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Courses in English as a Second Language (ESL) take many forms. The Internet abounds with courses, aids to finding courses, offers for courses on CD, etc. It all starts with Esl.com, a thorough locator site for ESL courses and classes in the United States, well updated and available in Japanese, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, and Portuguese. All are courses available for a tuition or inscription fee, and the site is obviously directed at foreign students interested in paying to learn English in the United States. What the sites for the professional programs don't say is that there are Adult Education classes for studying ESL in most metropolitan areas and that these are offered at very low cost. Granted, the ESL programs described at Esl.com are most likely intensive, designed to teach English fast, and may accomplish that aim excellently, whereas the evening and Adult Education classes probably meet only a time or two per week. But the foreign student should know that, instead of high-priced ESL classes in expensive areas, they can probably find adequate courses in an inexpensive location, leaving them time to explore, mingle, and learn English on the street. Fairfax County, Virginia, for example has a variety of ESL offerings and at very low prices. Tuition and books for a class that meets in two 2-hour sessions per week for 12 weeks is about $250. Another 12-week ESL course involving 3-hour sessions five times a week is incredibly less than $600. And the courses are offered in multiple locations and at multiple times, to accommodate every schedule. Most colleges in the United States have summer ESL programs for incoming international students who can arrive before the fall semester. Courses on CD: Multilingualbooks.com offers a sampling of ESL classes on CD. These are certainly much less expensive than international travel, lodging costs, and tuition, but they also don't offer much of a grasp of English unless coupled with conversation and reinforcement in a native English setting.
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ESL Courses
