Summer Short Courses

Summer Short Courses focus on several skill areas (speaking and listening, grammar, writing, and reading) through fun, learner-centered classes. For more information see

Registration & Refund Policy

Register now for our Summer Short Courses. Download an application and

  • fax it to 404-894-8755
  • mail it to Language Institute
    Georgia Institute of Technology
    O’Keefe Building, South Wing
    151 Sixth St. N.W.
    Atlanta, GA 30332-0374, or
  • bring it to the front desk in the O’Keefe Building.

Deadlines: May Short Courses: April 24, 2009
July Short Courses: June 26, 2009

Refunds: If you wish to cancel your registration, send a written request to registrationcoordinator@esl.gatech.edu. You can receive a 100% refund if you cancel BEFORE the application deadlines. No refunds will be issued for cancellations on or after the deadlines.

Class Descriptions

  Beginning-Low Intermediate
  Intermediate to Advanced

July Course Descriptions and Schedule

July Short Courses - July 6-24, 2009


Times  Monday, Wednesday, Friday
9-10
Research Writing A (FULL)
Research Writing B (FULL)
Public Speaking A (FULL)
American Pronunciation A (FULL)
10-11
11-12
 
   
 
12-1
American Pronunciation B (FULL)
Research Writing C (FULL)
Research Writing D (FULL)
1-2
2-3
American Pronunciation C (FULL)
Public Speaking D (FULL)
3-4

Times  Monday, Wednesday
9-10
10-11
11-12
12-1    
1-2
2-3
3-4

Times  Tuesday, Thursday
9-10
American Popular Culture A (FULL)
American Studies A (FULL)
Business Commun-
ication A
(FULL)
10-11
11-12
12-1        
1-2
Business Commun-
ication B (FULL)
American Popular Culture C (FULL)
American Studies B (FULL)
2-3
3-4

Beginning to Low Intermediate Courses

ESL: Dramatic English
Tuesday-Thursday • 9 a.m.-noon • May • $270 • six classes–18 hours
Improve your overall speaking fluency by participating in skits and improvisations. Overcome your fear of speaking by taking on the personality of different characters. Perform short monologues, dialogues, and improvisational skits. Attention is given to nonverbal language and voice-projection exercises. By the end of the class, you should feel more confident about your ability to communicate orally in English.

ESL: Everyday Conversation
Monday-Wednesday-Friday • 9-11 a.m. • May/July • $270 • nine classes–18 hours
Learn and practice vocabulary and idiomatic phrases needed to communicate in everyday life. Participate in role plays based on various situations, including eating at a restaurant, shopping, meeting new people, getting directions, buying a car, and going to a party. Work on any pronunciation problems that interfere with clear communication. The goal of the class is for you to gain confidence in your ability to speak to Americans informally.

ESL: Grammar Basics
Monday-Wednesday-Friday • noon-2 p.m. • July • $270 • nine classes–18 hours
Review basic rules of spoken and written English grammar. Use (not memorize) the rules in real, communicative activities including writing letters, e-mails, blogs, and performing dialogues. This course is ideal if you know minimal English or would like to learn how to communicate more accurately in English.

ESL: Reading Club
Monday-Wednesday-Friday • 2-4 p.m. • May/July • $270 • nine classes–18 hours
Read short stories, magazine articles, or very short novels outside of class. Then, during class, discuss the characters, events, or other content of what you have read. Your instructor will help you with vocabulary and give cultural background to the stories.

ESL: Topics in the News
Monday-Wednesday-Friday • noon-2 p.m. • May • $270 • nine classes–18 hours
Tuesday-Thursday • 9 a.m. - noon • July • $270 • nine classes–18 hours
Practice all four skills in English. Read and listen to various news stories in local newspapers and news programs, and collect various news stories throughout the course. As a final project, create a Language Institute news Web site with both print and video stories. You will have full responsibility for writing and producing news articles and video clips, as well as designing the Web site.

Intermediate to Advanced Courses

ESL: American Popular Culture
Tuesday-Thursday • 9 a.m.-noon or 1-4 p.m. • July • $290 • nine classes–18 hours
Use the skills of writing, reading, speaking, and listening in English as you learn about American popular culture. You and your classmates will do research on several areas of American culture, including music, film, sports, and advertising. You will read, listen to lectures and song lyrics, watch video segments, and do a number of site visits in and around Atlanta. You will keep a written and oral journal of your discoveries. Tuition includes the cost of two entrance fees to two sites. Students will be expected to use MARTA (Atlanta's public transportation system) for transportation to the sites ($20 fee for site visits included).

ESL: American Pronunciation
Monday-Wednesday-Friday • 9-11 a.m. • May • $270 • nine classes–18 hours
Monday-Wednesday-Friday • noon - 2 p.m. or 2-4 p.m. • July • $270 • nine classes–18 hours
Learn how to pronounce English more clearly and identify aspects of your pronunciation that interfere with the clarity of their communication. Learn to pronounce problematic sounds as well as learn rules for pausing, phrasing, intonation, linking, and stress. Use special exercises to help practice various aspects of pronunciation as well as exercises to help you incorporate these new speech patterns into normal conversation. By the end of the course, you should have the ability to do some self-monitoring of your pronunciation.

ESL: American Studies
Tuesday-Thursday • 1-4 p.m. • May/July • $290 • six classes—18 hours
 Tuesday-Thursday • 9 a.m.-noon • July • $290 • six classes—18 hours
Use the skills of writing, reading, speaking, and listening in English as you learn about the city of Atlanta from a historical and contemporary perspective, from slavery and the Civil War to Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement to the headquarters of Coca-Cola, Home Depot, and CNN, and a vibrant music scene. Read as well as listen to lectures and watch movie segments about the city. Keep a written and oral journal of your discoveries.  Spend part of class visiting the CNN Center and the Atlanta History Center. Tuition includes the cost of two entrance fees at these sites. Students will be expected to use MARTA (Atlanta’s public transportation system) for transportation to CNN and the Atlanta History Center.

ESL: Better Writing
Monday-Wednesday-Friday • noon-2 p.m. • May • $270 • nine classes – 18 hours
Practice making your vocabulary, grammar, and punctuation more accurate in your writing. Learn various techniques for sentence combination and word-order variations, and learn how to identify weaknesses in your writing. Get feedback on how to improve these areas. Learn to recognize differences in formal and informal writing in terms of vocabulary, grammatical structures, and punctuation.

ESL: Building Stronger Vocabulary
Monday-Wednesday-Friday • 2-4 p.m. • May • $270 • nine classes–18 hours
Understand and use common idioms and expressions in everyday conversation in English. Listen to the vocabulary in authentic contexts and learn to incorporate some of the expressions into your spoken English. Study vocabulary that will appear on standardized college entrance tests such as the SAT and GRE. Study word roots and parts to help you figure out meanings of unfamiliar words. Some class time is devoted to practicing vocabulary in realistic test settings.

ESL: Business Communication
Tuesday-Thursday • 9 a.m.-noon or 1-4 p.m. • July • $270 • nine classes—18 hours
Learn typical business vocabulary for reading, writing, and speaking. Write short business memos and reports. Discuss case studies about employees, products, or customers. Give at least one brief business presentation.

ESL: iBT TOEFL Preparation
Monday-Wednesday-Friday • 9-11 a.m. • May • $270 • nine classes—18 hours
 Monday-Wednesday-Friday • 2-4 p.m. • July • $270 • nine classes—18 hours
Prepare to take the iBT (Internet-based) TOEFL. Learn the format of each of the four TOEFL sections, including writing, reading, speaking, and listening. Learn what to expect on the test and practice answering questions similar to those that actually appear on the test. Get feedback on how well you perform the various tasks required on the test. A textbook is required (available at the Georgia Tech bookstore).

ESL Movie Making: An Integrated Language Skills Course
Tuesday-Thursday • 9 a.m.-noon or 1-4 p.m. • July • $270 • six classes—18 hours
Practice all the language skills–speaking, listening, writing, and reading–while making a class movie. Learn the basics of using movie-editing software and make a Web site for the film about a topic that interests you. Past topics include the Cherokee Indians and the city of Atlanta. Research your topic of interest and learn film techniques. Present information on film while visiting actual topic-related sites. As a final project, you will use your research and video clips to create a short documentary film and a live Web site.

ESL: Public Speaking
Tuesday-Thursday • 9-noon • May • $270 • six classes–18 hours
 Monday-Wednesday-Friday • 9-11 a.m. or noon-2 p.m. or 2 p.m.-4 p.m. • July • $270 • nine classes—18 hours
Learn how to give better presentations in English. Learn pronunciation as well as the cultural rules, such as how to organize information; use visual aids; use body language appropriately; and interact with an audience, large or small.

ESL: Research Writing
Monday-Wednesday-Friday • 9-11 a.m. or noon-2 p.m. • July • $270 • nine classes—18 hours
Practice your writing skills by writing two short research papers. The first will be on a topic specified by the instructor. The second will be on individually selected topics (related to your major field recommended). Emphasis in the course will be on learning how to paraphrase and synthesize information correctly. You will be expected to read several articles for each research topic. During the course you will learn how to identify weaknesses in your writing and get feedback on how to improve these areas.

Important Contacts