Improving Literacy Skills

Improving Literacy Skills is aimed at employees who speak English as a second language and who wish to improve their basic reading and writing skills. We will focus on reading and writing for situations that come up in the workplace, such as leaving messages, filling out forms, and writing notes.

GUIDELINES for self-selection for Improving Literacy Skills:
(please read through all the guidelines before deciding to take this course)

This course could be right for you if you want to:

• improve your basic reading skills and vocabulary.
• read faster.
• be able to fill out forms and write notes.
• improve your spelling and handwriting.
• use better grammar.
• be able to speak more clearly.

This course may NOT be right for you if you:

• have no difficulty reading texts such as manuals or newspaper articles.
• rarely make grammar mistakes.
• generally spell words correctly.
• are almost always understood by coworkers and supervisors.

Improving Oral Communication

Improving Oral Communication is for employees who speak English as a second language and who want to feel more confident using English to interact with people at work.  The course covers conversational tasks such as socializing, expressing opinions, making requests, clarifying needs, receiving/giving instructions, and using the telephone.  Cultural norms such as non-verbal communication may also be included.

This course could be right for you if you:

• want to be understood better by coworkers.
• want to learn common expressions used in spoken English.
• want to feel more confident interacting socially at work.
• want to improve your listening comprehension.

This course may NOT be right for you if you:

• have no difficulty understanding coworkers and supervisors.
• express your ideas and needs without hesitation
• are almost always understood by coworkers and supervisors.
• feel confident speaking English in many different situations.

Pronunciation for Everyday English

Pronunciation for Everyday English is aimed at employees who speak English as a second language and wish to improve their pronunciation in everyday situations, such as talking to coworkers or talking on the phone. It focuses on both improving command of problematic sounds and on larger areas such as pausing, intonation, and rhythm. We will use situations from participants' daily lives to create in-class dialogues and role plays.
GUIDELINES for self-selection for Pronunciation for Everyday English
(please read through all the guidelines before deciding to take this course)

This course could be right for you if you:

• have some trouble being understood in English.
• would like some help improving your rhythm and intonation in English.
• would like to improve your pronunciation of certain sounds.
• want to improve the words and phrases that you use on a daily basis.

This course may NOT be right for you if you:

• are quite comfortable communicating in English.
• don't have very much trouble being understood in English.
• are almost always understood in English but want to eliminate all traces of an accent.
• have serious (big) problems using English.
• are still learning to read basic English words and sentences

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