I am Agueda Gomes from Angola. In 2001 before I started the master’s program at Texas Woman's University (TWU), I had to have the English course completed. Therefore, the best English program option was the Intensive English Language Institute (IELI) from the University of North Texas. IELI has an excellent English program because of how much it has contributed to my academic and professional life.

When I started IELI, I was placed at level 0, and from there, I graduated from level 6. The English program was very demanding for me and required long hours of study. It provided me a good English foundation in writing, talking, listening, and interpreting the language. Those skills helped me to gain my master’s degree and now in my doctoral program. Also, IELI facilitated me to participate and present at international conferences about issues related to physical education and sports in Angola/Africa, as well as to participate in the global network of my field of study.

If I were to describe my English tutors, they were concerned about my performance, attentive to my difficulties, and always pulled me along with extra work which were the keys to succeed in the program. At the end of my master’s program at TWU in adapted physical education, to my surprise, I was ranked in the group of the best graduate students of the United States of America.