“Some stories, some magic, some vocabulary, something for your mind, something for your heart.”  This is a general conversation class where discussion topics are determined by the students themselves. 

When it comes to learning English, it is not as easy as A-B-C. It all depends on your attitude and how you study.   In this class, the door is always open for you. Just come in and you will soon get the knack of speaking English with greater ease.   

Edward Spaeth

Make a new friend while talking with two people from other countries. This class works in small groups of three discussing real life situations. Each week a different topic and different question is presented. Each group shares their thoughts, opinions, and ideas together for about fifteen minutes before discussing them with the rest of the class. We learn from our peers and there are no wrong answers.

Low Intermediate/Intermediate

This class encourages student conversation in two ways: First, through the examination of idioms, their meaning and usage in sentences. Second, through the imaginative interpretation of pictures and cartoons by collaboratively creating stories and sharing ideas in the small group as well as with the entire class. Active participation is expected.

Over eight weeks, students have the opportunity to practice the intricacies of American English. We learn to listen carefully. We work on using lips, teeth and tongue as we tackle the strange sounds of a second language. We ready poetry, sing songs, and explore other activities that will enable us to speak English as it is spoken in the United States.

Learn to master those strange English vowels and other difficult sounds. And we'll practice speaking with stress and inflection just like a native speaker. Idioms and conversation practice as well. We’ll have some fun while we're learning.

Members must participate in this class by repeating every word the discussion leader says.  Members practice pronunciation and also learn vocabulary, songs and jokes.  The main purpose is to feel comfortable speaking English.

Members must participate in this class by repeating every word the discussion leader says.  Members practice pronunciation and also learn vocabulary, songs and jokes.  The main purpose is to feel comfortable speaking English.

Ellie Adiel

This course encourages as much oral participation as possible. We work with dialogues, sentence patterns, roleplaying, vocabulary and pronunciation, all based on real life situations and using vocabulary that is likely to be heard in every day life. We also include words and phrases that are more likely to be encountered in newspapers and magazines.

The purpose of this class is to acquaint students with the informal idiomatic English spoken continuously by Americans whether heard on the street, on TV, radio, or read in print. In this class there is no pressure put upon students to attempt immediate idiomatic discourse with Americans, but rather to seek the joy of recognition when these strange verb phrases are heard or appear in the media at large.

The class reads articles taken from newspapers on topics of current interest.  Each student has a chance to read, pronounce vocabulary words and discuss the ideas presented.  It is a good way to learn more about the American experience while building one’s vocabulary.

The world has become extremely complicated since September 11th, 2001. As a result, this class spends part of the hour on slang expressions and more time on serious “stuff”. We read aloud and discuss opinions and editorials from the New York Times relating to current events and human interest stories.

This course is intended for students who have already studied English but need to develop their comfort level in speaking and comprehension. A  particular grammar point is taught in each class and then practiced by speaking, role play and games, listening to music and oral exercises. Active class participation is essential.

In this class, there will be weekly readings of assorted short stories by famous American authors. Students will develop their writing and analytical skills through the study of plot, point of view characterization, setting, and symbolism. Students are expected to do reading assignments ahead of time. Class participation is required.

In order to write well in English, one must have the ideas and the vocabulary.  This class will introduce a topic and discuss it while teaching vocabulary.  Then members will write an essay to be reviewed and corrected by the instructor.

This is a reading class designed to improve the existing low-intermediate skills of the student. Emphasis is given to reading out loud in class with correction to pronunciation. The class offers an opportunity to increase vocabulary and self-confidence by use of classic children’s books including Charlotte’s Web and Sarah, Plain and Tall. Each title is chosen for easier English reading.

This class covers the development of America: The American Revolution, slavery, the Civil War and Reconstruction, western and overseas expansion, reform movements, the Great Depression and the New Deal, World Wars I and II, post-war prosperity, the Cold War, and the Vietnam War.  Also examined are the three branches of the national government, the growth of political parties, the Bill of Rights, important Supreme Court decisions, and the way in which are laws are made.  Copies of historical documents (the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Gettysburg Address), newspapers and patriotic songs from various periods and reenactments of events dramatize and add immediacy to the topics.

This class will cover historical, environmental and cultural factors forming the American character. The format is a discussion followed by a short reading from the book American Ways: An Introduction to American Culture. Pronunciation, vocabulary, and idioms will also be included.

This class examines the demographic, economic, social, and political factors contributing to the ascendancy of New York City as the quintessential world city.

This class has two parts.  During the first hour, participants talk about anything pertaining to food: vocabulary, recipes, restaurants, shopping, customs, holidays, etc.  In the second hour members share food that is brought in and each dish is discussed.  Each student explains his or her dish and recipes are compared.  Class participation is required and corrections are made by the discussion leader.  The class is small and informal with a lot of conversation.

This class is a discussion about what is happening in America today with a focus on clear pronunciation and vocabulary. We also explore how American language and culture work together and where our ideas come from. The class speaks in unison and ends with singing a popular American song relating to the subject.