5 Things That I’ve Learnt From Britzone
By: Hadissa Primanda
Tags: Community, Public Speaking, Life Lessons, Self Improvement, Volunteering

Britzone Fun Day Class

Britzone is the largest English Community in Jakarta that has established since 2002. But I just found it in 2016 by typing “Free English Club in Jakarta” on google. At that time, I was rejected in a job interview in English, and I realized that I needed to practice more. I think I’m really lucky to find Britzone. It’s free, there is no T&C, no age limit, and widely open to the public regardless of what your background is.

I came several times as a member. I had no friends yet too shy to speak to another member. So for several months, I only came, sat, and listened. Sometimes, I randomly pick to answer a question or deliver a speech in front of the class.

One day, I saw one of PIC of the class who just as young as me, but she was able to be confident and attractively speaking in front of the class. I really inspired by that PIC, and I want to be like her. Then, even though my English skills are not really good, I decided to join the committee of Britzone. Who knows, my decision leads me through many things that I could never imagine before. And this is how Britzone on my view:

1. No Judgement, So It Really Builds Your Confident

Learning a new language means you need to practice a lot and having a partner to practice is a must. But sometimes, when you try to practice with your friend, you get intimidated because they are better than you and some of them are grammar-nazis who keep criticizing you or even make a joke of your effort. We all have that kind of friends, so we choose not to try anymore rather than be embarrassed with our skills.

When I joined Britzone, It’s hard to believe that there are no such people like them (maybe they do exist, but only a few of ). Everybody pays attention to you without judging, try to listen to your words, and help you if you stuck on vocabulary. But you can see their intention is pure to help, not to embarrass you. I really feel accepted, even though I didn’t know anyone.

Firstly, Britzone focuses on building your confidence, and then grammar, pronunciation and other good things as long as you keep practising.

2. Surrounded by Positive People

As I met so many strangers in Britzone, I have learned a lot from their personalities and I find one thing in common: positivity. Most of them are really positive and optimist about their life. We would hang out after class and shared each other’s stories, therefore I always got new perspectives from them. They have dreams, passions, goals and try so hard to reach that. As a person who is inferior and pessimist, meet this kind of people helps me to see my life in a positive way. To be honest, it is not easy to find a community where you can talk comfortably about yourself with strangers, but Britzone is one of them.

3. ‘You Can Do It’ words

In Britzone, I have heard these terms a lot. In our focus group discussion, or even when someone randomly picked to deliver their speech, or even in our committee’s meeting where we need to finish a new task that we have never done before, they will always encourage you by saying “You can do it!”. As long as you try, as long as you have faith in yourself, you can do it. It looks really simple, but hearing those words, especially from strangers, really gives a huge impact. They won’t judge you for your mistakes, they simply want you to try because that’s why you join this community: to learn and to be a better version of you.

4. Chances to Many Opportunites

Joining Britzone is like opening door to a brand new world that I have never imagined before. At first, my intention of joining Britzone is simply to improve my speaking skills. Then I decided to be a part of the committee as PIC of Class, I had a chance to meet the experts in their fields and also practised my public speaking skills because I needed to be the MC weekly.

In the second year, I became the Captain of PIC, this is an opportunity to challenge myself as a leader, something that I didn’t have the confidence to be at first. I learned a lot about how to arrange the class, manage my teammates, deliver tasks, etc.

And in my last year, I was chosen to be Head of Human Resource division, taking apart as people behind the curtain, to maintain the bonding of the committees. I got a chance to distribute my creativity through many new programs.

I also got chances to share my thoughts as a conductor, speaking in front of the class for almost 2-hours. It’s not easy and really nerve-wracking, but I learned a lot from that experience to build my confidence. I would never do that if it’s not because of Britzone.

5. Build Up Your Networking

Since there are no boundaries for being Britzone’s members, people come with different backgrounds: student, teacher, lecturer, entrepreneur, programmer, journalist, civil servant, chef, writer, employee, lawyer, banker, steward, you-named-it. You’ll find so many new professions here, even something that you’ve never heard before. It really builds your networking, having friends from the different field will help you in many ways, especially when you need to know certain information about specific things, you can just ask from one of them. You also can collaborate for another project if there is an idea pop into your head.

I believe that there are so many good things that I haven’t mentioned yet, and the experience could be different for each person, but for me, those are things that made me love of being part of Britzone. It really changes me in many ways, and I’m so grateful for spending my time on Britzone. Now it’s your turn. Come to Britzone, join the committee, and see how Britzone changes your life.