Welcome to the MHC ESOL Program!

The ESOL Program supports MHC students who do not consider themselves native English speakers (and a whole variety of other students who have interesting and complex relationships with academic English). Support options include workshops, courses, 1-1 meetings, and group meeting programs.

Featured Events

Weekly Discussion Group

Do you get anxious about speaking in class? Do class discussions feel like they are moving too fast to jump into? Do you want to state your point but don’t know where to start? Come to the SAW Program’s Weekly Discussion Practice Group!

Work with SAW mentors and your peers on activities to build fluency, to prepare for class, and to become a more confident discussion participant. The best way to build discussion skills is to actively engage in discussions!

The group is open to all who want to build their ability to maintain classroom level discussion, but it is particularly suitable for students who identify as second language speakers of English. 

Cross-Cultural Buddies Program

The ESOL and LCC offer a great mutual network and exchange program for folks to know more people from diverse cultural backgrounds. It is a one-semester commitment during which you will meet regularly with your paired buddies to share and learn more about each other’s culture, customs, languages, etc. There will be 1-2 kickoff and social gathering events per semester.

Please feel free to email Jean Janecki (jjanecki@mtholyoke.edu), the coordinator of LCC, for detailed information about this program and upcoming activities.

Below are posters for past activities.

Past Workshops

The ESOL program has offered several workshops about the strategies of approaching college readings and emailing professors in the past.

2024 Spring Reading Workshop

Click on this link to access the materials (slides and sample articles) about the strategies for managing college reading loads and decoding academic English.

2023 Fall Reading Workshop

Click on this link to access the materials (slides and sample articles) about strategies for approaching college readings.

2023 Fall Emailing Professor Workshop

Click on this link to access the slides about strategies for writing emails to your professors.

Courses

Access the courses taught by ESOL Program faculty by this link.

Web Resources

Access past posts about the strategies for enhancing reading, writing, and listening skills by this link.

Contact Information

Need help? Not sure if ESOL is right for you? Or do you want to know more about the resources offered by the ESOL program? Please feel free to email the ESOL Director, Mark Shea, at markshea@mtholyoke.edu or sign up through Pathways with the button below.

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