Betty bought a bit of better butter


Hi, everyone. I was not able to write my thoughts lately because my training at Link2Support started last Monday. I have to balance my time between training, reviewing, doing my household chores, and the like. Well, for now I want to share my training experience. It was real FUN! I tell you, the sessions are very helpful.

Last Monday, we have the English Language Proficiency. As I entered the training room, I saw a big sign, that, if rephrased would say, "You have to speak English always!". I was nervous because I'm not really good in speaking English. I stuttered all the time when I try to speak. Anyway, our trainor came. He is an American and he greeted us with a very enthusiastic American tone. He let us perform many exercises like introducing ourselves, talk with our fellow batchmates and all I did was blah blah blah ... chuva choo choo ... as long as it is in English. The penalty for speaking Tagalog is to sing at the end of the day. Several of my batchmates did speak Tagalog expressions lucky for me I haven't spoke a Tagalog word in the entire duration of the tarining (since I speak Visaya every time I slipped! Hehehe). There was joking and kidding while the session is going on. I did not feel like I'm in a usual college classroom setting. It was more like a workshop and I was having fun. My fear of committing mistakes was diminished since all of us commit mistakes and we wished to be corrected. Sometimes you let your guard down and expose your weakness. In that way, you don't have to pretend that you are good and there is learning. Doncha, agree?

Well, after two days of ELP, we have the AAT or the American Accent Training. We were told to bring lots of water since we will be talking the whole day. Within the training days, this one is my favorite since we're learning how to speak like "Ae-me-ri-kns". We have lots of drills and we were always reminded of the "Advil" advertisement. Remember that a lady corrected her friend in the pronunciation of Advil is "Aed-vil" and not "Ad-vil"?

Oh, by the way there's this one time that I sang in front. My trainer ask me what me make me stand out among my batch mates and I answered that maybe I'm the only one who can sing a Japanese or an African song. Well, as expected the trainor requested if I would indulge and sing the song myself. My batchmates were cheering so I gave in. I sang "Sohran Bushi", one of the songs I learned while with the Himig Singers and it was the worse performance I did. I was really nervous then.

One of the things I like about the training are my batchmates. We bonded together right from the first day. We were orgiginally ten, one backed out. We do things together, like we buy food at Robinsons together, we eat our lunch at the pantry or at McDonald's together, we share our college experiences during our breaks and we go home together. We even made a pack that we would be the first batch who will all pass in the elimination which was held yesterday and break the record!

The dreaded day, Friday, came. We have this sort of elimination to test us of what we've learned from that last four days. What I rememebered during the exam was I just talked sometimes nonsense things. I have this mindset that when you just talk and talk with the correct grammar and accent, there would be no problem. To tell you honestly, I imagined myself like stupid, well, the heck of it! Who cares? As long as I have something to say, and do as required. My batchmates shared same sentiments too and we waited until afternoon for the results. The afternoon after the elimination, we continued our training but our minds were not into the training but we were very anxious about the results. I was thinking that if I will be eliminated, just like before I'll look for another prospect. I was kinda used with the trend but this time I was positive yet I did not hope that much.

Afternoon came and we were called one by one to the deliberation room. When my turn came, my evaluator told me that I have a soft voice and he asked me to hand my ID. That was it, maybe I was eliminated! He continued and said that I have a neutral accent and I can express myself and that I passed! I really want to jump but all I did was smile. My evaluator returned my ID. I was really happy but not so happy. It was a good feeling nevertheless. I proceeded outside and waited for my other batchmates. To make the story short we were the first batch with the highest passing rate! Unfortunately, one batchmate did not make it. We decided to treat her at Tokyo Tokyo and wished her luck in applying to other companies.

Today, we still have our trainings. There's a lot to study about Data Comm and stuff and we have an exam on Monday. Unfortunately, my Data Comm. background is weak so I have to double my time learning new "strange" stuff. There will be another elimination next week so wish me luck!

Beddy bäd? bidä bedder budder! Get it!? Have a nice day.