In just 14 short weeks Brazilian student, Camila, has progressed all the way from Elementary to Upper Intermediate.

When Camila started on 24 November she tested at Elementary level.

In her placement interview she told me that she wanted to improve her English to get a better job and also to be able to travel more easily. I advised her to take the opportunity to speak as much as possible and also to self-correct.

She spent about 6 weeks in the Elementary class and worked really hard to progress. Her teacher told me that she asked excellent questions and was a great student because she was “always smiling, chatting and helping other students”.

Then she whizzed through the Pre-Intermediate and Intermediate levels, nearly always coming top of the class in the weekly progress tests. Her Pre-Intermediate teacher said Camila progressed so fast because she combined her natural ability with a lot of hard work in class and self study. She was also “a delight to have in class as she shared her enthusiasm and great sense of humour with everyone.”

Last week, she had her first week in Upper Intermediate and still managed a test score of 84 – fantastic  results for a first week.

I asked Camila what her secret was and she modestly said that “she doesn’t really know”. However, she told me that she always tries to use everything she learns in class in her texts or conversations outside class and I think maybe that’s the key.

Even though she is now in Upper Intermediate she said she still doesn’t feel confident speaking and that’s what she hopes to improve in the two months left at Lexis.