The first impression of DMM English.

Background

• Hi, I’m Matt. I’m living in Japan.
• I started working as a PdM for an Ed-Tech Company, based in Vietnam.
• A large part of a product manager’s job is communication.
• I have no problem with my English reading and writing skills because of helping from applications (DeepL, Grammarly…)
• But speaking and listening skills are horrible.
• So, I decided to take English classes by DMM English.

Impressions

• When you reserve a class, you can choose which English materials to study.
• I chose the “Daily News” as my lesson material. It is one of the original materials of DMM English.
  Ref. People Respond Best Without Deadlines, Study Finds
• I was afraid of English conversation. However, Angel who is my first teacher is so kind and friendly.
  Ref. https://eikaiwa.dmm.com/teacher/index/42636/
• When I didn’t understand some English sentences, he taught me the same meaning in simple English.
• In hindsight, I shouldn’t have been so afraid of English conversation.
• Now I need to get used to speaking in English. I want to actively take English classes.

Reflections

• +) I didn’t feel nervous because I had prepared for the lesson.
• +) I felt the English accent of the teacher. I think I need to used to understand the SEA accent. I will choose a teacher from the Philippines next time as well.
• −) I guess I need to prepare more and tell the teacher that I don’t need to check vocabulary and sentences. Because of checking them, we wasted a lot of time in the class. I should focus on discussion and speak in English more.
• −) Maybe I should take more free-talk lessons instead of learning from other material. I need to be able to speak and listen to English, even in situations where I am not prepared. Of course, It is difficult but will improve my English more.

Next Action

• Continue to choose teachers from the Philippines.
• Reserve some classes and use “Daily News” during weekdays. Make sure to prepare for the lesson and use the time for discussion.
• On holiday, I’ll reserve the “Free-Talk” classes.

This is the first time to write in Medium. I learned a lot about how to explain to users in English on the UI.