Case Study: How I got a job promotion by learning English

Hello! I’m Sarah from Paris. English proficiency opened up new career opportunities in my life. Today, I’m going to share my story with you.

I learned English at school, but after graduation, I didn’t use the language at all. I know that English is a significant asset in the modern business environment. Several times I tried learning the language by myself using books and other materials. However, I lacked motivation and determination, so each time I dropped out very quickly.

One day I got a job offer to work as a support specialist for an international company. I was interested in this position, but it required at least an intermediate (B1) level of English. In response to the job offer, I explained that although I was at a beginner level, I was eager to improve and promised to reach the required level as soon as possible. And that was when I turned to the Owly Class platform for help.

Learning with a tutor: online

As a beginner, I couldn’t speak English at all. But I had to improve my skills very quickly, so I started searching for an expert who could help me achieve my goal. At that time, learning with a local English tutor was my priority. And Owly Class helped me find a perfect tutor for online English classes. I checked tutors’ introductory videos, and their profile descriptions, and chose a tutor quite quickly.

One of the things I like best about Olwy Class is that they allow students to change their tutors whenever needed. I was ready to try lessons with different experts before choosing the one that would suit me best. Luckily, my search didn’t last too long — my first tutor became my ideal one.

During my first lesson, I could hardly say more than my name and age. In just a few weeks, I felt more confident and started speaking with my colleagues in English. In several months, I could easily talk to customers in chat! I experienced my first WOW moment when a foreigner in a store asked me:

• Do you speak English?

And I answered without a moment’s hesitation:

• Yes, I do. How can I help you?

I was out of work, not thinking about the need to speak in English. And I could hold a proper spontaneous conversation with a foreigner. Should I mention that it fired my enthusiasm to continue learning?

Within the first six months in my new job, I got a promotion and started to onboard and coordinate new team members. And I did all these things in English!

So, what’s next?

Learning English helped me feel more confident at work. Now I continue to work at the same international company as a Software Engineer in Testing and Quality Assurance. Every day I communicate with people from all around the world in English. Also, I started traveling abroad and learning more about other countries and cultures.

My next step is to keep improving my current level and mastering my speaking skills. I’m determined to achieve my language goal — speak English even more confidently and correctly.

Feeling inspired? Check out our article on How to set New Year’s resolutions to improve your language skills