Review for the online marathon “Speak English Like a Pro” on LinguaTrip.com

Biiara Zheenalieva is a LinguaTrip.com student who took part in our marathon “Speak English Like a Pro” with Venya Pak. She lives in Kyrgyzstan, studies International Relations at the university and plans to go study abroad in the future. Today, she talks about her experience on our marathon, what she has learned and how she plans to study English further. Over to Biiara.

The main reason I registered for the course “Speak English Like a Pro” was to improve my vocabulary. I had an Advanced level of English but I knew that I was lacking the vocabulary knowledge, especially modern expressions and idioms. Thanks to the marathon, I took a big step in improving my English and learned how to express my thoughts in an up-to-date casual way and not in a formal outdated way as used in the language textbooks and university classes.

My Background

Before the marathon with LinguaTrip.com, I had finished an English course in a language school, all the way from Beginner to Advanced. When I finished this course, I signed up for classes in EducationUSA Kyrgyzstan — an educational centre supported by the US Department of State. There are about 400 such international centers for consulting students in 170 countries. There, I was able to learn English in depth and get ready for TOEFL: we worked on essay writing for the exam. I have not taken the exam yet.

Right now, I’m in the second year of studies at the faculty of International Relations. We have English classes at the university but they are very narrow: we study only the topics related to our main field of studies. We spend a lot of time translating texts and articles. And when we work on grammar, it’s usually just repetition of the same topics without too much detail. I often feel that I already know all these.

At first, I did not plan to learn English online. A few years ago I found Marina’s YouTube channel and started to follow her, and later I learned about LinguaTrip.com. That’s how I discovered the format of marathons: I’d never heard of it before. I was interested and wanted to boost my language skills on my own with a marathon.

What is a language marathon

The marathon “Speak English Like a Pro” lasted three weeks. It was built around modern popular music and I was not well aware of the foreign artists before. Now, I always listen to songs in English because I understand that learning a language with music tracks is quite exciting. I first enjoy new songs by my favorite singers; then, I translate and work through them: for instance, I write down new words and phrases and try to memorize them.

At the beginning of the course we were divided into pairs and a list of teams was made. We named our team Jetix. The key feature of the course was a rating system: every team earned points for doing joint homework and could climb up in the chart. The faster and better the homework was done, the more points the team scored and the higher were its chances to win. At the end of every week we chose winners who received gifts from LinguaTrip.com, which included discounts for other courses and other useful things.

Besides homework, we also had webinars. Venya Pak explained new topics and answered our questions during the live streams. Sometimes, we also managed to chat with other students, but it was mostly the teacher who was speaking. Though if somebody asked a question, any participant could also answer it, this was not the sole role of the tutor. Venya is a cool teacher. He knows how to explain material in an easy and interesting way, holding the attention of his audience.

The most memorable part of the course was working in a group. It was an amazing networking experience. Together we learned more, understood topics better and got to know each other, which I liked a lot. It’s amazing that people from different teams tried to help each other.

It may seem as if the course with a rating system is very stressful but this was not the case. The marathon was without stress. If I were to compare it with attending offline language courses, there was more pressure. In the online-marathon everybody knew why they were there, they chose it themselves and completed it.

Homework

Homework was not difficult and took just 15–20 minutes to complete. Venya gave us different tasks, mostly on pronunciation and vocabulary. The tasks could be like telling a partner about yourself in English and then retelling your partner’s story in your own words and sending it in our group chat in Telegram.

Venya was in the group chat and checked everything we submitted there. During the live streams, he could choose one voice message, listen to it and give useful feedback to improve pronunciation or advise what to pay more attention to. I was very happy when Venya chose my audio. His feedback helped me to learn many things and understood in what direction I should move further. I want to develop an American accent and there is a long way ahead. The marathon helped me to start moving along this way and showed me how to work on this further on.

Partner

My partner was Anelya, and while I think it’s just a coincidence, she was also from Kyrgyzstan. When they arranged us in a team, we connected straightaway, got to know each other and almost immediately found common ground. We were doing all the homework together and covered for one another when a partner was late for the live stream. We mostly discussed only studies but chatted about other topics a few times. Anelya told me that she was going to visit London this summer.

I’m not sure if she managed to travel considering the current situation with COVID 19. I did not ask her as we do not chat as much as we used to any more. But we are still following each other on social media. It’s amazing to meet new people this way.

What Would I Change?

I have not noticed any obvious minuses in the course but have a few ideas to improve it. During the course I wanted to participate not only in webinars but also in video conferences with other students in the marathon. I think it would be great to arrange group calls in Zoom or Skype once a week or so to let students just chat with each other and share their experiences with the course.

My further studies

After the marathon I keep studying English almost every day. I have relaxed a bit in the last weeks, to be honest, but I’m planning to be back on track soon. I’ve also got a lot of friends from different countries and I regularly message them. Also, I have recently joined an online speaking club where I can chat with foreigners for free and practice my speaking skills.

I also plan to take TOEFL or IELTS soon, and I have one and a half year at most to get ready and pass the exam because I’m going to apply to a foreign university after I’m done with my Bachelor’s degree in Kyrgyzstan. I’m not sure yet where I will go.

I have no regrets about signing up for the marathon “Speak English Like a Pro”. I have significantly increased my vocabulary knowledge, and I’ve started to use modern phrases and idioms in my speech, just like native speakers do. It’s exactly what I needed.

Furthermore, I have significantly improved my pronunciation. I hope that I will keep learning on my own with the same level of motivation and energy as I did during the marathon. I think I will take other courses at LinguaTrip.com. Maybe I’ll take their intensive preparatory course to get ready for international language exams or a grammar course.

If you also want to find new friends and learn English in a relaxed way, sign up for the course Biyara took. The marathon is so popular that we are already launching the fifth run of “Speak English Like a Pro”. Use the promo code BEPRO10 at the checkout for $10 off any package! Book your spot quickly before somebody else takes it!