Hello, everyone!

My name is Aminah. I’m originally from Thailand and YESS! “Thai” is my mother tongue.

Although I had been living in Thailand since I was born, I decided to move to the UK last year with my husband.

Can you tell me a bit about yourself?

Well, I’m a dentist who graduated from a dental school in Thailand. Now I’m also a first-time mum.

Currently, I’m working on improving my English and preparing for the UK dental license exam, as well as juggling life around the house and taking care of my family members.

Can you tell me about your language learning journey?

Throughout my life, I have been speaking Thai as my major language.

Despite having been studying English since primary school, I still can not speak English very well.

Only when I married an Englishman and moved to the UK did I realise that I really needed to work on my English seriously. 

What have you found the hardest thing about learning English?

I personally have quite a few problems in learning English; first and foremost, I am not used to the rules of “singular” and “plural” at all; hence, I always mess them up when I speak.

Secondly, I think writing in English is a real form of torture (forgive me exaggerating). The reason is that, perhaps, I didn’t practise this skill enough when I was younger.

The last and potentially the most challenging part of my English learning journey is Pronunciation. I always mispronounce words, and sometimes it causes confusion in my conversation with native speakers.

Well, I guess there are many more points that I’m still struggling with, but these three are the major flaws that I wish I could get rid of as soon as possible. 

What's your main goal for improving your English?

In terms of my goals for improving my English, I have both long-term and short-term goals.

To start with, my short term goal is that I will sit my IELTS exam very soon, and I hope to obtain my desired score so that I can register as a dentist in the UK or apply for a masters degree. 

As for the long-term goals, I want to be able to use English effectively in my conversation. I want to overcome the language barrier so that I can communicate with natives about any topics I want without worrying about my English proficiency.

Why did you decide to become a member of Leonardo English?

I first learned about Leonardo English from a recommended list of podcasts that could help to improve my English.

After spending time listening to most of the free episodes, I strongly felt that I wanted to be a part of this community as I truly respected the testimonials of Leonardo English and the podcast content was absolutely captivating and interesting. 

What's your favourite English Learning for Curious Minds episode (and why)?

To be honest, I have enjoyed all of the episodes so far. However, If I have to pick my favourite, It’ll probably be Jack The Ripper since I personally fancy crime and mysterious stories.

Having said that, I recommend everyone to listen to all episodes as they are truly worth your time and will definitely give you some food for thought. 

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Alastair from Leonardo English says:

"Aminah is clearly a very determined and very talented lady. As a parent to a young child myself, I know how hard it can be to find any extra time to "study", so I have even more respect for Aminah's progress. I have no doubt she will do very well in her exam, and she will be found in a dentistry clinic in the not-so-distant future!"