International Program and ESL

The Core ESL (English as a Second Language) Program at Oakwood Friends School provides intermediate-range students who place into it with a supportive learning environment and ample opportunity to practice the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. The goals are increasing English proficiency in order to succeed academically at all levels of the  Upper School program and college.

Oakwood Friends School has a two-tiered ESL program that takes advantage of the school’s small size and friendly teacher-student interaction. The Core ESL Program has classes in reading, writing, grammar, and conversation. English language learners who advance beyond the Core program may be placed in the advanced ESL class, where the focus is principally reading and writing.

ESL Lab is a workshop focusing on listening and speaking. Students speak about assigned topics and ask classmates questions in an informal, fun atmosphere.

Grammar class is an in-depth examination of grammatical structures; understanding, not memorization, so that students can use what they have learned to correct their own writing.

Reading class features fiction and nonfiction, using classic and contemporary American texts.

Writing teaches English sentence structure, with abundant opportunity to practice during in-class writing and via essay assignments.

Quotes from some of Oakwood's International Students: 

	Mahdia'19 Oakwood builds your leadership skills. ESL has greatly improved my English skills and Oakwood has built my leadership skills. I became a dorm proctor and grew very comfortable standing up and speaking in front of the entire school!
	Phong ‘17 At Oakwood, teachers can be your friend and mentor at the same time. There’s a closeness. Teachers at Oakwood push you, motivate you, and support you.
	Tanya ‘17 What I learned from ESL is more than to read, speak and write English, rather to understand the worth of it, to appreciate the beauty of it and to love it as a whole. College has been challenging, yet I enjoy every single day of it out of my love for English. And I thank Oakwood ESL for that.
	Wendy ‘15 The ESL program Oakwood provides is very helpful for international students who just come to the United States to study. All the teachers are super patient with our English study and they are trying their best to introduce American culture to us. It helped me to get used to conversational English rather than what I learned in textbooks back home.
	Yuchen ’16 The ESL program prepared me with the confidence to interact with both the teachers and the students. Classes are often thought provoking because they allowed me to share experiences without the fear of making mistakes.