The UTRGV Language Institute provides English courses open to students and anyone interested in learning the language. It offers a variety of classes that range in difficulty depending on the intensity of the course.
“The Language Institute is designed for students whose first language is not English,” Language Institute Director Norma Ramos said. “We offer an intensive English program where a student studies eight weeks in a level. We offer 10 levels ranging from the basic level all the way to an advanced level. The student will take a placement test and it will determine the level that he will be placed in. The placement test is a two-hour test and we test them by giving them an oral exam, a written exam and a multiple-choice exam.”
Teachers at the Language Institute are required to teach reading, listening, grammar and speaking skills to
their students.
Students come from different countries such as Colombia, Venezuela, South Korea, France and others.
“We have students here who are parents and they are here because they want to help their children with homework,” Language Institute Learning Instruction Specialist 1 Blanca Duarte said. “We have students who have their businesses in the USA, and they are from another country, and they need to know the language. I like to do conversation more than anything else. … In class, I make them participate with not only one person but to get engaged in different groups since we have students from different countries.”
The Language Institute also offers Spanish classes, as well as other language courses such as Chinese and German. A variety of electives including TOEFL Prep, Business English and Adult Ed are also offered, but the English course is the most popular one.
“This is the first time I am learning English, and it’s been helping me a lot,” Intermediate English student Karen Arce said. “I’ve been living here since four years ago, and I think it’s time to speak properly. … We have grammar classes in the morning and then we have this class that is for listening, reading and we practice a lot and I really like that.”
