English for Speakers of Other Languages
Would you like to improve your English fluency and pronunciation? Do you need to write emails at work or essays at university? Are you learning English for the first time? From beginner level to advanced, we can help you.
You can study on general ESOL courses and practise your speaking, listening, reading or writing. Or you can focus on specific areas such as grammar, conversation and communicating at work. From Entry 1 to Cambridge C2 Proficiency, our wide range of courses will ensure you have the English you need to make progress at work, participate in social life and express yourself fully.
You will learn through a variety of different techniques– drama, dialogue, watching films and singing, making podcasts, games, play and work-based tasks. On all our courses, you will practise the skills most demanded by employers: problem-solving, analysing, working together, decision-making, attending to detail and seeing the bigger picture.
Whether you prefer to study for a qualification or not, our creative and well-qualified tutors will help you become a fluent English speaker, listener, reader and writer.
Which course is right for me?
To make sure you book onto the right course, we'll ask you to do a pre-course assessment. A face to face assessment is best and we advise you to do this. If you can’t do a face to face assessment you can do it online.
- Online assessment - Choose a course from the list below and on the next page, click on ‘Start Assessment’.
- Or book a face-to-face assessment - call 020 8078 0482 or contact us by email at universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk for an appointment.
Face-to-face assessments take place every Wednesday evening between 6 and 8pm
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.
- English pronunciation: stage 1 (intensive)Course start date: Mon 17 Jul 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: David John GwillimImprove your pronunciation of Standard English on this intensive course spread over five days in one week, which includes detailed study of vowel and consonant sounds. This course is or speakers of other languages who are fluent in English. Some homework required.Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £191.00 Concession £167.00 - English pronunciation: stage 2 (intensive)Course start date: Mon 24 Jul 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: David John GwillimIdeal if you have completed 'English Pronunciation: stage 1', this intensive course, spread over five days in one week, develops fluency and clarity and explores diphthongs and triphthongs, inflexion and intonation, and the rhythms of standard English.Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £191.00 Concession £167.00 - Grammar in practice: intermediate (entry 3-level 1)Course start date: Wed 25 Jan 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 face-to-face or online. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / (telephone temporarily unavailable) 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: working with people (ESOL entry 3- level 1)Course start date: Tue 31 Jan 2023
Location on this date: Online
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? Does your supervisor send you emails you need to reply to? This course will help you become a good communicator at work mainly when speaking and listening but also when sending text messages and emails. You will practise how to interact and engage with customers, how to be polite, how to sell things, talk over the phone at call centres, take messages and talk at the same time, make small talk with work colleagues and write formal emails and polite text messages to your manager.
You need to do a pre-course assessment face-to-face or online. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / (telephone temporarily unavailable) 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 £99.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £50.00 - Communication skills: read well, write well (level 1-level 2)Course start date: Sat 18 Feb 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Learning how to write well requires learning how to read well. This course will prepare you for all types of writing but especially essay writing. Learn and practise how to answer essay questions by choosing what to read, how to read it and make notes, and then turning these notes into good pieces of writing with effective introductions and conclusions and well argued opinions. This course will be especially suitable for anyone wanting to study or who works in a job which requires good writing.
You need to do a pre-course assessment face-to-face or online. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / (telephone temporarily unavailable) 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 £169.00 Senior fee £135.00 Concession £85.00 - ESOL level 1 (reading and writing)Course start date: Tue 21 Feb 2023 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street (other locations are available)
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.
Before this course, you need to do a pre-course assessment face-to-face or online. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / (telephone temporarily unavailable) 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 £319.00 Senior fee £255.00 Concession £160.00 - ESOL: Improve your fluency (level 1)Course start date: Tue 21 Feb 2023
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.
Before this course, you need to do a pre-course assessment face-to-face or online. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / (telephone temporarily unavailable) or click the Start Assessment button on this page. Log on with your email address (not name). Use Chrome if possible.
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 £79.00 Senior fee £63.00 Concession £40.00
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