Indeed, time flies. Six long months have passed since I arrived here in Baguio on the 12^th of May. It wasn’t my first time to come here to Baguio to study English. My first visit to the summer capital of the hilippines was on June 2013. At that time, I studied at TALK academy for three months. After finishing my program there, I flew to Seattle in hopes of improving my English skills more. At first I thought that Baguio is just a stepping stone for my plan of going to Seattle. However, living as I did in Seattle for 7 months, my mind was changed. I realized how effective and useful studying English in Baguio is. I lived with a host family in Seattle. I went to one of the ELS academies in Seattle five times a week and I studied four hours every day. This academy is a typical language school. My class was composed of around 15 students with different nationalities and we are handled by a Native American teacher. Owing to our number, our teacher could not correct our wrong pronunciation individually at all times. In addition, not all of us in the class are able to speak during our classes due to lack of time. At that point, I feel like I was wasting time and money. I felt a bit sad and that time I really missed living in Baguio. Furthermore, my speaking skill didn’t improve much as I expected. For this reason, I decided to come back to continue studying English. My experience made me realize which places is more efficient way of studying and provide me a more conducive environment for learning.

What makes me love studying English in Baguio the most is the teachers. They are kind and I could feel their passion in teaching. The previous and present teachers that I have met here are eager to teach their students. Moreover, they make us feel like we are part of their family, so I would like to do my best for them. I have learned a lot from them; not only English, but also their culture and family bonds. If I hadn’t come here, I couldn’t have learned all of them. We might have the language barrier between us, but we can get over it as long as we both show sensitivity and consideration to each other. If there is one thing that I realized while studying the English language, it is that Language is not the only means of communication and that we can communicate through our hearts.

All things might come to an end, but I believe my memories in Baguio will be never forgotten. I’m glad and proud of having had the chance to stay in Baguio. I’ll never stop studying English in order to keep in touch with my precious friends. I appreciate JIC as well for being an avenue of learning and providing opportunities for foreigners to learn and improve their English communication skills.