Perfect Phrases for ESL Everyday Situations
Perfect Phrases for ESL Everyday Situations
CHAPTER 
Furthering Your Own Education
Education for children in the United States offers many choices, but what many fail to realize is that in the United States, very many adults take courses to advance their careers or simply for enrichment or enjoyment.
Adult Education
There are classes for adults in high schools, junior colleges, colleges, universities, and churches. Private educational companies as well as advanced educational institutions offer courses online as well as training via Skype. You may work toward a certificate, a diploma, a degree, or a license. You may go just to enjoy yourself, meet people with similar interests, and practice your English communication and listening comprehension skills while you learn.
The choices are staggering, and searching online may be daunting at first. It can be an exciting “field trip” to go to your local library in order to investigate the educational and pleasurable learning possibilities available to you. The library staff can greatly help you as you start your search. There are many courses, classes, presentations, trips, and tours offered by your library or other nearby libraries, and a library is a good place to get your feet wet. Many offerings at the libraries are free of charge.
Subjects offered are as diverse as auto mechanics, classical-music appreciation, line dancing, astronomy, English and practically every other language, and cooking foods from every country imaginable. Offerings may be free, or there may be free trial classes to decide if you relate to the material and the presenter. For other classes, you may have to pay tuition, enrollment fees, and a fee for each hour of course credit. The specific amounts vary from school to school.
It may be a challenge to take a course in English, even if it focuses on your field of work or study or is similar to one you have taken already in your native language. You would have the knowledge in the area but not yet in the language. You might take a course about your religion or about your country and contribute your knowledge and ideas, although in limited English. (See Chapter 4, “Language Training.”)
There are film classes in which the students watch a movie together in the classroom or separately at home and then discuss it in the class. The discussion might be among the students themselves, or else one of the actors, the director, or a film critic might conduct the discussion. Book clubs work in a similar fashion: the participants read the same book or author and meet to discuss their takes on the particular reading selection. Some courses include trips or tours to interesting sites and lectures about the locations.
Another avenue to look into is Toastmasters International. Some companies offer this group to their employees, but there are also public Toastmasters groups that meet in restaurants or other venues. They concentrate on speaking and presentation skills as well as leadership skills. Belonging to the groups is very inexpensive. You may attend a meeting to see if your level of language skills and commitment to the regimen are enough for this wonderful organization.
Sports and games are another area to investigate. One of my students from China was depressed because he had no outlet other than his work and study. I asked him what he liked to do in his country. He said he would never be able to find that sport in the United States. Being curious, I pursued my line of questioning until he admitted to being a volleyball enthusiast. We looked on the Internet and found a volleyball group that met every evening of the week within a few miles of where this man lived. He was shy about going, but he went and continued in the group, going three times a week. There are many stories like this one, and the possibilities are endless.
An innovative area to investigate online, by word of mouth, or just through people you meet at your children’s school, at the library, or elsewhere is a language exchange. People also post notices on supermarket bulletin boards for these services: “Language Exchange: I would like to learn/practice my English skills with a native American English speaker in exchange for speaking/teaching___________(Portuguese, Spanish, Vietnamese, [your language]) to that person. We could meet at this market, a library, or a coffee shop. Please call my cell for more details.”
Phrases You May Hear About Adult Education
This___________(course, class, session)___________ (runs, meets, takes place) during the___________(winter, spring, fall, summer). This class meets in the evenings from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The___________(course, class, program, session) that you have chosen meets on___________(Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday) during the___________(evenings, mornings, afternoons) from ___________(time) to___________(time). We offer child care facilities in the student center. ___________(Babysitting, Child care) is___________ (included in, part of) the___________(fee, cost, price). This is a “lunch and learn” class. Bring a sandwich, and a beverage will be supplied. We encourage you to audit a class.Phrases to Ask About Adult Education
Who teaches this___________(class, course, group of sessions, event)? Who leads this session? What are the___________(particulars, specifics, highlights) of this? Can you___________(e-mail, send, forward) me the details? Where does the group meet? When does the group meet? Where are the sessions___________(held, taking place)? When are the classes___________(scheduled for, taking place)? Can you give me directions? How much does this cost? What is the cost? Are___________(materials, books, videos, CDs, DVDs) included, or are they___________(extra, additional)? May I___________(audit, observe, sit in on) the sessions? I am shy about my English skills. What if my English is not good? May I___________(audit, still take, sit in on) this program? I’m interested in the subject and would like to hear what is being said. Can I try out the class? Could I observe one time before I commit? Is a free trial lesson available? I was a Do you have___________(an application, more information) that you can send me? Do I have to___________(register, enroll, pay) now, or may I do that___________(when I go to the first session, after the first class)?Idioms and Other Vocabulary
Advance: move ahead
Audit: sit in on a class without getting a grade
Auto mechanics: lessons about how to fix your car
Avenue: direction
Bulletin boards: board on a wall on which you can put notes
Challenge: difficult task
Commit: promise to do
Daunting: challenging, difficult
Depressed: sad
Elsewhere: in other places
Endless: so long that it seems there is no end
Enjoyment: the experience of getting pleasure out of something or getting fun from something
Enrichment: process of making better
Enthusiast: person who is extremely interested in an activity
Fail to realize: don’t understand
Fashion: way, manner
Field trip: a short visit to a place of interest
Get your feet wet: get started
Imaginable: possible to think of
Innovative: new, different, unusual
Line dancing: type of dancing performed by a group of people standing in a line
Lunch and learn: describing classes taken during a lunchtime break
Outlet: way to use physical and emotional energy
Pursued: continued
Regimen: special plan
Relate to: get along with, like
Shy: not comfortable talking to strangers
Simply: only
Skype: service for communicating via the computer, using an attached camera and microphone so that people can see and hear each other
Staggering: unbelievable
Takes (n): thoughts about a subject
Toastmasters International: international speakers’ club with many groups around the world offering meetings where members practice speaking and leadership skills
Trial classes: classes you are trying out to see whether or not you like them
Via: by way of
Word of mouth: getting a message by hearing someone talking