Yuka Chi has earned the title of Linguist Learner of the Month. She is a 32 year-old Japanese lady who has been living in Vancouver since 2003. She moved to Vancouver to work as a graphic artist. She is working for the same American company that she worked for in Japan.
Yuka studied English all through junior high and high school. She also took some English conversation classes after moving to Canada. When I asked her what the quality of her education was like, she replied "I think it was not too bad. Some people had improved their skills at the class. But for me, I could not study English because I did not like to memorize words and grammar rules." When Yuka moved to Canada, she started asking people what she needed to do in order to speak well. Everybody told her she needed to speak a lot if she wanted to improve. She felt very depressed when she heard this advice because she could not speak English at all. However, once she joined The Linguist, she was given different advice and she said that it was "more realistic advice. Yuka went on to say that The Linguist taught her how to study English. She can now study English by herself everyday without stress. She enjoys studying on The Linguist because she doesn't worry about making mistakes and because she knows she is improving. Yuka and The Linguist tutors are not the only people who have noticed her improvement. Her husband told her that she speaks much more naturally than she used to and that it seems like she enjoys speaking English. He has really noticed that her attitude towards speaking English has changed. Yuka agrees that her attitude has changed. She can't believe that she actually enjoys learning English! When asked which part of The Linguist system she likes the best, Yuka replied: I like the review section. I spend most of my time testing phrases. I don't need to memorize those phrases. I just choose a phrase and I read out loud the sentences. I didn't believe this activity was so important, but after a while, gradually, I can use those phrases naturally. I made a breakthrough in this way. It was an amazing experience.
