Courses for international studentsExample Writing in first termIn second ter

(S=Student   A=Administrator)
S: Hi. I’ve come to ask about the English courses you run for international students.
A: Oh right — I assume you’re a student at the university?
S: Yes, I’ve just started.
A: OK. Well, we’ve got a range of courses. It depends what you think you need. And how much. Um — we can’t run everything at the same time though, so for example, in this first term, we are just doing a writing course.
S: I see. That sounds quite useful. What else is there?
A: Um. Some of the courses only run for single terms and we tend to focus on what students have difficulty with. That means we don’t usually do speaking courses but next term you can do listening. That’ll help you with lectures and things. Our pervasion is all based on what the majority of our international students need.
S: So is everything term-based — there’s nothing that you run all year?
A: Well, let’s have a look. Yes. there is a class for vocabulary and grammar every term. That’s for everybody but it’s split into three or four levels.
S: And what about in the holidays?
A: We don’t do anything during the winter or spring break but over the summer there’re just general classes because that’s what most students want — a bit of everything.
S: OK. Quite a variety then. I’ll have a think about what I really need because I haven’t got much time. Do you have about 20 students in each class — the same as our Science seminars?
A: We try to keep it at about 12 and certainly not more than 15. It’s important for language classes They’re very different from your normal courses.
S: Right — and how much are the classes?
A: The rate varies depending on how many hours you attend but you shouldn’t have to pay — usually the department will fund you and even sort out which classes you need.
S: Brilliant! It would be quite useful for me to have a certificate to go back to my country. Do you put us in for exams?
A: Yes. But we don’t like them to clash with your main course exams in June, so we run them in May. That leaves you time for revision.
S: Do I have to sign up for something now? I’m not quite sure what I want.
A: Classes haven’t quite started yet so you’ve got time to decide what you do. All we insist is that you sign up before week five. That gives you about three weeks to decide.
S: OK.