ESOL: Speaking & Listening
Courses In London & Online
Do you want to focus on your speaking and listening, your fluency and your pronunciation? These courses will help you express yourself when talking inside and outside work, in formal and informal situations. You will also understand other people better in conversations or on the radio, internet, TV and films.
What is the best course for me?
You need to do a pre-course assessment. You can also do it online, but a face-to-face assessment is best.
- Online assessment - click ‘Start Assessment’ on the course page
- Or book a face-to-face assessment - call 0204 582 0423 or contact us by email at universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk for an appointment. You can also come without an appointment.
Times:
- Every Monday 12- 2pm
- Every Wednesday 6-8pm
- Every Friday 11am-1pm (23rd August – 6th October)
The courses are FREE to most learners if you earn less than £21,547.50 a year or are on Universal Credit, JSA or ESA (WRAG). They are either in the City Lit building or are live online interactive classes. For online courses, you will need a computer with a microphone, a camera and the internet.
- Entry 1 Reading and WritingCourse start date: Thu 1 May 2025 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Do you want to improve your reading and writing skills in English for everyday use? On this course, you will practise your reading and writing skills, but also improve your speaking and listening. Covering different topics such as daily routine, transport, health and shopping, you will practise identifying and reading different texts, writing answers, and asking and answering basic questions in the present simple tense.
This course is FREE if you are employed and on a low wage or you are claiming benefits. For more information Click here
Full fee £149.00 - Communication skills: developing your writing, speaking and digital skills through creating a radio programme (ESOL level 1-2)Course start date: Thu 8 May 2025 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Do you want to develop your writing and speaking skills? Would you also like to improve your digital skills? On this course you will work on writing, enacting and recording short radio programmes about news items, arts, hobbies, and other areas of interest. By doing this, you will improve your communication skills including emphasising meaning, choosing the right words, speaking and writing concisely with the right tone and creating emotions. You will also focus on your pronunciation and fluency. You will work on how to edit and put together a programme. We hope we can distribute your programme to friendly listeners!
You need to do a pre-course assessment. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / 020 8078 0489 for a face-to-face assessment or click the Start Assessment button on this page. Log on with your email address (not name).
This course is FREE if you are employed and on a low wage or you are claiming benefits. For more information Click here
Full fee £139.00 Senior fee £111.00 Concession £70.00 - ESOL and making podcasts: pronunciation, presentation, expression (level 1-2)Course start date: Sun 11 May 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Do you want to improve your pronunciation, learn more about how you sound when you speak English and develop your speaking? A podcast is a digital recording, which can be used in a very practical way to help develop your English. On this course, you will discover how to make and edit a podcast to record yourself as well as what to say and how to say it. You will be able to practise speaking on your own and interviewing others as well as learn how to prepare what to say and how to say it. Podcasting is a fantastic way of improving your pronunciation, your vocabulary, your spoken accuracy, and your fluency.
You need to do a pre-course assessment. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / 020 8078 0489 for a face-to-face assessment or click the Start Assessment button on this page. Log on with your email address (not name).
Please note you will need to download the free Audacity software and have a headset with mic to do this course.
This course is FREE if you are employed and on a low wage or you are claiming benefits. For more information Click here
Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £103.00 Concession £65.00 - ESOL - communication skills for life and work -level 1 (Writing)Course start date: Mon 19 May 2025 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
This is the Writing unit of the ESOL course to give you confidence in writing a range of sentences for personal writing, and formal and informal texts. You will focus on using correct grammar (such as subject-verb agreement, correct use of tense) and become aware of the distinct differences between spoken and written English. You will focus on notetaking, planning and organising writing into paragraphs, developing a narrative and ending writing with a summary or conclusion.
This course is FREE if you are employed and on a low wage or you are claiming benefits. For more information Click here
Full fee £129.00 - ESOL - communication skills for life and work -level 2 (Writing)Course start date: Tue 20 May 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
This is the Writing unit of the ESOL course to give you confidence in writing and producing text independently for personal and academic writing, and for formal and informal texts. You will be taught how to generate creative and critical ideas using correct grammar, appropriate tenses, key linguistic features such as discourse markers, clauses, paragraphs, and you will become aware of the standard written features of English. You will focus on proof-reading, self-correction strategies and structuring your writing with correct conventions. You will also be taught how to organise, structure and extend your writing for academic, fiction, non-fiction and more complex text types or genres to suit purpose and audience.
This course is FREE if you are employed and on a low wage or you are claiming benefits. For more information Click here
Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £103.00 Concession £65.00 - ESOL - communication skills for life and work - level 1 (Reading)Course start date: Mon 15 Sep 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
This is the Reading unit of the ESOL course to give you confidence in reading straightforward and some complex texts. You will practice reading different types of text including emails, letters, adverts, posters, books, newspapers, and websites. You will read interesting everyday topics and practice finding information and understanding general meaning of stories, news, descriptions, messages, signs, and notices.
This course is FREE if you are employed and on a low wage or you are claiming benefits. For more information Click here
Full fee £479.00 Senior fee £383.00 Concession £240.00 - ESOL - communication skills for life and work - level 2 (Reading)Course start date: Tue 16 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
This is the Reading unit of the ESOL course to give you confidence in reading and understanding a range of texts of varying complexity accurately and independently and obtaining information of varying length and detail from different sources. You will practice reading and analysing different types of text including emails, newspapers, recipes, journals, reports, poems, formal letters, articles, websites, books and reviews. You will practice extracting and communicating factual and opinionated statements about a range of topics.
This course is FREE if you are employed and on a low wage or you are claiming benefits. For more information Click here
Full fee £429.00 Senior fee £343.00 Concession £215.00 - Conversation ClubCourse start date: Wed 24 Sep 2025 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Do you speak English as a second language? Do you want to practise your speaking and listening skills in an immersive and engaging environment? Want to practise making good conversation? Would you like to improve your fluency and learn social cues, norms and natural key phrases we use in the English language. The conversation club will allow you to develop your verbal and non-verbal communication skills. You will meet different people on the course and explore different themes and topics.
This course is FREE if you are employed and on a low wage or you are claiming benefits. For more information Click here
Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £135.00 Concession £85.00 - English dialogue: speaking, listening, pronunciation, performance (level 1-2)Course start date: Thu 9 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Do you want to sound ‘more English’ when you speak? Do you want the chance to experiment with becoming expressive in English, playing with how you sound when you speak different dialogues? On this course, you will work on different dialogues from everyday speech and well known plays. And you will also create your own! The chance to work on how to perform and enact this speech will enable you to focus on how to link and ‘chunk’ words, develop your rhythm and stress, work on your fluency and ensure that the meaning of what you are saying becomes expressed. You will also be working with ‘real’ language, not the sometimes artificial language of English course books. Although you will be performing the texts, you do not need to be an actor, just willing to give it a go. By writing your own dialogues, you will also develop your writing skills so by the end of the course you can write and perform together with your classmates your own 5 minute play!.
You need to do a pre-course assessment. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / 020 8078 0489 for a face-to-face assessment or click the Start Assessment button on this page. Log on with your email address (not name).
This course is FREE if you are employed and on a low wage or you are claiming benefits. For more information Click here
Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £90.00 - ESOL - communication skills for life and work -level 1 (Speaking and Listening)Course start date: Mon 12 Jan 2026 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
This is the Speaking and Listening unit of the ESOL course to give you confidence in communicating with others on different topics in a range of contexts. You will practice speaking fluently in different types of conversations, responding to questions on a range of topics and you will build your vocabulary by learning more synonyms and antonyms. You will also have the opportunity to hear a variety of accents and varieties of English. Speaking about interesting everyday topics you will practise different tenses and improve your pronunciation including stress and intonation to convey meaning.
This course is FREE if you are employed and on a low wage or you are claiming benefits. For more information Click here
Full fee £549.00 Senior fee £439.00 Concession £275.00 - ESOL - communication skills for life and work -level 2 (Speaking and Listening)Course start date: Tue 13 Jan 2026 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Blended (learn both online and in-person)
This is the Speaking and Listening unit of the ESOL course to give you confidence in communicating straightforward and detailed information, ideas and opinions clearly, adapting speech and content to take account of the listener(s), medium, purpose and situation. You will improve your fluently and accuracy in extended and varying conversations, responding and contributing on a range of topics. You will also build your vocabulary by learning more sophisticated words for formal settings. You will have the opportunity to hear a variety of accents and varieties of English and be able to apply speaking skills in face to face and telephone situations. Speaking about interesting everyday topics you will practise a wide range of sentence structure and tenses and improve your pronunciation including stress, rhythm and intonation to convey meaning.
This course is FREE if you are employed and on a low wage or you are claiming benefits. For more information Click here
Full fee £529.00 Senior fee £423.00 Concession £265.00 - English communication skills - improve your confidence and fluency when you speak (entry 3-level 1)Course start date: Wed 21 Jan 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Do you want to speak more easily and communicate in English without translating from your first language? Do you think too much about what to say or write? Would you like your English to be more automatic? This course will help you become more relaxed when you speak and write English so you can be confident you can express yourself in a way people understand and not be worried about making mistakes. You will develop your fluency in both speaking and writing but you will focus more on speaking.
You need to do a pre-course assessment. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / 020 8078 0489 for a face-to-face assessment or click the Start Assessment button on this page. Log on with your email address (not name).
This course is FREE if you are employed and on a low wage or you are claiming benefits. For more information Click here
Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £75.00 - ESOL: Develop your speaking and listening skills (entry 3-level 1)Course start date: Wed 6 May 2026 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Are you tired of asking people to repeat themselves? Do you nod and smile when you don't understand? Do you wish you could understand the TV better or follow phone conversations more easily? Good listening skills are essential to your English language development and students often never learn specific listening techniques. These skills will help your speaking and conversation skills. This course will help you identify the words and focus on the meaning instead of hearing a stream of meaningless sounds.. You will be able to relax when you are having conversations and enjoy films without subtitles!
You need to do a pre-course assessment. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / 020 8078 0489 for a face-to-face assessment or click the Start Assessment button on this page. Log on with your email address (not name).
This course is FREE if you are employed and on a low wage or you are claiming benefits. For more information Click here
Full fee £159.00 Senior fee £127.00 Concession £80.00
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