ESL002: Intermediate English as a Second Language

In Unit 1, you will learn how past and present tenses change the meaning of what you read and write. You’ll practice using different tenses and see how the verb "to be" can change a sentence's purpose. Unit 2 expands your ability to read actively as you ask questions while you read and predict what will happen next. In Unit 3, you will read more and recognize how adjectives are used to describe things. Unit 4 brings these skills together as you write a descriptive paragraph about something you learned in the past. By the end of ESL002, you will be able to use different tenses to describe past experiences and explain to a reader how you best learn.

When you are learning a new language, you should be able to measure your growth and improvement. In this section, you will complete activities that demonstrate your knowledge of English so you can measure your success as you complete our series of ESL courses.

Unit 1 introduces you to two tenses used in Standard American English: simple present and simple past. In English, we use tenses to tell us when something happens. Is an event happening now? Did it already happen? The way we use verbs, called the tense of the verb, tells us this. In this unit, you will learn how to recognize tenses, what makes them different, and when each is used. You’ll learn about the verb "to be" and how it is used in a sentence. Finally, you will practice identifying tenses and writing your own short phrases in past, present, and present perfect tense. 

Completing this unit should take you approximately 2 hours.

Unit 2 introduces you to the active reading strategies of skimming and questioning. These strategies help you better understand what you read. Along with using context clues and making predictions, which we discussed in ESL001: Beginning Lower-Intermediate English as a Second Language, knowing how to use these strategies will help you comprehend, or understand, more of what you read. In this unit, you will practice skimming job ads and questioning a story to see how it improves your reading skills.

Completing this unit should take you approximately 2 hours.

In Unit 3, you'll learn how adjectives are used to add a description to the things we read and write. Building your vocabulary with descriptive words will help you explain yourself more clearly and understand more of what you read. In academic reading and writing, it's important to know many describing words to both understand what we read and write for a college-level audience. In this unit you'll practice recognizing and using adjectives and adverbs, and see how these words can offer more detail about a topic. This unit concludes with a WebQuest activity where you'll build your vocabulary of describing words.

Completing this unit should take you approximately 2 hours.

Unit 4 combines the lessons in units 1, 2, and 3. In this unit, you'll read about events in the past and see how timelines are used to write about events. Then you'll write about an event in your own past and share it in the class discussion forum.

Completing this unit should take you approximately 4 hours.

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Take this exam if you want to earn a free Course Completion Certificate.

To receive a free Course Completion Certificate, you will need to earn a grade of 70% or higher on this final exam. Your grade for the exam will be calculated as soon as you complete it. If you do not pass the exam on your first try, you can take it again as many times as you want, with a 7-day waiting period between each attempt.

Once you pass this final exam, you will be awarded a free Course Completion Certificate.