Part-Time Academic English Courses
The English Language Centre (ELC) offers several Part-Time Academic English Courses (PTAEC) for current UM students and community members whose first language is not English and would like to improve their academic English.
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Part-Time Academic English Courses are for UM students who meet the English proficiency requirement for their degree program and would like to build on their current skills and polish their academic English to support them in their degree courses. Community members who wish to take these courses must meet the University of Manitoba's English proficiency requirements
Five reasons to enroll in Part-Time Academic English Courses:
- Convenient: Courses are delivered remotely and in-person at Fort Garry and Bannatyne campuses. Courses consist of 10 to 30 hours of instruction.
- Class size: 10-15 students per class provides lots of one-on-one interaction with your instructor and classmates.
- Interactive: All courses are live and facilitated by highly qualified and experienced English language experts.
- Affordable: Only $150 per 30-hour course, and $50 for a 10-hour course. This equals $5 an hour!
- Fun: Meet other students and practice your English in a supportive environment!
Part-Time Academic English Courses through the ELC will not appear on your UM transcript. However, students who attend at least 80 per cent of the classes will receive a completion letter.
Because Part-Time Academic English Courses are not considered a full-time academic program, you cannot use them to apply for a student visa.
Course fees and payment options
- Course fees: $150.00 per 30-hour course, $50 per 10-hour course
The ELC office accepts online credit card payments. After payment is confirmed, you will receive a copy of the payment receipt via email. Payment must be completed for your registration to be considered complete.
Withdrawal and refund policy
If you are unable to attend a course you have registered for, you must request an official withdrawal by emailing us at elc@umanitoba.ca. If you stop attending a course without officially withdrawing, you will fail the course.
In order to receive a refund, you must request an official withdrawal by emailing us at elc@umanitoba.ca before a course begins. If this condition is met, we will refund your payment minus a $10 withdrawal fee. No refunds will be given after the first class has been completed.
Transfer requests
Transfer requests are not guaranteed and will not be considered after the first week of classes. Transfer requests must be submitted by email to elc@umanitoba.ca after the first class. The ELC will notify the student if their request is approved before the next scheduled class.
Cancellation policy
We reserve the right to cancel any course if there is insufficient enrolment. Students will be notified of any cancellations via email three business days prior to the start of class. Students may register for another course in the current term if the new course has space available. The registration fee will be transferred to the new course. To request a transfer, you must contact us by email at elc@umanitoba.ca or by phone at 204-474-9251.
Registration, schedules and courses
To register for a Part-Time Academic English Course through the ELC, please complete the PTAEC registration form (PDF) and submit it to the ELC by email at elc@umanitoba.ca.
To apply for a spot in ESLC 0298 Advanced Graduate Writers Workshop (AGWW), please complete the AGWW application form
Registrations for Part-Time Academic English Courses are processed on a first-come, first-served basis. Enrolment is limited, so be sure to register early in order to reserve a spot. If your preferred class section is full, we will put you on a waiting list and notify you if a space becomes available.
You will receive confirmation of your registration and class location via email two to three days before the course start date.
Students must be at least 17 years of age to register. Students may enrol in a maximum of two courses per term. You will need to make sure that the class times do not conflict.
Oral English Courses
ESLC 0260: Conversation and Discussion
Students practice speaking skills necessary for maintaining conversations and participating in discussions. Topics include effective small talk strategies, questioning and requesting, giving opinions, asking for clarification, and offering suggestions. Students will expand their intercultural awareness and learn basic strategies for holding respectful and appropriate conversations when interacting across cultures. Pronunciation features and common idioms are also reviewed.
Upcoming sessions
Please see course schedule
ESLC 0270: Pronunciation for Effective Communication
The purpose of this course is to provide students with insight into their strengths and weaknesses in pronouncing North American English, with an emphasis on improving comprehensibility. Focused practice on specific high priority sounds and intonation patterns will be provided in class. The instructor also suggests techniques for continued improvement after the course concludes.
Upcoming sessions
Please see course schedule
ESLC 0250: Oral Presentations
In this course, students practice the speaking skills required for participation in university seminars. Students learn strategies to use in organizing information, expressing opinion, agreeing and disagreeing and questioning and answering questions. The course covers both informal impromptu speaking and formal presentations. In addition, several related communication skills such as body language and pronunciation are covered. Students practice these structures and skills through discussions and both formal and informal speeches. Constructive feedback on individual speech is provided throughout the course.
Upcoming sessions
Please see course schedule
ESLC 0292: Oral English for Graduate Students
Graduate students develop skills and strategies for improving pronunciation and clarity in various academic contexts: presentations, leading seminars, and for interacting in less formal professional contexts.
Upcoming sessions
Please see course schedule
Academic Writing Courses
ESLC 0230: Effective Academic Writing
This course is an introduction to academic writing skills. Students focus on the writing process and develop skills to write organized and coherent academic texts. Pre-writing, drafting, editing and revision, paragraph and essay/document organization, an integration of quotations are discussed and practiced. Sentence level grammar, based on student needs, is an ongoing area of instruction throughout the course, along with review of common academic vocabulary and phrases. Constructive feedback will be provided by the instructor. (Peer-editing is not a significant feature of this course).
Please note: Graduate students wanting to develop more advanced writing skills should consider: ESLC 0210/0112, Research Writing for Graduate Students.
Upcoming sessions
Please see course schedule
ESLC 0210: Research Writing for Graduate Students
Graduate students develop and refine advanced writing skills, including analyzing discourse patterns common in graduate level writing. Students study a variety of academic genres to better understand the nature of research writing. Advanced academic phrasing and grammatical structures are also examined. Self and peer-editing skills will be developed throughout the course.
For graduate students only.
Upcoming sessions
Please see course schedule
ESLC 0262: Paraphrasing and Summarizing Skills
In this 10-hour course, students will learn to connect practical reading strategies to the essential academic writing skills of paraphrasing and summarizing. Students will extend these skills to the critical analysis of texts. Students will receive grammatical feedback on their work throughout the course.
Upcoming sessions
Please see course schedule
ESLC 0298: Advanced Graduate Writing Workshop
This 30-hour course is designed to support graduate students who are actively writing a M.A. thesis or Ph.D. dissertation (Ph.D. students are prioritized). The course builds on the topics, knowledge and skills addressed in ESLC 0210 Research Writing for Graduate Students. Students are strongly encouraged to complete ESLC 0210 before applying to take ESLC 0298.
Upcoming sessions
Please see course schedule
Remote classes (videos)
Watch our students taking classes remotely!
Research Writing for Graduate Students class
Oral English for Graduate Students class
Can't access YouTube? Click on these links to watch our videos
Textbooks are available in the UM Bookstore in University Centre and should be purchased before the start of class.
Student testimonials
Video testimonials
Ping-Faculty of Engineering
Ping (English)
Ping (Chinese)
Matthew-Asper School of Business
Matthew (English)
Matthew (Chinese)
Wenxuan-Asper School of Business
Wenxuan (English)
Wenxuan (Cantonese)
Can't access YouTube? Click on these links to watch our videos
Written testimonials
Zhuoma (English)
Hello, my name is Zhuoma and I am from Tibet. I study Education in the Faculty of Graduate Studies. In Fall 2020, I took the Part-Time Academic English course Oral English for Graduate Students, offered by the English Language Center at the University of Manitoba. During the course, I learned some basic English pronunciation rules, such as syllable stress, reduced sounds and pitch, that have the potential to help students sound more natural when speaking English. More importantly, one of the focal points of this course content is to learn how to deliver an engaging and effective speech in public using various strategies such as proper body language, visual aids and the speed of your speech. Another reason I like this course is that the instructor is highly responsive to students’ different needs and is knowledgeable about different cultures. Overall, this course is rich in content and inclusive in classroom atmosphere. Last but not least, this course was delivered remotely which allowed me to have more time flexibility and stay at home comfortably while also learning some useful knowledge. In a word, I highly recommend this course to fellow grad students.
If you are a staff or faculty member and you would like to arrange alternative courses for individual departments, please contact:
Alicia Franco-Espinosa
Director, ELC
alicia.francoespinosa@umanitoba.ca
204-474-9325
You may also be looking for
Contact us
English Language Centre
Room 520 University Centre
65 Chancellors Circle
University of Manitoba (Fort Garry campus)
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N2
Canada
204-474-9251