When I was 25 years old, I decided to move to the United States. I had lived in Brazil all my life, and had a nice job as a sales representative for a big company. I thought it would be a nice thing to spend some time in the US, since international experience is something that really stands out on a resume. Also, my English wasn't so good, and what better way to improve it than interacting with Americans all day? I had an aunt who lived in California with her husband and child, and they invited me to stay with them for as long as I wanted.
I started researching English schools while I was still in Brazil - I was definitely going to need one. The schools were very pricey and I began wondering how I was going to afford an English course. Then my aunt told me she knew about a school that had courses for immigrants, and mentioned that it wasn't expensive. I felt relieved that I wasn't gonna need to spend big bucks to learn the language.
When I finally moved to my aunt's house in California, I went to that school right away and enrolled in their English course for beginners. To be honest, I was a little disappointed: there was too much emphasis on grammar and written exercises, and very little oral practice. I carried on anyway since that was the only option I had. I ended up learning good English, though not because of that course. What made me learn was really interacting with native speakers every day, watching TV, reading newspapers and all the stuff you do in your every day life.

Vocabulário
to stand out = se destacarresume (ênfase em 'me') = currículo vitaewhat better way... ? = que maneira melhor (existe)?to improve = melhorarall day = o dia inteirofor as long as (I wanted) = por quanto tempo (eu quisesse)pricey = caro(a)to wonder = se perguntar, considerarto afford = ter condição de pagar porrelieved = aliviada(o)spend big bucks = (informal) gastar um dinheirãoright away = sem demora, logoto carry on = continuar levando/fazendo algo