Course Catalog

Nonnative Speakers Courses

The English language is notoriously tricky.

When talking with friends and colleagues, little mistakes don’t matter. However, in business writing, even small errors can confuse readers, or even offend them despite our good intentions. If you speak English well, but it isn’t your first language, your writing ability may sometimes slow you down. We have developed these courses after working with hundreds of nonnative speaking professionals. In these nonnative speakers courses we will start at your current skill level and help you make noticeable improvements in your business writing abilities.

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Showing all 2 results in Nonnative Speakers

Business Writing ESL Classes for Nonnative Speakers of English

Business people who are not native speakers of English have usually learned the basic English language skills in ESL classes and may be fluid in English. However, anyone using a language that is not their native language will find themselves using rules and structures from their native language as they speak the new language. ESL classes don’t prepare people for all the phrases and sentences a business person must use during an entire business career. As a result, most business people who have a language other than English as their native language need coaching to refine their language usage. That is especially true for written English. In a conversation, language errors are less noticeable. However, when the words are in print, errors in English usage may be prominent.

An ESL Class for Business People Must be Individualized

An ESL class for business people must have an instructor/coach who identifies the words, phrases, and sentence structures the business person is using that are not correct. The standard exercises from ESL classes are not helpful for someone who knows English but must polish it in business writing.

Business People Must Be Able to Learn at Their Own Pace

An online writing class for nonnative speakers of English is ideal because polishing language usage must take place over time. The self-pacing feature of online writing training allows students to learn and practice new language patterns in their writing. When the new patterns are integral to their writing, they come into verbal usage, so learning the correct patterns in writing will improve your speaking communication as well as written. Integrating the new structures and elements of English into their speaking and writing requires that business people have the time to integrate the new language patterns.

The ESL training Must Be Based on the Student’s Writing

ESL class exercises are not appropriate for the experienced English speaker because the writing problems each nonnative speaker has are specific to their writing. A course instructor must evaluate the business person’s writing, identify skill needs, and give assignments that will enable the business person to write and speak the phrases and sentences correctly. The two courses for nonnative speakers of English offered by the Business Writing Center are individualized, with coaching from a qualified instructor, and based on the business person’s writing.

Individualized Writing for Nonnative Speakers of English

The Individualized Writing for Nonnative Speakers of English course is for people who have a good command of the English language from ESL classes but have basic usage problems resulting from speaking English as a second language. The course is a tutorial. Your instructor will evaluate samples of your writing, identify errors in language, grammar, punctuation, spelling, and sentence structure, show you how the text should be written, coach you through learning the skills, and evaluate your learning as you progress through the course. The course gives you the focused training you need to write correct business English.

You will send writing samples to your instructor. Your instructor will read each sample thoroughly, identify skills you need to learn, list the sentences with problems in each area with corrections showing how they should have been written, assign readings from the grammar textbook, answer any questions you have about the skill, have you practice the skill, and give you an online quiz containing sentences from your original writing sample that you must correct in ten minutes to be sure you have learned the skills. You will go through four cycles of this work on your writing skills. You have unlimited access to the instructor in the course.

You may purchase the grammar textbook we use from a bookseller such as Amazon.com. However, the textbook is not required for the course. You will use online training materials to learn the skills.

Writing Coaching for Executive Nonnative Speakers of English

The Writing Coaching for Executive Nonnative Speakers of English course is oriented toward executives and managers who are nonnative speakers of English and want individual attention and focused training that will help them write clear documents and polish their language usage. Your instructor will evaluate your writing by reading samples of the writing you provide. The instructor will determine what you need to learn to be able to write high-quality business documents. The course will teach you the skills. This course includes both training in how to structure clear business documents and in language usage.

You will go through the course at your own pace, so you can complete it within a few weeks. However, you have up to four months to complete the course so you can fit the study time into your schedule. All lessons must be finished within the four-month period.

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