ESL

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The Literacy Council offers ESL Community Classes, including Conversation Classes for English language learners to help adults gain listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. See class descriptions below and download our current class schedule for dates, times and locations.

Classes are being conducted in-person or remotely on Zoom.  Check the current Class Schedule for details on each class, and location.

Download current Class Schedule here.

Registration is required. Please contact us for information about eligibility and registration procedures or contact us at info@frederickliteracy.org or (301) 600-2066.

ESL COMMUNITY CLASSES

Conversation ~ Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced and Student-Led
Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced Conversation Classes are for adults who want to improve their ability to speak and understand American English. Practice conversation skills and pronunciation while learning about many subjects, including holidays, food, travels, family, life skills, current events, American history, common idioms and more.

In the Student-Led Conversation Class, students meet to plan the class and class strategies. Students themselves give presentations and mini-presentations about their country of origin, first year in the United States, or anything else of interest to them. Idioms are discussed. We also read the newspaper News for You for practice in pronunciation and break down into smaller groups to have discussions. Students are encouraged to socialize and get to know one another and make friendships. You are allowed to eat in the classroom, so it is suggested that you bring a lunch or snack. Sometimes students bring in food to share. Other times, we go on field trips especially in the summer.

Parent Literacy
In these classes we will learn basic English AND discuss issues parents have using a short story format. The Parent Literacy Program centers on the four domains of English communication—listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Our goal is to improve the English skills of parents so they can lead their families to success and higher education opportunities. In these classes we will learn basic English AND discuss issues parents have using a short story format. For parents of FCPS students in grades K-5. Learn more about this program here.

High-Beginning & Low-Intermediate Listening, Speaking and Reading

Students in these classes will use the Ventures curriculum, including a student workbook.  Students will practice different skill areas, including: listening, speaking, and reading. They will practice asking and answering questions about comparing preferences/likes. Grammar may include a review of present, past and future. Students will learn comparisons and the present perfect. They will practice describing problems and solutions and talking about community events. Reading activities will include reading articles and making predictions, identifying the main idea and topic.
Writing I

This class will review sentence building and vocabulary and students will work on a paragraph by the end.

Writing 2

This class will focus on writing different kinds of paragraphs such as an opinion paragraph and a descriptive paragraph.

Writing Workshop

This is an advanced course for high intermediate to advanced students who want to improve their writing.  It will be loosely structured like a writing group and a book club.  Students will be invited to bring in their work weekly for critiques.  We will review the narrative structure and focus of nonfiction creative writing, but any work that the students wish to pursue will be encouraged.