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Intensive English: Grammar/Listening/ Conversation
The Intensive English classes are held from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. daily, for a total of 25 hours of English per week.
Components of the Grammar, Listening & Pronunciation, and Conversation Classes
On the first day, you are tested in all three of the following areas. Based on the test results, you are then placed in the appropriate levels for each of the skills. You can move up a level when you are ready by passing a level change test in each of the classes independently.
Grammar: 8:30 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.
This section includes Grammar & Structure, Reading, Writing and Vocabulary Building. The primary focus of this section is Accuracy: to give you the building blocks in terms of grammar and structure rules, and to allow you to practice these rules through speaking activities and writing assignments.
We use the following textbooks in English Grammar class:
Level 1: Grammar Spectrum One
Level 2: Grammar Dimensions One
Level 3: Grammar Dimensions Two
Level 4: Grammar Dimensions Three
Level 5: Grammar Dimensions Four
Level 6: Various materials
You are required to buy or borrow the textbook assigned for each level. This text is used in class and for homework. You are required to obtain the assigned book within the first week of classes. As a student, you may borrow the text books from POINT3 with a $55 dollar deposit which is refundable upon returning the book in its original state.
This section includes Pronunciation, Idioms and Expressions, and Listening Comprehension skills. The focus is on helping you develop your comprehension skills via listening for gist and details, and at the higher levels, listening for tone and underlying meaning - such as irony, sarcasm, etc. The listening activities could include dictation - formal from ESL texts or informal from student-sharing of information - listening to songs and dialogues for missing words or phrases, information-gap activities where the students need to combine their knowledge to complete an activity, listening to radio and/ or television excerpts, "authentic" dialogues taken from real life, etc.
Conversation: 11:45 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Through the use of short themes, this class is intended to help you develop your ability to express their ideas fluently. Projects are often assigned which can be done in or outside the classroom, and directly relates to the theme and targets the vocabulary, expressions, grammar and other aspects addressed during a specific week.
Less overt attention is paid to accuracy in this class, so there is less time spent on formal grammar points, though teachers correct students and do quick review lessons of grammar structures on the board. The activities practice speaking, but written fluency is also addressed, and reading assignments are a good way to prepare students for different topics of study. You are expected to participate fully so that you practice elements learned in accuracy class and comprehension class.
Once-a-month the classes are conducted outside the classroom, around the city of Montreal. These outings are organized classes that follow the week’s topic. For example, if the topic of the week is News and the Media, the outing may be a visit to a local radio or TV station, or a local newspaper. This is your chance to use the language you learned in the class with the people of Montreal in real-life situations.
Integrated TOEFL Preparation
POINT3's TOEFL program is integrated into the intensive English program at level 4. At this level and up, elements of the TOEFL are integrated into the everyday courses. This means that there is a focus on English grammar: the different elements of grammar, the parts of speech, and idiomatic expressions. Vocabulary-building and some test-taking techniques are also a part of the TOEFL portion. As students work through the different areas to be tested, they are required to reflect upon how the language works. Reading and writing exercises are homework requirements and practice tests are given along the way to permit the students to experience a test situation, and to develop the concentration necessary to complete the two-hour test. Practice exercises on the computer allow students to become familiar with the new testing methods of the TOEFL examination. Please note that this is not a test preparation course.
