The Advanced Reading course focuses on the mastery of strategic reading, skimming, scanning, and recognizing topics and main ideas. As concepts become more complex and the vocabulary more versatile and topic specific, the reading skills of a student become more important in decoding paragraphs. As much as these lessons are focused on reading, the course inadvertently includes a wide range of topics that enable the learner develop thinking skills and increase his or her knowledge of specific terminology. The main skills covered in this course are:

• Previewing
• Scanning
• Skimming
• Using Vocabulary Knowledge for Effective Reading
• Making Inferences
• Finding Topics
• Discovering Topics of Paragraph
• Understanding Main Ideas
• Identifying Patterns of Organization
• Summarizing

This course introduces foreign learners to the various aspects of American culture and values. In many ways it also develops an understanding of one's own culture by learning methods to compare and contrast it within a certain framework. Some concepts in this class are:

• The American Religious Heritage
• The World of American Business
• Government and Politics in the United States
• Ethnic and Racial Diversity in the United States
• The American Family

Many students will be in situations where they have to deliver a message or make attractive statements in front of an audience or in a classroom setting. This course intends to help the student overcome fears and develop specific skills to become a great speaker. Students will:

• develop confidence when speaking in front of an audience
• improve their use of eye contact, posture, gesture, and voice
• orally present information, ideas, and opinions in a coherent and organized fashion
• lead and participate in group discussions
• improve their understanding of interpersonal and intercultural communication
• learn to use audio and visual aids to enhance presentations and keep listeners interested

The Advanced Grammar program consists of two segments. The first 8-week term focuses on Chapters 1-11 in the main textbook. The purpose of this course is to develop proficiency in the area of complex grammatical structures that exist in the English language. A lot of stress is put on details and exceptions in rules. Even experienced students find the study interesting as it is filled with intricacies. Topics presented are:

• An overview of the 12 tenses in English
• Adverb Clauses of Time
• Subject-Verb Agreement
• Nouns and Pronouns
• Modals
• The Passive

The second segment of the Advanced Grammar course covers:

• Noun Clauses
• Adjective Clauses
• Gerunds and Infinitives
• Coordinating Conjunctions
• Reduction of Adverb Clauses
• Cause and Effect, Contrast and Condition
• Conditional Sentences
• Numerous appendices to support specific topics

When a student reaches a certain level of English, he or she comes across numerous expressions that are hard to understand. This may frustrate a learner and make one think that his or her English ability is less than perfect. This course takes idiomatic concepts to another level and develops specific techniques to enable the student to identify and crack the code of complex idioms. Many cultural ideas are introduced along with vocabulary enrichment. Idioms are necessary to bring English alive. Some topics that will be covered to present idioms are:

• Negotiation
• Romance
• Problem Solving
• Facing Defeat
• Money

The use of a language in an academic environment may happen in different ways: reading text, writing essays, answer questions, or participating in discussions. One important way of being ready for these challenging tasks is to develop one's academic vocabulary. This course will focus on at least 570 words that are used commonly in an academic setting. It will also help the student develop an understanding of context and change of form (noun, adjective, etc.) and style. Some topics to be covered are:

• Our Changing Society
• Consumer Behavior and Marketing
• Use and Abuse of Natural Resources
• Encounters with Music and Sound

In many cases one's writing skills become important. Be it a simple letter of complaint or an application for college or master's program, it is possible to make a good impression on the reader with well written text. This course focuses on skills that one must possess to be considered an expert in writing. Individuals who learn these skills can effectively express themselves in an academic environment or a situation where formal correspondence is required. Skills presented are:

• Writing Paragraphs
• Revising and Editing
• Writing Essays
• Division and Classification
• Causes and Effects
• Comparison/Contrast
• Problem/Solution
• Writing Essays for Undergraduate and Graduate School Applications