ESL: Intermediate Listening & Speaking

This course is based on classes that I (Rob) developed and taught for eleven years at Cuyahoga Community College (after teaching for 10 years in China). As with any course and learning any language, the course itself will not make you improve your English. Only your practice, studying and using the language will improve your English. However, this course has guided many students to make great improvements in their English.

The course has five main parts

• L2L (Listen to Learn) – This is the core of the class. Everything else supports the L2L, and the L2L supports everything else. It involves imitating while listening to short sound files. This impacts your pronunciation, rhythm, intonation, linking and blending, listening, etc. Really, it impacts every part of your language as it changes the way that you think in English!
• Video Lessons – The video lessons give awareness and practice for common and important elements of the English language. They primarily focus on Pronunciation, Rhythm, etc., but also cover other topics.
  • The concepts presented in the videos are then further developed and practiced in the live class and using the L2L.
• Note-taking – The note-taking element of the class not only gives practice at taking notes (great for preparing for academic and other pursuits), but also focuses your listening to improve your listening, and your ability to process and use what you have heard.
  • The note-taking assignment often involves listening to short lectures and current events. We will then discuss these during the live class, and sometimes through the “Classmate Conversation”.
• Live Class – The live class gives opportunities to interact with the instructor and classmates. It gives time for feedback, correction, discussion and encouragement. Perhaps most importantly, it creates a community that makes the class and the language come alive. Students often learn and improve as much, or more, from their interactions with each other, than they do from being “taught” the material.
  • If you are not joining a live class, I highly recommend finding a friend (preferably a native speaker or from a different language) to take the class together.
• Classmate Conversation (for those in the live class) – “Classmate Conversation” continues the conversation out of class, throughout the week. This contributes to ongoing English practice, but probably more importantly, it promotes a language community and culture.
  • We use technology which allows interaction and conversations on a daily basis, and to do so on your own time without needing to schedule with others. (We know that you have a busy life and are excited to have ways that work with your busy life instead of giving one more thing to plan.)

Who is this class for?

When teaching at the local college, I used this same course format for both Levels 2 and 3, Level 3 being the highest class in the college. Why? Because it works!

Since the world is always changing, and many of our materials are from what is happening in the real world, the class is always changing, even for students who took it two years in a row. Also, since the class is adjusted for each individual student, it works well for a variety of English levels.

Is this class right for your English level? Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

• Are you able to have conversations with a native speaker?
  • You may struggle for some words. They may have difficulty understanding your accent. You may have trouble understanding them if they speak “too quickly”. There may be idioms or words that you don’t understand. The conversation may not be as smooth as you would like, but are you able to have a conversation? Are you able to express most of the ideas that want to share (even if it’s a struggle), and to have a real conversation?
• If you watch a movie or TV show in English, are you able to understand much of what they are saying, not everything, but a good amount?
  • There may be a lot that you aren’t quite sure, but are you able to understand the flow of the show and much of what they are saying?
• Are you willing to set the time aside to work on your English?
  • I know that you are busy, and I have always told my students that I am committed to not wasting their time. If something isn’t helping you, we can talk about it and make adjustments for your needs. That being said, learning or improving a language (or anything) takes effort and time. I have found that almost every time if something wasn’t helping a student it was because they either weren’t doing it, or weren’t going it correctly. Our having a chance to talk gave an opportunity to help them make the most of their time. I want you to make the most of your time, and not waste your time, but you need to be committed to doing the work, in the right way.

If you answered “Yes”, to all of these questions, this course is for you.
If you answered “No” to the fist two, but are willing to work, you may still want to give it a try. I have found that many students think the class is too hard at the beginning, but that is because they have very high standards for themselves (perfection!), and are doing much better than they realize.

This course is designed to speed up your listening and ability to freely and fluently express what you already know, and to continue to add to your vocabulary and ability to use it.

Note to Higher Level Students:

From my description above, you may feel that this class is too simple, and not for you. That set the minimum standard to take the class. This class works great for higher level students.

As stated above, the course adjusts itself to the level of the student. You will be able to move quickly through the pronunciation parts of the class (while likely also having benefit), and have more time to focus on the note-taking to refine your listening and add vocabulary. You can also use harder note-taking resources to challenge yourself.

The English level of my college students varied greatly. It wasn’t rare for someone in a Level 2 class to have better listening and speaking than someone in a Level 3 class. (I didn’t do placement, and it wasn’t based primarily on speaking ability.) This wasn’t a problem. The higher level students in the Level 2 class were able to push themselves, to get full benefit from the class.

Student Comments

The following comments are taken from anonymous student surveys completed at the end of the semesters when Rob was teaching online during the COVID lockdowns.

These comments will be updated, when we have have active Live Courses running for long enough to receive comments.

COURSE MATERIALS

These materials are not yet organized into a class outline. However, we would like to make them available for free for anyone they may help.

Interactive Videos on Edpuzzle

There is currently only one video available (as of 2022/11/10). More will be coming over the following days and weeks.

Video Resources

• Course Introductions
  • Course Introduction (coming soon!)
  • L2L (Listen to Learn) Introduction
  • Note-Taking Introduction (Outdated from my college course)
  • Classmate Conversation Introduction (for use with the Personalized Course)
• Pronunciation
  • Class Introduction: Pronunciation
  • Vowels
  • -ed verb endings
  • Schwa /ə/
  • Focus Words
  • Linking, Blending and Sound Change
  • Overview: Counting Syllables (Basic)
  • Pronouncing Stressed Syllables
  • Rhythm: Sentence & Phrases
  • Thought Groups
  • Word Endings: -s/-es

Class Syllabus and Plan

L2L (Listen to Learn) Resources

• L2L (Listen 2 Learn) Introduction (video)
• MP3s, Transcripts, etc.
  • The Primacy of Love (1:05) – Dean Good
  • Living Food Should Rot (0:42) – Joel Salatin
  • More Sound Files Coming Soon!

Note-taking Resources

• Note-Taking Introduction (video) (Outdated from my college course)
• A note about perspective
  • ??????
• Recommended Resources
  • Sermons
    • A note about sermons: You may need to jump to the middle of the sound file or video to get to the sermon instead of the music, etc.
    • Dean Good (GCNO)
    • Jonathan Schaeffer (Grace C&MA)
    • Chris Pierre (GCNO)
  • Lectures (Various Topics)
    • PragerU
      • 5 Minute Videos
    • TED.com
  • News
    Note: When anyone shares information, it will come from their perspective. This is especially true when reporting on the news, politics, etc. While you may prefer one view more than another, and listen to more from that view, I encourage you to listen to some from the other view as well, to see what information others are hearing and to be able to better identify what is true, and what may be presented in a way to promote one view, even if it isn’t completely true.
    • Newsmaxtv.com (conservative leaning)
      • Spicer & Co
    • NPR (liberal leaning)
      • All Things Considered
• More Note-taking Resources and details about the above resources will be coming soon!

Classmate Conversation Resources (for use with the Personalized Course)

The Classmate Conversation is part of the Personalized Course.

• Classmate Conversation Introduction (video)

Other Resources

Other materials will be made available on this page.

JOINING A LIVE CLASS

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We are just beginning to organize this page. I realize that the directions may not be very clear. If you need any help, feel free to Contact Us.