A Brazilian PhD Student Talks about Learning English for the TOEFL Test and Graduate Study

Hi, Joe.

Hi Gabby, How are you?

I'm fine.

Hi.

Hi.

Good to see you.

I'm fine.

Great.

It's great to see you online.

Where are you living?

Where are you?

I live in Brazil.

I live in [inaudible] It is a city in Minas Gerais state.

Last six months I live in United States.

I live in New Jersey.

I live at the [inaudible] and there I study the school of English.

Oh wonderful.

So you went to New Jersey for six months to study English.

That was your focus.

Yes.

Because I would like to study my PhD degree in United States and I go...

I went to study English and to learn about the culture and the what people thinks.

IT is very good for me.

How interesting.

So you will study your PhD in what topic?

What do you study?

What is your focus?

In computer science.

My specific about operational research and the machine [inaudible] in computer science.

Wow.

But now I'm preparing to make the GRE test and the TOEFL test to send my applications

to United States in next semester.

Okay.

That's wonderful.

I know those tests.

I've taken both of those tests.

The GRE for my studies and the TOEFL just for fun.

I'm a little crazy to do it for fun, but I wanted to see how the test is so that I can

understand, you know, for my English students.

Right now, what are you doing?

Are you studying?

Are you working?

Are you doing both?

Yeah.

Now I only study because I would like to study my PhD, then I could stop my work because

in last two years, I make money and I get my money and put in the bank and now I go

to work because I have the money and I prepare to study my PhD in United States.

Then I study English, more and more English, and I study too about GRE test.

I like to understand if students are learning English for work or for studying for a degree

or for personal reasons.

So, for you, it's more for studying your PhD.

I like to learn English because in my area it is very important to speak English and

I read the English well because I study Math and Computer Science and all books that the

I read in my Bachelor degree is in English.

Then I don't speak and is very good for me when I see two people conversation and, "Oh,

it is good, but I don't understand."

And I don't like to understand when I'm over for example.

It is very good.

I study English in my secondary school, but only verb "to be" when you study in school

at Brazil.

because when you study English in school in Brazil, is very long time to learn English

and is very basic.

You about two years learn very, very, very basic English, it is not good for me because

I don't think...

little children for example.

When children go to school it is very good because the people learning about the color

and the numbers.

For kids it is very fun.

For adult, it is not very fun because people like to speak and listen other people.

And my problem that is I don't have a good vocabulary.

Well, many, many students, they say, "Oh, when I speak with native English speakers,

they use different vocabulary than I learned in my classroom.

They use phrasal verbs.

I didn't learn phrasal verbs in my classroom.

Just the verb "to be", right?

So I think that's what I'm trying to do with Go Natural English is to share the way that

people really speak, the vocabulary that's more common in everyday conversations.

How did you find Go Natural English and why did you choose Go Natural English?

Do you remember?

Were you... did a friend tell you or were you searching on the internet or?

I study at school in New Jersey and I'm not happy in my school because my school in New

Jersey is very, very similar school at Brazil.

I think it when I go to United States, the method about the learning English is fluent,

but it is exactly equal English in Brazil.

And I'm not happy with this.

And I search at Google about the study English and I find your video at YouTube and I watch

most videos of you and then I go to your website and I make the course.

How do you think you're doing with the course?

We're a little bit more than halfway through.

So how do you think you're doing?

Are you taking time to study?

Are you taking time to practice?

How do you think you're doing now?

I study about in your course one hour per day, six days of week, and then I listen the

lesson of the week and pay attention and I stop the video to repeat and training.

And I don't listen all videos in one day.

I listen and repeat and when I learn it or when I understand it, I go to the next video

in your week.

Then I study only one hour because in other hours, I study about the new vocabulary and

the other... and the listen another videos in English.

For example, I listen your TED Talk, your talk in TED Talk.

It is very good.

Awesome.

Thank you!

I'm happy to hear that.

In general, how do you feel about the course?

Are you feeling good about the course?

How do you feel?

I am very happy in this course and I think that is very good.

I learning very much about the how American people English.

It is very good for me.

Can you tell me specifically in the course what is the most helpful for you?

I ask this because I want to do more of what is helpful for you.

So, specifically, maybe three things in the course.

I like thing you have for me is audio in every week because in the audio I listen to American

people conversation.

It is very good for me.

And they are like this.

Then another I like is I record my voice in and send it for you and for your team, and

the team responds for me what I don't understand, what I listen and they help me to learn about

the correct pronunciation.

It is very good for me.

And another is about the...

I don't... not tests, the quizzes.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Great!

I'm so happy that you're using the course, that you're studying, as you said, about an

hour everyday for six days a week.

That's really important that you put that time in.

It's so important that you use the voice recording.

I'm really happy to hear that you're doing that and you're getting good feedback.

Let me ask you, do you have questions for me?

Anything about the course or about English or anything that you'd like to ask me?

No.

About the course website is very clear and the totally helpful to understand and it is

a good system for me.

And that I don't have any problem with this system and to learning about the system.

And I don't have any questions for you now.