I remember how we used to feel at INTERLINK: eager to learn and eager to demonstrate to our teachers that we are good planners, that we do things on time and feel so guilty to miss a deadline, that missing a class would mean a lot of work at home to make up for what we missed, and that we have to prove, day after day, that we are learning something new. Our INTERLINK teachers were our role models and did everything to get us to the level where we feel confident and ready to enter the corporate world armed with strong communication skills both in speaking and writing. And I saw the benefits of the INTERLINK program when I started my career, and I always said thank you to every single teacher who taught me those skills.
– Bader Alarjani, Saudi Arabia
Bader Alarjani created in Kaiian 2016. Kaiian is a Saudi ride-hailing services application made entirely by Saudi youth and is now serving more than 1.7M happy customers over all the Kingdom. After all success of Kaiian, Bader created Wsslini (1.9M customers) in 2019 to give the most important part of Saudi Community (Saudi women) an opportunity to contribute to the transportation field. The application offers transportation service to women by women drivers, a service that found warm welcome in the Saudi communities. The estimated value of Kaiian and Wsslili stands at around SR 500 million.
I am currently a junior faculty member in the Department of Business Administration at Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania. My research focuses on Online Consumer Behavior and E-retailing. At INTERLINK, I developed many English skills with the help of great teachers. The materials and activities they used made learning fun. During lunchtime, I practiced conversation and discussed my homework with my classmates. It was a lovely environment. After INTERLINK, I got my MBA and then my Ph.D. in the Consumer, Apparel, and Retail Studies program.
I still visit INTERLINK’s office and have coffee with my former teachers. I am a marketing professor now, and INTERLINK did a great job of helping me prepare for work in the U.S. I still use the presentation skills I developed, such as strategies to overcome anxiety and remembering to keep eye contact with my audience. Students like my marketing classes, and it is because I learned a lot at INTERLINK. I would recommend the program as a first step for people who want to pursue their goals in the U.S.
– Zui Chih Lee, Taiwan
My class was exciting, and I enjoyed the Conversation Club thoroughly. I noticed that the Conversation Club is the big chance to uncover the veil of the hidden world – I met incredible people from all over the world, and I learned a lot about their daily life, culture and history. Our teachers are very interesting people, and their energy attracts and you immediately want to trust them and not be afraid to make mistakes or take risks. I immediately decided to focus on learning something new everyday and improve my skills. I never thought that learning English could be so interesting and exciting.
In this class, I got to know the nicest and most pleasant people like Mr. Puccini and Ms. Buckley-Shaklee. I am incredibly happy for such a great opportunity to be part of the “Interlink family” and learn a lot of new things – not just learning English, but following up on other useful skills. For example, it allows me to improve my skills in communication and learn how to ask the “why” question – learn critical thinking and generate new ideas. I believe that the knowledge I obtain will help me to be more confident in my English and in my daily life.
– Shahzoda Muzaffarova, Uzbekistan
I am a Ph.D. student in Nursing at UNCG. Last year, I attended the INTERLINK program to sharpen my English skills. INTERLINK has an excellent program and professional teachers. As the Chinese proverb goes, “teaching a man how to fish is better than giving him a fish.” Truly, INTERLINK provides useful and excellent methods to help students sharpen their English skills. INTERLINK promotes self-learning and lifelong learning. Moreover, INTERLINK has excellent teachers who serve as students’ instructors, mentors, and friends.
As Aristotle once said, “The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.” I appreciate their teaching, so now I can taste how sweet the fruit is. Finally, INTERLINK has a great director, who always seemed to be there when I needed his help. His exceptional competence is the cornerstone of the program. Although I have since left INTERLINK, I certainly won’t forget why I came.
– Mei-Lan Chen, Taiwan
After studying for 9 months in this program, I can say that INTERLINK employs a wide array of useful pedagogical approaches. I believe that teachers play an integral part in developing our abilities and skills. The teachers at INTERLINK are truly amazing, professional, enthusiastic, and dedicated. They concentrate on your individual needs and help you improve your speaking, listening, reading, and writing. They create a dynamic learning environment using new technology and the latest teaching methods in order to help you become an independent student so that you feel more self-confident with your use of English. The aspect of INTERLINK that I most enjoyed was the vibrant sense of community. Teachers create an open, friendly, and supportive atmosphere in class among people from different places. Now, I am ready to go back to Spain to work in a bilingual school as an art educator. Without having enrolled in this program, I would not be able to return to Spain to teach English. I am extremely happy that I completed the program at INTERLINK and that I am going on to help others with their English. This is a very important step in my career and professional development. I hope many more students can enjoy the experience I had.
– Concha Muñoz, Spain
Once I was finished with my INTERLINK classes I had no trouble following at the university level. As much as I learned from the professors, I learned from students in my classes. I shared my experiences with foreign students from around the world. We came from different cultures and backgrounds to learn English at INTERLINK, and within the interactive, informal, and friendly atmosphere of classes we all go acquainted.
– Mestrov, Bosnia
The INTERLINK environment is so inviting and friendly. Only at INTERLINK I was able to bring the best out in me. When you work within your family, your destination becomes easier and reachable. The activities we have in INTERLINK made learning so interesting. In my opinion INTERLINK is not all about learning English. It’s about learning new cultures, making new friends, and about speaking your mind.
– Jassim Quraish, Saudi Arabia
Every INTERLINK teacher helped me in every moment to improve my English. You can feel at home because of the family atmosphere. My English skills have improved a lot.
– Claudio Alonso, Argentina
I thank INTERLINK for holding my hand from a single word to a research paper.
– Alhanoof ALFALLAJ, Saudi Arabia
The Saudi INTERLINK program has the unique feature of igniting creativity and potential in those students who are eager to achieve and succeed. I have seen this over and over throughout my long years of service. I have the great pleasure, and honor, to help students along this path, and I see how they grow and evolve. I am especially proud of those students I trained to participate in a GCC level public speaking competition in Dubai and feel so much professionally fulfilled to see how they win first place prizes in a competition that brings together students from top universities in the GCC countries.
– Asaad Al Asaad, Saudi INTERLINK Instructor
Saudi INTERLINK is the most important asset in Al Yamamah University. This English program distinguishes the university from any other college or university in KSA. The skills I acquired and developed and the potential it ignited in my mind is what I carry with me to the job market and it is what makes me stand out among the crowd.
– Sami Al Owaini, Saudi INTERLINK student at Al Yamamah University
For me, learning English through projects means teamwork, strictness, and perseverance. First, usually when students have a project, they have to go through a multitude of steps; which can lead them to their goal that is to succeed. As a result, students have to be more strict and rigorous. Also, when students have a project generally it has to be done as a team. On one hand, they become self-learners because they have to find information and reformulate it to their partners; so, they can verify their understanding and cooperate. On the other hand, they learn how to study together; they learn how to balance a pleasant and friendly environment with a productive environment. In addition, as a project is carried out during a long period of time, students learn what “perseverance” means. They learn how to be more tenacious and determined, because during a project we also work on endurance and students have to be constantly focused. Finally, I can say that a project equals an experience; because there are several factors which can affect its progress such as the health, or the mood. Sometimes everything is doing well, but sometimes everything is not doing as well as we have expected; so, students have to exceed their limits and to give the best of themselves