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Richard Lines ‹ EF Academy Blog

Global changemaking begins at the individual level. Knowing who you are, where your strengths lie, and what your natural proclivities may be, are all important steps for your path towards becoming a changemaker.
Understanding your strengths can help you determine your change
Understanding your strengths, weaknesses, and character traits can put you in a position to optimize your goals. More importantly, pinpointing the areas where your passions align with your aptitudes can make for a more efficient and enjoyable changemaking process.
For example, if you are strong in creativity and have a passion for the environment, it may be most effective to map your goals from the bottom up, first considering broad ideas over technically specific ones.
Knowing yourself will help you optimize your education path
Understanding yourself can also help you to optimize your pre-changemaking path. Some schools, including our own <a href="https://www.efacademy.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">EF Academy</a> campuses, offer calibrated education programs where students can focus and tailor their paths towards what interests them the most.
EF Academy Oxford student Julia, for instance, knew she wasn’t ready to specialize her high school studies. When faced with the choice of whether to pursue the British <a href="https://www.efacademy.org/a-level/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">A-Level</a> program or <a href="https://www.efacademy.org/ib/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">IB Diploma</a>, she chose the IB because it allowed her to continue taking a wide range of courses. “It has impacted my whole outlook on life,” she said. “At EF Academy, you can really choose the path you want and you’re encouraged to think outside of the box. The possibilities are limitless if you are determined and work hard.”
Furthermore, knowing your personal strengths and weaknesses can help you to identify areas to focus on for improvement, as well as areas which you can consistently rely on for results in your changemaking pursuit.
Things to think about
There are several ways to reconnect with your ideal path. The easiest way is to take a moment to consider: what ideas consistently excite you? Do you have a passion for activism? Perhaps you are fascinated by storytelling, space exploration, professional sports– usually, one can answer this question immediately.
The same simple method can be enacted when considering your strengths and weaknesses– simply take some time to think about what you are consistently good at and what you struggle with. Are you bad at planning? Perhaps you are great with people– make sure not to limit this reflection to material ventures like sports or grades. I recommend writing your ideas down for clarity.
Beyond this initial phase of questioning, it can be surprisingly helpful to think back to your childhood– what were you passionate about and where did your strengths lie? Before children are introduced to societal pressures directing them towards certain careers and interests, kids can actually be very in touch with their own natural proclivities.
Take a free online personality test
One of the easiest and most certain ways to learn about yourself is through a free online personality test. The Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator, for example, will define you as one of 16 personalities through a short quiz.
After taking this online test, you will be guided through the typical attributes of your personality type. Each personality type description contains a section that identifies general strengths and weaknesses, along with more sections discussing areas like relationships and career paths.
Consider your attributes when designing your path, harness your strengths to pursue a passion, and optimize your changemaking process.
Understand yourself to become a changemaker.

Global changemaking begins at the individual level. Knowing who you are and where your strengths lie are important steps for becoming a changemaker.

Know yourself: Take the first step to becoming a global changemaker - EF Academy Blog

Know yourself: Take the first step to becoming a global changemaker ‹ EF Academy Blog

Know yourself: Take the first step to becoming a global changemaker

Know yourself becoming a global changemaker

Many would call English the most important language to know. As the world continues to move in a globalized direction, English has prevailed as a critical asset to students, professionals and innovators alike.
Knowledge of the English language highly correlates with success in education, innovation and attaining high-level career positions. To illustrate the importance of English in our globalized world, we can use the results from the 2020 EF English Proficiency Index (EF EPI).
The EF EPI report derives from the results of over 2,200,000 EF Standard English Test (EF SET) participants. The report contains information regarding English proficiency and its implications in countries around the world.
<h3>English proficiency correlates with innovation</h3>
An important finding of the EF EPI report is the correlation between English and Innovation. One graph clearly shows the linear correlation between countries scoring high on the EF EPI and the Lanvin & Monteiro 2020 Global Talent Competitive Index, with the countries scoring low on one index also scoring low on the other.
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_18329" style="width: 461px"><img alt="EF EPI - English and Talent" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-18329" class="wp-image-18329 size-full" height="279" sizes="(max-width: 451px) 100vw, 451px" src="https://www.ef.com/wwen/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/ef_epi_2020_innovation.png" srcset="https://www.ef.com/wwen/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/ef_epi_2020_innovation.png 451w, https://www.ef.com/wwen/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/ef_epi_2020_innovation-300x186.png 300w" width="451">Countries with higher English levels better attract, retain, grow, and compete for talent.</div>
A similar correlation is visible between English proficiency and the World Bank 2018 Scholarship index. Poor performers on the EF SET published fewer Scientific and Technical Journal Articles, with higher English proficiency countries publishing the most.
As shown by these findings, learning English is a powerful tool for students who want to best utilize their talents and expand their academic achievement.
<h3>English-proficient countries produce changemakers</h3>
The EF EPI also shows that English speakers were more likely to contribute to the openness of society, being more internationally mobile, politically involved and progressive.
There is also a correlational relationship between the findings from the EF EPI and the Anholt 2018 Good Country Index – a report showing which countries contribute most to the world outside of their borders. Similar to the English and Innovation findings, countries with the highest English scores also landed highest on the distribution and those with the poorest scores on the lowest. Those hoping to become more internationally involved should consider learning English to be a necessary step.
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_18330" style="width: 461px"><img alt="EF EPI - International Engagement" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-18330" class="wp-image-18330 size-full" height="267" sizes="(max-width: 451px) 100vw, 451px" src="https://www.ef.com/wwen/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/ef_epi_engagement.png" srcset="https://www.ef.com/wwen/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/ef_epi_engagement.png 451w, https://www.ef.com/wwen/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/ef_epi_engagement-300x178.png 300w" width="451">Countries scoring high in English Proficiency contribute the most to the world outside of their borders.</div>
Countries scoring high in English Proficiency contribute the most to the world outside of their borders.
<h3>The Gender Gap is lesser in countries with the highest English levels</h3>
When considering the 2019 World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap index, countries with the lowest health, economic and educational gender gaps also score the highest on the EF EPI. This finding is no surprise given the correlations between English speaking and progressive political involvement.
Even though learning English may not necessarily lead directly to these international engagement and gender equality outcomes, the above correlations indicate that these goals warrant learning English for best results.
Exceptional results for high English proficiency countries in the realms of economic and career achievement were also detailed in the 2020 EF EPI report.
The results from the EF SET correlate closely with the results from other prominent English proficiency tests like the TOEFL iBT test, indicating that our results were not much differentiated from other international English level data, even when derived using a unique design and participant group.
<h3>Know your level</h3>
It is evident that English is important for young scholars, as well as future innovators and leaders. However, many global citizens have not yet taken the steps to learn English. This is nothing to feel ashamed of, but your child should at least know where they stand with their English level.
If your child’s English does not currently meet the proficiency mark, you can help them to improve their capabilities. Likewise, it can be gratifying for your child to know if their English is strong, even if they aspire to improve it.
Your children can evaluate their English level by taking the brief EF SET test here.

Learning English is a powerful tool for students who want to best utilize their talents and expand their academic achievement.

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Richard Lines

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