Languages have been my main interest since I was in elementary school. I’m suck at sports and physics, but thankfully I’m gifted in language and art—including English. Well, call me bragging, but this is me being proud and confident of what I’m really good at. I don’t know why I’m interested in language. But, considering that I love watching Hollywood movies, I think it’s because I want to travel overseas.

My grades for English have never been below 80, and I was always the English teacher’s darling lol. Surprisingly, I’ve never taken an English course anywhere, I simply learn English from watching movies and listening to music. Hence, I’ve never known my TOEFL score.

But, I wanted to. I wanted to participate in an English course and see myself between the other students. That’s why, last Monday-Wednesday, June 3th – 5th, I took the chance for a 3-day short course from The British Institute (TBI) Bandung.

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Why I Joined TBI Short Course

Recently, I’ve been preparing myself to upgrade my skill and extend my career overseas as a (copy)writer. I’ve been working in my current company for more than seven years, and I’ve just realised that there are many things I haven’t learnt about digital marketing. So, I guess it’s time for me to step out of my comfort zone and seek new challenges.

I’m confident with my English writing, but I know I must improve my speaking and listening. When writing English, grammatical errors can be fixed by AI, quality can be improved by AI, I can even paraphrase a post by AI. But, when it comes to speaking and listening, there is no AI or softwares that can be installed on my tongue and ears. Yet. I rely on myself totally.

My speaking skills have to be improved not only for the conversational level, but more for the professional matters. When I’m presenting my strategy, having a discussion with my colleague (or clients), explaining my plan, I have to sound like a native. A Singaporean native would do, lol.

So, when Ani Berta offered a slot for this course on our ISB Community WhatsApp group, I took the chance immediately. 

Anw, I didn’t use any AI-powered software to paraphrase or upgrade this post, just for some minor grammatical suggestions.

For those who don’t know, The British Institute—or TBI for short—is an English course provider well-known in Bandung and Jakarta. Beyond those 2 cities, I found that TBI is also available in Cibubur, Depok, and Malang. It was first established in February 1984.

Fyi, TBI is the only English training provider in Indonesia with the official licence from Cambridge University Press and Assessment to run CELTA (Certificates in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). Not to mention that TBI is supported by UTC (UniSadhuGuna Testing Center). TBI applies the eclectic approach to focus on the student-centred learning, meaning that the courses are adjusted to students needs and conditions. The teachers are both native and non-native, but both are experienced and certified internationally.

So, how was my 3-day short course going?

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3-Day Short Course with TBI

It was really fun! I didn’t feel like I’m being lectured on an English course, it was like talking and hanging out with friends. Classes were far from boring or rigid. They were interactive, insightful, and warm. I’ll tell you more below.

We had a different teacher and different topic each day: Ms. Tati, Ms. Indah, and Mr. Mojo. Maybe because all participants are bloggers, all topics brought were about food and travel. Ms. Tati talked about food around the world, Ms. Endah let us dive into our dream destination, and Mr. Mojo had a discussion about music festivals with us. Each class usually consists of sessions of discussion, trivia, video watching, breakout rooms, fun quizzes/tests, and short lessons to enrich our vocabularies and a recall for the grammar. 

For example, Ms. Tati asked us to guess some Brazilian street food, describe our favourite local snacks of our hometown, and talked about a video from a vlogger. The most insightful part was when she gave us ideas of vocabularies for our culinary post. For travel content creators, this is really important. We need to make our post as enjoyable as possible by using different vocabularies.

Ms. Indah flew our imagination to South Africa! This interesting country is rich in nature, culture, and architecture. We talked about our dream destination to our breakout room members. I told my mate about Albania, a small country in Southeastern Europe. Earlier, not long after Ms. Indah started the class, I enthusiastically told her that, as a train lover, I tend to choose countries or cities with a good system of railway network, specifically metro or subway.

As the only male participant in class, Mr. Mojo asked me to be his partner in the quiz. He shared some professions by direct message, and let me describe the profession to other participants without mentioning the instrument. For example: pianist, electrician, and conductor. 

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So, Why Learning English in TBI Bandung?

There are 7 main reasons why TBI Bandung is your best bet to learn English in the city.

• High quality classes
• Various learning scheme, both online and offline
• Strategic location right at the heart of the city
• Lots of options for schedules, from Monday-Saturday, 9:00-20:30 WIB
• Trial Class is available for students aged 4-9 years old (Children) and 10-11 years old (Pre-Teen)
• Affordable cost, there is always a promo every month!
• Special programs are available accustomed to students’ needs, for example: special classes for employees.

Good news! Enjoy 16% off for Preschooler, Very Young Learners, Children, Pre-teenager, and Teenager Program if you register yourself on June 6th – 12th 2024. For more info about this offer, kindly check TBI Bandung social media account or WhatsApp number 0813-1491-5970.

TBI Holiday English Programme Eco Trip will be held on July 3rd – 4th 2024 for children aged 6-12 years old. This program will not only teach our kids to improve their English, but an opportunity for them to learn more about nature and how to preserve them. For more information, read what our Marketing Communication Manager below.

Diah Pratiwi Soehendro, Marketing Communication Manager TBI:     

“Cari lingkungan yang dapat mendorong kita untuk berekspresi dalam bahasa Inggris, baik dengan native speaker maupun dengan orang-orang sekitar yang memiliki keinginan yang sama untuk dapat menguasai bahasa Inggris secara maksimal.”

Liburan sekolah akan segera tiba! Daftarkan anak-anak di TBI Holiday English Programme Eco Trip 3-4 Juli 2024 – Program Liburan tahunan yang dirancang untuk anak-anak umur 6-12 tahun ini menawarkan berbagai kegiatan seru yang menggabungkan pengalaman belajar imersif dan interaktif. Berikan sang buah hati kesempatan untuk menjelajahi alam, ikut serta dalam aksi ramah lingkungan seperti daur ulang, menghemat energi, dan lainnya. Perubahan kecil dapat memberikan dampak besar pada lingkungan sambil meningkatkan keterampilan berbahasa Inggris mereka dalam suasana yang penuh petualangan dan edukatif. Interaksi saat belajar bahasa Inggris dapat secara efektif meningkatkan aktivitas kognitif anak-anak.

Daftar sekarang: link.tree/TBIHEPBDG2024