English as a Second Language (ESL) Summer Intensive Program

The 2012 University of Rochester Summer Intensive English Program is offered as an opprotunity for international full-time students to practice and refine real-life, practical English skills before the start of Fall 2012 classes.

The program will concentrate on conversational speaking, pronunciation/accent reduction, pragmatics (cultural context and language) and classroom (academic) English. The group size will be small, so each student will have ample opprotunities to practice real speaking in a supportive environment. 

Dates and Times:  4 weeks before classes start, July 23-August 20, 2012, Monday-Friday, for four hours each day.

  • July 23-27: Classes will be held from 1pm-5 pm Monday-Friday to accommodate arriving graduate students who may need to deal with logistical issues (driver’s licenses, cars, housing, etc.) in the mornings during office hours.
  • July 30-August 20: Classes will be held from 9 am-1 pm, Monday through Friday so that students may explore Rochester in the evenings.

Eligibility:The program is offered by the Graduate Studies Office of Arts, Sciences and Engineering at the University of Rochester.  Full-time incoming or returning University of Rochester students are eligible.

Cost: $800 tution for the program.

How can I register or find out more?Please see registration information and course descriptions below.  Still have questions?

Summer Intensive English Program Course Description

The Summer Intensive English Program is unique in that it will offer a series of mini-sessions each with targeted language improvement goals.  Full-time students must take all four mini-sessions to satisfy US immigration requirements.  The following mini-sessions will be offered:

Spoken Interpersonal Communication in an American-English Speaking Cultural Context (for ESL speakers)
offered July 23-27, M-F, from 1 pm – 4pm (instruction) and 4pm-5pm (language practicum lab)
Description: This highly-interactive class is aimed at advanced speakers of English as a Second language and teaches strategies for navigating everyday work and life situations in culturally savvy and linguistically intelligible ways.  This class is designed  for professionals whose job involves extensive spoken interpersonal communication, such as medical practitioners and teaching assistants/instructors; linguistically and culturally challenging situations such as giving advice, relating disagreeable facts, making presentations, negotiating, networking, and interviewing for a job will be covered.

English Pronunciation and Accent Reduction (for ESL speakers)
offered July 30-August 20, M-F, from 9:00 am-10:15 am
Description: This class teaches the basics of how sounds are made with the mouth, and the “musical patterns” [prosody] of English.  Learners will have abundant, interactive opportunities to apply this knowledge to their own speech and become better understood by their listeners.

Advanced Conversational English Grammar (for ESL speakers)
offered July 30-August 20, M-F, from 10:15 am-11:30 am
Description: This class is designed for speakers of English as a Second language who are already familiar with English grammar rules, but still struggle to use them when speaking.  This class will systematically review grammar rules and then provide students with conversational activities and intensive instructor feedback to help correct fossilized mistakes.

English for Academic Purposes (for ESL speakers)
offered July 30-August 20, M-F, from 11:45 am-1:00 pm
Description: This course is teaches writing, speaking, and listening strategies that English as a Second language speakers can use to succeed in their university classes.  Topics such as writing papers, giving academic presentations, and understanding academic lectures will be covered.