51吃瓜

Life is all about growth, and Toastmasters has been an integral part of my growth journey. In particular, it has helped me dramatically improve my English skills in both speaking and writing.

I grew up in Indonesia and first started learning English at the age of 12, in junior high school. I fell in love with the language, but in high school and after, my progress was slow. However, when I started working as a civil servant teacher and finally had some savings, I took a three-month leave to attend an English-learning program. It included a public speaking class, and one of my class tutors was a member of the Malang Toastmasters Club in Malang, East Java, Indonesia.

The club was far from my home鈥攊t took three hours by bus to get there. At that time, I had to focus on my 2-year-old daughter and my baby, so I tucked my dream of joining the club deep inside my heart. But when the pandemic hit and Toastmasters meetings moved online, I became a club member. This gave me new opportunities to learn English and practice my communication skills.

I took advantage by consistently attending and participating in club meetings. I took on meeting roles such as Ah-Counter and timer, then eventually began giving speeches鈥攁nd finally felt confident enough to be a speech evaluator.

One role that is especially helpful for my language skills is the Toastmaster of the Day. It has helped me memorize words and sentences in English, and as a result, I have become quite fluent.

Being a working mother with two young daughters (now 5 and 7) was not easy at all. My first year in Toastmasters came with constant challenges in my personal life. With my babies at home with me, it wasn鈥檛 always easy to concentrate during our club鈥檚 online meetings. I remember one time, right in the middle of my speech evaluation, one of my children started crying and screaming. I lost all focus and couldn鈥檛 continue participating in the meeting.

Tough times and self-doubt were part of my journey, but step by step, I handled the challenges and turned them into things I鈥檓 proud of.

I could feel my progress in Toastmasters. The year after I joined, I became the club鈥檚 Vice President Education. I also became a speaker and teacher facilitator in my region of Indonesia: Probolinggo, in East Java.

When my school leader encouraged me to join the 鈥渂est teacher鈥� competition in my region, I submitted all my Toastmasters achievements, including speaking awards I had won in club meetings, and my regular participation as Toastmaster of the Day. In December 2023, I won the competition and was named best teacher in the region.

There have been other highlights in my Toastmasters journey. I collaborated with a fellow member from Japan, Mr. Maurice, an American who works as an English teacher there. We conducted a joint meeting where my students practiced speaking English with him.

I was also a judge for college speech contests. Our club provided feedback and evaluations for the contestants, boosting my confidence in presenting evaluations and enabling me to apply other skills I鈥檝e gained through Toastmasters.

In addition, I used to only write in Indonesian, but after joining Toastmasters, I noticed that my English writing skills became much better. When we write drafts of our speeches, we work on crafting an opening, developing content, and connecting ideas between paragraphs.

Toastmasters has helped me achieve a new level of comfort and confidence with English after many years of effort. I鈥檓 not just learning English conversation, I鈥檓 learning public speaking, and I have seen the steady improvement in both my conversation and speaking skills.

In the 2024鈥�2025 program year, I served as the Malang Toastmasters Club President. My journey in this organization has been transformative, shaping not only my communication and leadership skills but also enriching my personal and professional life. It has taught me resilience, boosted my confidence, and opened doors to opportunities I never imagined before.

Toastmasters is a community that empowers you to discover your true potential.

---

---

Share this article