‘This training actually equips and empowers any learner of English’ – Esther Monsaya

As our first B2 class of the year comes to a close, we have challenged the learners to tell us in writing how the course has helped them. In this first article of the series, Esther Monsaya, a student at the Department of Animal Production in the Faculty of Agricultural Production, University of Abomey-Calavi, explains her progress on the course.
Learning a language means breaking barriers. It is what we have been doing in this RAL Institute English class which endows us with tools to build
our communication skills in order to break the various linguistic barriers we face. The course aims to improve the four communication skills:
listening, speaking, reading and writing.
I previously attended RAL Institute’s B1 class during the 2023 Summer Training sponsored by Pro-RUWA (University of Abomey-Calavi),
and pretty much
appreciated their teaching approach and methodology.
Before starting the present training (B2), I was more confident in reading and writing than in
listening and speaking, especially listening to native speakers.
In listening, I could get the English spoken by Africans like Nigerians and Ghanaians. So, I thought I was proficient in listening only to discover
through practical listening to native speakers in the class that I wasn’t. It was a true reality check for me when I realized that I only got pieces
and chunks when Americans speak. I was not satisfied at all.
Then, I began listening exercises following the model practice techniques we have learnt in class. I listened to native speakers and wrote down what I heard.
The phonetics and phonology courses that we did tremendously helped me to make swift progress as they provided a kind of phonic landmark to my ears and brain.
The most important principle I have learnt in the listening class is: “just write down whatever you hear even if it doesn’t make any sense to you because the
goal of this exercise is not to get all the words but to train your ear to get what is said clearly”. By dint of determined and continuous practice, I can now
get up to 80% of what Americans say, it was 30% at the start.

Concerning speaking, I was one of the students who could understand what their interlocutor said but was speechless when the time came to speak. It is impossible
to remain the same once you enroll in RAL Institute’s courses. You are always challenged to speak in every section including listening, reading, and writing. In
each class we are made to talk. You cannot escape it and this has helped my brain to develop the ability to find words more quickly. I’m now more confident whenever
I have to take the floor. I do not lack words to express my ideas any more. I’m not yet at the level I would like to reach. I realized that when the class hosted a
guest speaker three weeks ago. I still feel stressed in the presence of people outside the class. To overcome this, I have planned to look for opportunities to speak
outside the class, outside my comfort zone, as we were advised to do.
In reading, I was confident prior to starting the course because I was already good at reading comprehension. I could understand 90% to 100% of the texts I read, but my
pronunciation was not nice. Fortunately, we learnt to accurately make the English sounds and we practiced many pronunciation rules (word stress and sentence stress). My
pronunciation has literally changed after this. I now read with a much better pronunciation and even when I come across a word for the first time, I have tools to break
it down and read it with assurance and poise. When I am in front of a text, I read it aloud almost every time in order to help my brain to develop the ability and habit
of using pronunciation tools and to get familiar with some tricky word stress patterns.
I didn’t have many problems in writing; that is rather what I thought before enrolling in RAL Institute’s course. I thought writing was just the ability to write texts or
essays in English. I have now discovered that writing sentences is driven by rules; it is a technical and artistic activity which demands specific skills and knowledge if
you want to write with purpose, clarity, and effectiveness. I’ve also noticed that I have a lot to do in writing because I wasn't used to practicing this skill.
In a nutshell, this training actually equips and empowers any learner of English to become a near native speaker despite not being delivered in an English speaking country.
It is a world-class English training programme. I felicitate the RAL Institute for developing such a top quality course. I strongly recommend it to anyone who dreams to be
fluent and confident in English.