English Language Programs teach students from abroad

Daily Pennsylvanian (student newspaper of the University of Pennsylvania)

Yvonne Wang, 17, may only have been in the United States for six months, but she can hold her own in an English conversation.

Wang is just one of about 2,000 international students enrolled in Penn’s English Language Programs, a set of intensive programs for people from abroad who want to learn English. During their stay at Penn, students are enrolled in the program but are not officially affiliated with a school at Penn.

The ELPs break down into more tailored programs, like University Connection, which targets people who are looking at undergraduate or postgraduate degrees in English-speaking countries, or the International Business Communication Program, another program that focuses on teaching English to business professionals.

Approximately 1,800 to 2,000 students are taken into the program every year, from over 20 different countries.

“There has been an increasing number of students in their gap years who come because they’re trying to apply for universities in the U.S.,” said ELP Associate Director of Business Development Sharon Kim.

An intensive ELP core consists of eight separate seven-week sessions, with courses for beginners in reading, writing, listening and speaking, up to more integrated skills such as advanced academic writing. Students can stay for as many seven-week sessions as they want.