfairness of the world.
“If Japanese had spread through the world more, I might never have spent such a hard time.”
Time passed by. I grew up and entered a consulting firm. I was still suffering with the language. Unfortunately, the wave of globalization had struck our industry. After several hectic global projects, finally I decided to go to study abroad- to EC Malta Language School. At first, it was unwillingly, but my decision has broadened my horizons.
I like to force myself into tougher situations because I need to overcome my laziness. Luckily, I could join an Cambridge Examination class. It was a perfect situation, where there were a lot of nationalities.
But, I had to bear with embarrassment in the speaking lessons. For instance, I wanted to say”peace”, but I was laughed at by my classmates because my pronunciation was heard “piss”. There were countless nights I cried alone. All the same, I had gradually realized something crucial-everyone had a certain issue-. In my case, I was not good at speaking, on the other hand, some classmates had critical issues in writing. We could teach each other. That was such a simple thing. And I found that I discriminated classmates as “foreign people” unconsciously. In addition to this discovery due to the hydrogenous environment in EC Malta, I cannot miss fabulous teaches, Keith, Denise and Chris. They have real professionals with much knowledge as educators and have heartwarming minds which helped me a lot.
Now, I am very comfortable when I speak English. Thanks to that, I can learn unknown cultures, histories and thoughts from classmates and teachers. If you hesitate to improve your language skills, please remember “your will is over the skill”. I am sure that you can find the truth sooner or later. Marvelous teachers, staff and classmates, and breathtaking scenery in Malta will welcome you!