Three Things You Need to Know before Enrolling in an ESL Course?

Answer 1

For many international students whose native language is not English, they experience a serious language barrier when studying abroad. Some universities require all international students to take an ESL class before enrolling in other courses in the English department, while some international students voluntarily choose to partake in an ESL course to improve their English before they dive into upper-level classes that are taught in English. In addition, some ESL classes are designed for adults who want to learn or improve their English.

1. Understand the curriculum and level of the ESL class as ESL courses can vary differently as they cater to a wide demographic of students coming from diverse language and cultural backgrounds. For people who have a full-time job and cannot travel outside their country, they may enroll in an online ESL course and have a flexible study schedule without putting their career on halt. Some who are sponsored by their employers or are eager to learn English as quickly as as possible should choose an immersion ESL course which takes place in an English-speaking country. This will speed up the learning process as students have to practice their English skills on a daily basis. A lot of institutions require potential students to take a placement test before enrolling them in one of the ESL courses. This will help determine the students’ level and make sure that the students can receive training that most pertain to their needs.

2. Decide the kind of ESL institutions. Most universities, community colleges, and private education organizations all provide ESL courses for international students or for people who want to improve their English skills in general. Usually, ESL courses organized by universities are more structured and are usually taught by instructors who are also professors in undergraduate and graduate linguistic classes. However, at the same time there are plenty of reputable private institutions which offer excellent ESL courses.

3. Determine the amount of time devoted to the ESL course. Learning a new language requires a lot of practice, and thus most ESL courses take place every day, and some intensive courses will even run for three hours per lesson. These classes can take away a lot of energy from the students.