English Program (ESL)

Names & occupations, Relationships, Directions & transportation, People, Events & times, Clothes, Home & work Activities, Weather and ongoing activities, Food, Past events, Appearance & health, Abilities & requests, Past, Present, & Future plans

Grammar

BE-verbs & information questions, proper & common nouns, Possessive adjectives, Adjectives, Prepositions of time & place, There is & There are, The simple present tense, Adverbs of Frequency, The present continuous tense, Too, very & so, Modals (should, could, can, would like)

Conversation Strategies

Self-Introduction, Politely beginning a conversation, Spelling names & words, Introducing people, Basic Q&A’s (e.g. first & last names) Confirming & Clarifying information, Giving & getting directions, Describing people, Talking about time, dates & birthdays, Giving & accepting compliments, Talking about wants & needs, Comparing opinions, Talking about wants, needs, like & why, Providing additional information, Describing activities, schedule, recipe, favorite season, past vacation, people, & abilities, Greeting someone you haven’t seen in a while, Talking about the weather, Making a polite phone call, Discussing plans, Talking about present time activities, Inviting someone to join you, Talking about an injury, ailment & remedy, Declining an invitation, Requesting help or permission, Telling your life story, Announcing & responding to good and bad news, Asking about future plans, Use of the following expressions: Excuse me, And you?, Yes that’s right, Really?, uh-oh, Actually, Is that all, What about you?, Me?, You do?

Why do you say that, Sounds like, Long time no see, No wonder, No kidding, Talk to you later, How about you, I’ll check, Hey, How’s it going?, Welcome back, What happened?, I’m sorry to hear that, No problem, Maybe some other time, That’s interesting, What’s new?, So

Prerequisites

• Placement test for new students (or)
• Coordinator’s approval

Getting Acquainted, Going out, Talking about families, Coping with technology, Eating in & eating out, Staying in shape, Finding something to wear, Getting away, Taking transportation, Shopping smart

 

GrammarPrepositions, The Present continuous for both present and future, Articles a, an & the, Can & have to, time expressions, comparative & superlative adjectives, Object pronouns, Simple past tense, Modals could vs. should, too & enough

 

Conversation Strategies

Exchanging personal information, Clarifying & confirming information, Offering to introduce someone, Offering, accepting & declining an invitation, Q&A’s about events & family, Asking for & giving a directions & suggestions, Talking about music likes & dislikes, Offering reasons, Expressing frustration & sympathy, Talking about features of a machine/gadget, Complaining when things don’t work, Ordering, getting a check & paying at a restaurant, Discussing food and health choices, Suggesting an planning an activity, Providing an excuse, Asking and describing daily routines, Discussing exercise & diet, shopping, cultural dressing, & vacation preferences, Asking for help, Giving directions within a building, Talking about trips & travels, Greeting someone arriving from a trip, Asking for and giving advice & recommendations, Bargaining & tipping,     Use of the following expressions: As a matter of fact, Really?, I’d love to, I’d love to, but…, Really?, What about…?, I think I’ll have…, Good idea!, Sorry, I can’t, Actually, I’m fine (to decline), What about you?, Oh no (dismay), Let me check

Prerequisites

• Placement test for new students
• Successful Completeion of ESL101

 

Greetings & small talk, Movies & entertainment, Staying at hotels, Cars & Driving, Personal Care & Appearance, Eating Well, Psychology & personality, Enjoying the arts, Living with computers, Ethics & values

 

GrammarThe present perfect tense, The future tense with will, the past continuous tense, Phrasal verbs, Indefinite quantities & amounts, Someone vs. anyone, Modals/Expressions: would rather, had better, why don’t…?, used to, Gerunds & infinitives, The passive voice, Comparisons with as…as, Possessive pronouns, Conditional sentences

 

Conversation Strategies

Getting reacquainted with someone, Greeting a visitor, Explaining local customs, Asking about life experiences, Apologizing for & explaining lateness, Offering to pay or returning the favor, Describing & comparing tastes in movies, Discussing effects of media, Leaving & taking a phone message, Checking into & out of a hotel, Describing an incident, Expressing concern, Shopping, Asking for services, Discussing ways to improve appearance, Offering & declining food, Talking about foods you like & hate, Discussing lifestyle changes, Describing moods & emotions, Cheering some up, Discussing personality types, relationships, favorites artists, the internet, & ethical choices, Describing an object, home decorations, & use of computers, Expressing opinions about art, Troubleshooting a problem, Returning lost property, Expressing personal values, Warning about consequences,     Use of the following expressions: What have you been up to?, How have you been?, That’s great, They say…, For real?, I’d like to…, That’s right, By the way, I’m so sorry, How awful, Can I get…, Don’t worry about it, You know…, out of the question, Thanks for asking, For one thing, Oh yeah?, Everyone says…, Why don’t you…, You think so?

 

Prerequisites

• Placement test for new students
• Successful Completeion of ESL102

Themes

Cultural literacy, Health matters, Getting things done, Life choices, Holidays & traditions, Disasters & emergencies, Books & magazines, Inventions & technology, Controversial issues, Enjoying the world

GrammarTag questions, The past perfect tense, Modals: may, might, must, be able to, perfect modals, Causatives, Future in the past, Adjective clauses, Indirect speech, Noun clauses, Unreal conditionals, Infinitives, Prepositions of place

Conversation Strategies

Getting to know someone, Asking how someone prefers to be addressed, Describing rules of etiquette, medical problems, quality of service, celebrations & traditions, Discussing cultural changes, skills, abilities & qualifications, Making an appointment, Showing concern and empathy, Asking for & recommending a service provider, Planning a social event, Greeting someone you haven’t seen for awhile, Explaining a change in life and work choices, Expressing regrets about life decisions, Asking for & giving advice about customs, Conveying a message for a third person, Offering an excuse, Reporting & Responding what you heard on the news, Discussing emergency & product purchase, Describing natural disasters, reading habits, new inventions, & natural settings, Recommending a book, Giving & Accepting a compliment, Accepting responsibility for a mistake, Reassuring someone, Asking for & giving advice about acceptable conversation topics, Stating your opinion, Expressing agreement & disagreement, Suggesting solutions to global problems, Debating pros & cons, Debating a plan for economic development, Use of the following expressions: By the way, Do you mind if…, Would it be rude if…, Actually, You know, I’m sorry but…, Sure, Not bad, No kidding, Could be, Same to you, Do you mind if I ask…,Will do, What a shame, Thank goodness, Do you mind if.., Not at all, What a (noun), That depends, It can happen to anyone, That’s a good question, We’ll have to agree to disagree, Be sure to… 

Prerequisites

• Placement test for new students
• Successful completion of Level ESL201

Themes

New perspectives, Musical moods, Money matters, Looking good, Community, Animals, Advertising & Consumers, Family trends, History’s mysteries, Free time

Grammar

Gerunds and infinitives: changes in meaning, The Present Perfect & the present perfect continuous: finished and unfinished actions, Noun clauses, Future plans and finished future actions, The past unreal conditional: inverted form, Quantifiers, Possessives with gerunds, Paired conjunctions, The Passive voice with modals, Passive forms of gerunds and infinitives, Repeated comparatives and double comparatives, Indirect speech with modals, Perfect modals in the passive voice for speculating about the past, Order of modifiers

Conversation Strategies

Discussion topics based on each theme, Asking a question to buy time, Providing an example to back up a statement or opinion, Stressing the main verb to acknowledge only partial agreement,  Introducing a statement of popular opinion, Providing one reason among several, Use of the following expressions: Actually, I wonder, You know, So, Right?, Well, Hey, To tell you the truth, What do you mean?, Can you believe, Don’t you think, Do you mind, I hope that’s not a problem, Not at all, I’ve heard, For one thing, Believe it or not, I think, I hate to say it, but…, I suppose, You’re probably right, Why else, kind of, Well, even so

Prerequisites

• Placement test for new students
• Successful completion of Level ESL 202

 

Dreams come true, Character counts, Dealing with adversity, Personality & life, “It’s all in your mind”, Travel hassles & Experiences, Minds at work, Humor, What lies ahead, An interconnected world

TThe present perfect for past events related to the present, the present perfect and the present perfect continuous for unfinished or continuing actions, Adjective clauses with whose, where, and when, Relative pronoun as the object of a preposition, Describing the relationship of past events and actions to each other, Clauses with no matter, The subjunctive, Non-count nouns made countable, Indefiniteness and definiteness: article usage, Conditional sentences with mixed time frames, Subordinating conjunctions and transitions, Indirect Speech: changes to preserve meaning, The passive voice: the future, the future as seen from the past, and the future perfect, The passive voice in unreal conditional sentences, Separability of transitive phrasal verbs

Conversation Strategies

Discussion topics based on each theme, Conveying enthusiasm or encouragement, Use of word stress to convey meaning, Conveying regret, Softening a suggestion, opinion & bad news, Presenting an alternate view, Asking a rhetorical question, Confirming information, Declining help politely, Providing an example to support a point of view, Sharing information from an article, Inviting someone to reconsider a belief, Defending a position, Discussion topics based on each theme, Requesting for a favor, Indicating willing ness to help, Restating or supporting an opinion, Validating an opposing opinion, Acknowledging an opinion you may not agree with, Praising a joke, Expressing consequences, Challenging an argument, Expressing dissatisfaction with a current situation, Use of the following expressions: You know, That’s great, I guess, True, but…, I hate to tell you this but…,Well, I feel terrible, Are you sure?, That’s not necessary, I give up/I’ve had it, I know what you mean, Really?, I’m like that myself or I’m the opposite, That’s impossible, Why not?, I wonder if you could/Do you think you could…?, I’d be happy to, If you ask me…, I mean, That’s true, If you ask me, Do you think so?, Did you hear the one about…?, What a riot!, That’s hilarious, Really?, It’s like opening a can of worms, It’s a slippery slope, even if, Can you believe…?, It goes to show you…, You’d think…

Prerequisites

• Placement test for new students
• Successful Completeion of ESL301

After this level, students will be able to approach the TOEFL test. In class, students are oriented to the listening comprehension, reading comprehension, speaking, and writing skills required for the rapid identification of correct answers in the timed, multiple-choice, Internet-based TOEFL exam. The four subject areas are analyzed, and test-taking strategies are introduced. Finally, students practice taking full-length TOEFL-type tests in order to develop the knowledge and self-confidence necessary to increase their TOEFL scores, and practice writing timed TOEFL essays.

 

Prerequisites

Successful completion of Level ESL 302

After this level, students will be able to take the TOEFL test with greater confidence. In class, as students are fully familiar with TOEFL, students spend time practicing full tests with guided instruction and feedback, and are given more detailed practice and instruction in the writing and speaking components of the exam, including recorded speaking tests.

 

Prerequisites

Successful completion of TFL 501