As part of his final year of schooling, Carlos was given a 6 month work placement in Houston. He was studying a computing and technology course and the placement not only counted as experience towards his apprenticeship but as marks towards his final grade. Being from Brazil, his mother tongue was Portuguese and, whilst he knew and understood all of the technical jargon relating to his course and subsequent work placement, he wasn’t so sure how to communicate with his new colleagues who all spoke English. In Brazil, he had been taught basic level English in school but, although he had a base knowledge of the language, he wasn’t very fluent in it by any stretch of the imagination. He asked his new manager if he could point him in the direction of any recommended English courses in Houston and, as luck would have it, his manager knew of a very flexible and affordable course that had a good reputation.

Carlos enrolled in the course and was pleased to discover that he didn’t have to start from scratch, that his teacher would gear the lessons towards the level of English that Carlos already had. He was also able to choose where he wanted the lessons to be held and the teacher would go to him there instead of him having to find a particular venue, which was perfect seeing as Carlos didn’t know the area very well. The course was so flexible that Carlos was able to fit his lessons around his work schedule and the unique style of teaching enabled him to pick up the language at a very quick pace. In no time at all, his teacher – who was native English and fully certified – had helped him to increase his English language proficiency to such a level that he felt completely confident in his ability to converse with his colleagues and much more at ease in his workplace.

Having learned what he needed to know and feeling happier that he’d made the effort so that he could fit in properly with his colleagues, Carlos continued with his technological training and enjoyed the rest of his stay in Houston.