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It is important to become proficient in English to make your stay in the US a good one. You will be required to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) before you will be admitted to a US college or university. The school may also have additional tests for graduate students who are prospective teaching assistants.
All schools require the Test of English as a Foreign Language
(TOEFL). The TOEFL tests your proficiency in English reading and
writing. You may also be required to take the Test of Spoken English
(TSE), which tests your speaking ability. Most schools require a score
of at least 500 on the TOEFL exam for admission. A score of 600 or
better will be required for fields which require a higher English
language proficiency, such as journalism or literature, or at the more
selective schools.
Some schools offer on-campus English as a Second Language (ESL)
programs and will admit you to these programs without requiring the
TOEFL exam. If you score high enough on the TOEFL exam after
completing the ESL program they will admit you to the regular academic
program. It is often much less expensive to study English in your home
country and take the TOEFL there than to participate in a school's ESL
program.
Before considering an ESL or intensive English program, it is best to
take the TOEFL. It will help you determine how much additional study you
need to qualify for admission.
After you arrive on campus, you will probably have to take the
school's own English proficiency examination. Based on your score on
this exam, they may require you to take special classes to improve
your English speaking, reading, listening, and writing skills. They may also have
courses designed to help you learn how to write technical English in
your chosen field of study, improve your study skills, and teach you
job interview skills.
Information about the TOEFL can be obtained by calling 1-800-GO-TOEFL
(1-800-468-6335) or 1-609-771-7100 (TTY 1-800-529-3590 or
1-609-734-9362), fax 1-609-771-7500, sending
email to toefl@ets.org,
or writing to
TOEFL, PO Box 6152, Princeton, NJ
08541-6152 USA.
Immersion is the best way to learn any language, especially
English. American English is filled with idioms and jargon, more so than other
languages. You won't be able to learn all the peculiar turns of phrase
until you try living the language.
If you have a choice
between a casual English class and an intensive English class, enroll
in the latter.
Your school may have a writing center than can help you improve your
writing ability. They will review your essays with you, pointing out
errors and awkward phrases. Going over your writing with a native
speaker is one of the best ways to enhance your writing skills.
In addition, there are several organizations who offer intensive
English language courses for a fee. The first one, ASPECT, is highly
recommended.
Financial aid is not available for any intensive English language
programs. You will find that it is significantly less expensive to
study English in your home country than in the US.
Other useful sites include
CMU English Server,
Comenius English Language Center,
Conversations for ESL Students,
Dave's ESL Cafe,
Englishtown,
EFL Magazine, and
ESL Home Page.
See also
ESL Magazine, a magazine intended
for ESL educators, and the
US Information Agency's English Language Programs.
You will find that teaching styles in the US are much different than
those in other countries. Teaching in the US is more interactive and
less dependent on rote memorization. Students regularly interrupt
faculty to ask questions or offer constructive criticism of part of
the lecture. This is encouraged, since professors prefer discussion
and debate to passive silence. You will also notice that the students
and faculty tend to dress rather informally. Faculty will have open
office hours for students to come by and ask questions.
Class sizes tend to be smaller in the US than in other
countries. Although first-year students may have a few large classes,
most classes are small, with 15 to 45 students. The large lectures
will often have small recitation sections run by teaching
assistants or faculty. Recitation sections review the material
presented in the main lecture, supplement it with additional material,
and provide an opportunity to ask questions.
Your grade in most classes will be based on your scores on
tests, quizzes, and assignments. If the class has a recitation or
discussion section, active participation can improve your grade. The
better the professor and teaching assistants know you and your work,
the better they will be able to assess your progress.
Unless the professor has indicated that collaboration is expected, you
should do all of the work on your own. Collaborating with fellow
students on individual assignments is considered cheating. Studying
with others is ok, but assignments should be completed individually.
Likewise,
quoting a text word for word without properly attributing the source
is plagiarism. Cheating and plagiarism is grounds for failing a class
or even expulsion from school.
The most important phrase you should learn is "Where can I find a
toilet?".
If you need to visit the toilet, nearly any word will do. All of the
following words will work: men's room (women's room), restroom, lavatory,
toilet, bathroom, little boy's room, potty, head, john, and water closet.
The last four are less common, but will probably be understood.
The words "loo", "earth closet", and "usual offices" will generally not be understood by Americans. The word
"outhouse" is understood to mean a toilet located outdoors, such as a
portapotty, not the English meaning (farm building).
If you ask for
the cloakroom, you will be directed to the place where you hang or check
coats, not the restroom.
There are no public toilets on the streets in the US. Public toilets
can be found in hotels, bars, restaurants, museums, department stores,
gas stations, airports, train stations, and bus stations. Some businesses
may reserve their restrooms for the use of their patrons.
In many airports, toilets and urinals do not have a flush handle, but
instead flush automatically when an infrared sensor determines that
you have left. If you don't see anything that looks like a flush
handle, step away from the toilet and see if it flushes after a few
seconds.
British English and American English have significantly different
vocabulary and usage. Do not assume that because you a proficient in
British English that American English will be easy. For example, in
American English the phrase "pass out" means to distribute or to lose
consciousness, not the British English meaning of to graduate. Some
words might even have completely opposite meanings. For example,
"to table a measure" means to postpone consideration in the US, not to
commence discussion, and "public school" means a school operated by
the city or state government, not a private school. The word "school"
can be used to refer to colleges and universities, not just grammar school.
In American English the abbreviation "s.o." stands for "significant
other", a spouse or girlfriend/boyfriend, not sex offender.
Additional sets of confusable words can be found in the
English-English Dictionary.
English usage among Americans will often differ from the grammar you
learn from books. There are considerable dialectal variations across
the country. Many Americans will not follow some of the prescriptive
rules of grammar they learned in elementary school. Rules that
prohibit split infinitives and ending a sentence with a preposition
are often ignored.
American English is an evolving language, not carved in stone.
When someone says "thank you", the customary response is "you're
welcome". "You're welcome" doesn't have the same meaning as in British English.
You will find it handy to carry a small pocket dictionary with
you. There is also a free
Webster's dictionary and thesaurus
on the web.
NTC publishes a series of books about American idiomatic
expressions, which you can find in most large bookstores. You will find these books helpful.
For a dictionary of words related to financial aid and admissions,
please look at this site's glossary.
The type of errors international students make depends a lot on the
structure of their native language. For example, Japanese visitors
often have trouble with determiners like "a", "an", and "the" because
articles are largely lacking in Japanese. Some Japanese students omit
articles entirely. Others try to compensate by including too many.
Try to avoid double negation. The resulting interpretation may be the
opposite of what you intended. Double negation is also difficult to
understand. It is better to be direct.
Other very common types of errors made by nonnative speakers of
English are illustrated in the following table.
People from India tend to speak too quickly and
mellifluously. Some Americans will have difficulty understanding you,
because it will sound like one continuous stream of syllables to
them. If you are having trouble communicating, try to enunciate and
articulate each word independently of the others.
It is important to maintain eye contact during a conversation. Looking
away is a sign of embarrassment or boredom.
Americans dislike silence in a conversation, and will feel awkward and
uncomfortable if there are long pauses. If you fall silent in
contemplation, they will feel the urge to fill the silence with chatter.
English Proficiency Testing
Intensive English Classes
English and TOEFL Preparation Sites
Professional Associations for ESL
Teaching Styles
Toilets
British English and American English
Common Usage Errors
Type of Error Example Errors Correct Form
Problems with auxiliary verb sequences, especially involving tense
agreement.
She should have talk to him.
She should have talked to him.
Wrong choice of preposition.
The female dog was on heat and ready to
mate.
The car was covered in snow.The female dog was in heat and ready to
mate.
The car was covered with snow.
Missing determiners.
She is good woman.
What is answer?She is a good woman.
What is the answer?
Disagreement between determiner and noun,
especially with regard to number.
He has many wonderful toy.
He has many wonderful toys.
Irregular verbs, nouns, and adjectives, such
as think/thought, go/went/gone, drive/drove/driven, send/sent, and child/children.
He sended the childs home to their parents.
He sent the children home to their parents.
Subject-verb agreement errors.
The questions on the test was
difficult.
The passage through the hills were narrow.The questions on the test were
difficult.
The passage through the hills was narrow.
Commonly confused words, such as to/too/two,
except/accept, effect/affect, which/that, then/than, piece/peace, and its/it's.
Reuniting the dog with it's master was a
peace of cake.
Reuniting the dog with its master was a piece
of cake.
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