English for Speakers of Other Languages
Do you want to improve your English speaking, listening, reading and writing? Do you need to develop your communication skills for work? Would you like to participate more effectively in society, discuss the news, talk about art, write about your feelings and thoughts?
More than a language course
Whether you are complete beginner or an advanced speaker running a business, our courses will help you develop the most in-demand common skills for work and life: problem-solving, decision-making, collaborating, analysing, seeing the bigger picture. You will focus on how to achieve tasks such as organising events, writing film reviews, dealing with customers and the language skills you need to complete these tasks.
What is the best course for me?
We have long and short courses, online and face-to-face, with and without qualifications. You can do specialist pronunciation, grammar and writing classes, courses on web design and podcasting, business and storytelling, plus general ESOL courses.
You need to do a pre-course assessment. You can also do it online by clicking ‘Start Assessment’ on the course page, However, a face-to-face assessment is better. Contact universal.skill@citylit.ac.uk / 020 4582 0423 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. For more information about our live online courses, please see our guide to online learning.
Filters
- English pronunciation: stage 1Course start date: Sat 30 Sep 2023 (and 4 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: David John GwillimAre you a non-native fluent speaker who wants to improve your pronunciation of English and to speak the language more clearly and confidently? Work on clear formation of vowel and consonant sounds including the English neutral vowel and the distinction between voiced and unvoiced sounds. This term the course will be taught in the college.Full fee £219.00 Senior fee £219.00 Concession £153.00 - Grammar in practice: intermediate (entry 3-level 1)Course start date: Wed 27 Sep 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Confused by verb tenses? Need to know when to use past simple or present perfect? Puzzled by the passive? This course will make English grammar simpler for you and increase your confidence by giving you lots of opportunities to put your grammar into practice.
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 a) you are on a Low Wage or b) you are either on Jobseekers' Allowance (JSA) or Employment & Support Allowance(ESA) or c) you want to get a job or progress into a better job and you receive other state benefits (including Universal Credit). For more information click hereFull fee £129.00 Senior fee £103.00 Concession £65.00 - Grammar in practice: upper intermediate (level 1-2)Course start date: Wed 27 Sep 2023 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Unsure when to use present perfect or past perfect? Is reported speech still causing you problems? Do you need to practise your conditionals? Join this course and put your grammar into practice in speaking, writing, reading and listening. Gain confidence in using grammar effectively through high level and engaging tasks
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 a) you are on a Low Wage or b) you are either on Jobseekers' Allowance (JSA) or Employment & Support Allowance(ESA) or c) you want to get a job or progress into a better job and you receive other state benefits (including Universal Credit). For more information click hereFull fee £149.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £75.00 - English pronunciation: stage 2Course start date: Sat 13 Jan 2024 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: David John GwillimDesigned for people who have completed ‘English Pronunciation: stage 1’ although new students with sufficient skills can join. Develop confidence and clarity, explore diphthongs and triphthongs, inflection and the rhythms of Standard English. This term the course will be delivered in the college.Full fee £219.00 Senior fee £219.00 Concession £153.00 - English dialogue: speaking, listening, pronunciation, performance (level 1-2)Course start date: Thu 19 Oct 2023
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 a) you are on a Low Wage or b) you are either on Jobseekers' Allowance (JSA) or Employment & Support Allowance(ESA) or c) you want to get a job or progress into a better job and you receive other state benefits (including Universal Credit). For more information click hereFull fee £139.00 Senior fee £111.00 Concession £70.00 - ESOL: Thinking in English - techniques to become fluent in speaking and writing (entry 3-level 1)Course start date: Tue 24 Oct 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Do you want your English to be more automatic and fluent? Do you want to stop translating from the your first language? On this course, the emphasis is on thinking in English through fun and exciting exercises.
In each class, you will have a problem, a puzzle or a challenging issue to solve, address or debate. You will need to learn to read or listen between the lines, understand implications and indirect English. You will learn how to analyse text or speech and make decisions or judgements about what has happened and why.
You will practise speaking clearly and concisely, and getting to the point. These discussions and debates will improve your vocabulary, your pronunciation and your communication skills, helping you to think in English and communicate more efficiently.
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 a) you are on a Low Wage or b) you are either on Jobseekers' Allowance (JSA) or Employment & Support Allowance(ESA) or c) you want to get a job or progress into a better job and you receive other state benefits (including Universal Credit). For more information click hereFull fee £99.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £50.00 - ESOL - communication skills for life and work (entry 2)Course start date: Tue 19 Sep 2023 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Can you have short conversations in English, and read and write simple emails, but want to do more? This course will help you talk, read and write about more interesting subjects and make fewer mistakes so people can understand you, you can understand them and you can read and write important messages, emails, forms and news stories. You will improve your vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. By the end of this three-term programme you will able to interact confidently with English speakers in your daily life. You can join the course at any time.
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 a) you are on a Low Wage or b) you are either on Jobseekers' Allowance (JSA) or Employment & Support Allowance(ESA) or c) you want to get a job or progress into a better job and you receive other state benefits (including Universal Credit). For more information click hereFull fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £90.00 - ESOL: Improve your fluency (level 1)Course start date: Tue 16 Jan 2024
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 a) you are on a Low Wage or b) you are either on Jobseekers' Allowance (JSA) or Employment & Support Allowance(ESA) or c) you want to get a job or progress into a better job and you receive other state benefits (including Universal Credit). For more information click hereFull fee £99.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £50.00 - Communication skills: develop your writing and digital skills through website design (ESOL level 1-2)Course start date: Thu 18 Jan 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Do you want to improve your English in a real-life context and develop your digital skills at the same time? On this course you will learn how to create a website and write content for it. You will decide together on the type of website you want to create as a class and you will then focus on how to write in a way suitable for web pages. You will focus on how to structure the writing, how to make sure the most important information is in the right part of the text, how to write headlines, and use the right tone. You will also look at how to embed your own videos and speak well on videos. By the end of the course, you will have developed an important skill for use inside and outside work and improved your overall communication and digital skills.
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 a) you are on a Low Wage or b) you are either on Jobseekers' Allowance (JSA) or Employment & Support Allowance(ESA) or c) you want to get a job or progress into a better job and you receive other state benefits (including Universal Credit). For more information click hereFull fee £149.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £75.00 - ESOL pronunciation: stage 1 (level 1-2)Course start date: Mon 22 Jan 2024 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
Tired of people not understanding you? Would you like to sound 'more English'? Do you need to communicate well with people in your work? Then this specialist course will help you. Learn how to make the individual sounds of English, hear the differences between them, and read and write the phonemic script, a special alphabet of sounds. This course is aimed at students with a good level of English - level 1 and 2 (B2-C1). Highly fluent students at level 3 or above should apply to the courses in the drama department.
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 a) you are on a Low Wage or b) you are either on Jobseekers' Allowance (JSA) or Employment & Support Allowance(ESA) or c) you want to get a job or progress into a better job and you receive other state benefits (including Universal Credit). For more information click here
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £103.00 Concession £65.00 - ESOL: Learn English and learn about London, its people and your rights (entry 3-level 1)Course start date: Wed 24 Jan 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Do you want to improve your English and learn about London, its history, culture and people at the same time? And also learn about your democratic rights? On this course, you will visit places of interest and learn about the history of these places especially about the different people and cultures who have lived there, and about important events which have shaped the city. You will do your own research and so improve your reading and writing skills as well as your speaking and listening. In addition, you will learn about democratic systems in the UK, your rights and where you can find advice. By the end of the course, you will feel more at home in London and able to participate in its rich and diverse life.
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 a) you are on a Low Wage or b) you are either on Jobseekers' Allowance (JSA) or Employment & Support Allowance(ESA) or c) you want to get a job or progress into a better job and you receive other state benefits (including Universal Credit). For more information click hereFull fee £129.00 Senior fee £103.00 Concession £65.00 - Communication skills: how to speak with confidence inside and outside work (ESOL entry 3- level 1)Course start date: Tue 6 Feb 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Do you need to talk to members of the public at work - by phone, face-to-face, online? Do you have to understand your work colleagues? Would you like to be more confident when speaking and listening? This course will help you become a good communicator inside and outside work. You will practise how to interact and engage with customers, with strangers and with friends. You will focus on how to be polite, how to sell things, talk over the phone at call centres, take messages and speak and listen at the same time, make small talk with work colleagues. You will learn in a way that increases your skills and your confidence.
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 a) you are on a Low Wage or b) you are either on Jobseekers' Allowance (JSA) or Employment & Support Allowance(ESA) or c) you want to get a job or progress into a better job and you receive other state benefits (including Universal Credit). For more information click hereFull fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £35.00 - ESOL - communication skills for life and work (entry 3 reading and writing)Course start date: Mon 19 Feb 2024 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Are you quite confident in your everyday English? Can you go shopping, talk about simple subjects and write a letter or email? But do you make quite a lot of mistakes? Is it difficult to speak, read or write about more complicated topics? This pre-intermediate course will help you practise your speaking, listening, reading and writing so that you can understand people better, talk about most daily topics, read a simple news story and write a long email or letter. There will be reading and writing exams.
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 a) you are on a Low Wage or b) you are either on Jobseekers' Allowance (JSA) or Employment & Support Allowance(ESA) or c) you want to get a job or progress into a better job and you receive other state benefits (including Universal Credit). For more information click hereFull fee £279.00 Senior fee £223.00 Concession £140.00 - ESOL - communication skills for life and work (level 1 reading and writing)Course start date: Mon 19 Feb 2024 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
Are you now a confident speaker and writer of English? Can you communicate quite easily in your daily life, understand people around you and read and write about everyday subjects? This intermediate course will help you speak, read and write about more complicated topics with greater accuracy. You will learn how to make a presentation, write formally and informally, and read about more challenging and interesting subjects. There will be reading and writing exams in July.
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 a) you are on a Low Wage or b) you are either on Jobseekers' Allowance (JSA) or Employment & Support Allowance(ESA) or c) you want to get a job or progress into a better job and you receive other state benefits (including Universal Credit). For more information click here
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £349.00 Senior fee £279.00 Concession £175.00 - Workplace communication skills: customer care and front of house hospitality (ESOL level 1-level 2)Course start date: Mon 15 Apr 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Are you working with the public – in a shop, at reception, on the phone? Are you front of house at a hotel or restaurant? Would you like to work in these sectors? This course will help you communicate at work with customers, your colleagues and your manager. You will learn how to speak fluently and politely and use the vocabulary you need for work. You will practise how to help a customer or a client, make suggestions, give advice, begin and end a conversation, and take messages over the phone. You will focus on how to do all this with the right level of formality and politeness.
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 a) you are on a Low Wage or b) you are either on Jobseekers' Allowance (JSA) or Employment & Support Allowance(ESA) or c) you want to get a job or progress into a better job and you receive other state benefits (including Universal Credit). For more information click hereFull fee £99.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £50.00
Can't see a course you want?
Add this category to your waiting list to set up alerts and we will update you when new courses are released online.
Add me to waiting list