Bunker Hill Community College

Frequently Asked Questions

1. When can I begin to take college content courses?

You can take a math course together with Level III ESL courses.

You can take college content courses together with ESL courses at level III. We have organized "INTEGRATED" courses for you. Please see the master schedule.

We want you to take college content courses as soon as possible and that is why we have only three ESL levels in the ESL/ English for Academic Purposes Department. However, we want to be sure that you are able to read, write, take notes, and speak with your professors and classmates well.

2. Do I have to take all of the ESL courses in my level?

Some ESL students have to take all of them and some do not.

Please speak with your ESL teachers or visit the Assessment Center, B 109.

3. Which ESL course do I have to begin with?

We want YOU to answer this question. If you cannot answer it, we will help you.

Please log on to the ESL Department Web Site and read the curriculum for each ESL course.

We have three levels in the Basic ESL Department and each level has two courses; in the Academic ESL Department each level has four courses. We teach reading, writing, and grammar in all the courses. However, each course has a very clear focus.

Which language skill do you want to improve first?

Another way to answer this question is to ask yourself what your strengths and weaknesses are in English and which language skills you need to improve in order to succeed with general or academic English. Please remember that academic English and general English are very different. Academic English requires excellent reading and writing skills and a high level vocabulary.

If you have excellent speaking skills, you may not want to begin with the speaking course.

4. If I am only taking two courses in my level now, do I have to take the other two courses in this level?

Please speak with your teachers as soon as possible or visit the Assessment Center, B 109.

5. Can I take two courses in a level and two courses in a different level at the same time?

Yes you can if your language skills are in two different levels.

6. What can I do to complete the ESL courses as soon as possible?

That depends on you.

We give you many opportunities to learn ESL as quickly as possible. However, please keep in mind that academic English takes five to seven years to learn.

You can ask your teachers to give you extra homework.

You can work with CALL, Computer Assisted Language Learning. We have many software programs in the CSDL.

You can meet with tutors.

You have to take responsibility for your learning.

7. I graduated from a high school in the United States where I studied ESL, why do I have to study ESL again now at BHCC?

This is a good question, and we want to know the answer as well as you. For some reason, when you took the placement test at BHCC, either the CPT, Computerized Placement Test, or the ESL Placement Test, your level was ESL. These tests told us that your reading and writing skills need improvement before you can begin college content courses.

Do you know how important reading and writing are to receive a degree in the United States?

Talk to your teachers for advice about which courses will help you the most or visit the Assessment Center, B 109.