I was a student at British Council for almost ten years, having studied there since primary school, up until I left Vietnam to go to university in the United Kingdom. For many, British Council rings a bell as an English-teaching centre, but to me, it was a rather significant part of my academic life and childhood.
My earliest memory with British Council was a Christmas-themed class. I remember a staff dressed up as Santa and handed out sweets and gifts, and we learned about Christmas in class. I even got to learn how to make a mini Christmas tree from paper and decorated it myself.
As a kid, I was rather excited about the concept of receiving gifts and the teachers were genuinely enthusiastic to celebrate Christmas with us. That memory stuck with me as a prime example of how attentive, caring and wholesome the British Council teaching team is, and how their focus is not only on the quality of teaching but also on the quality of students' well-being and enjoyment. Having studied there for such a significant part of my childhood, British Council has, undoubtedly, fuelled my goal of studying abroad in the United Kingdom. A lot of the teachers came from the UK, and they told me many stories about their hometown, and many complained about the rain which I now completely understand and agree with. At British Council, they do not just teach English academically, English is more of a means of delivery, from which the British Council would deliver social concepts and bring awareness to many cultural differences between Vietnam and the UK. This has given me the chance to learn not only English but also how to use English, how to apply English in various social contexts and how to understand English in those contexts. English is not only an academic requirement, but it is also a tool, and British Council has helped me tremendously in learning how to utilise that tool.
I am very fortunate to have had the opportunity to be nurtured by British Council and their team, as they have greatly shaped my mindset to become a global citizen, preparing me academically and socially.