This course introduces the listening and speaking skills needed to succeed at an American university. Areas covered include pronunciation and fluency, critical thinking and listening strategies, in class and lecture note taking, class discussion and presentations, and vocabulary building.

This course focuses on writing effective academic paragraphs. Students learn the distinction between informal and academic writing, academic paragraph format and organization, and essential steps of the writing process. Students also learn to produce paragraphs in the rhetorical styles of narration, description, and process (and possibly opinion or example if time permits). Students will be introduced to the concepts of logical division of ideas, coherence, and transition signals. Students are expected to demonstrate improvement in spelling and vocabulary, punctuation, and grammar.

Students will show competency in the use of the present and past, including progressive forms of these tenses as well as recognize the use of the simple future tense. In addition, basic modal verbs are introduced to practice expressions related to possibility, ability, and asking for permission.

This course introduces the reading skills and vocabulary needed to succeed at an American university. Areas covered include developing vocabulary skills; identifying and using critical thinking, reading and vocabulary strategies; using rapid reading practices; and applying all strategies and vocabulary to reading comprehension and independent reading.