American English-American Life
What you'll learn
- converse more easily with native English speakers in the U.S., pronounce American English more accurately, comprehend more easily the language used in daily life in the U.S., and know more about American people, society, and culture.
Requirements
- Students will be willing to learn a comprehensive amount of material about American English language usage, conversational skills, listening comprehension skills, and knowledge of American society and culture.
Description
This is an ESL (English as a Second Language Course) with a difference. You'll improve your English while learning about American people, society and culture. This course is very helpful to those planning on studying, traveling, or doing business in the U.S. Here's what you'll get from this course:
55 lectures, most of which have additional downloadable content that will be accessible now and in the future
improved conversational skills including greetings, introductions, and invitations; making suggestions, making small talk, and leaving conversations.
improved listening comprehension and improved pronunciation including understanding contractions, word reductions, word stress in sentences, and pronunciation of minimal pair words
improved American English grammar and usage including contractions, interrogatives, nouns, verbs (including verbs like “to get"), phrasal verbs, idioms, adverbs, compound words, prepositions, adjective position and order, gerunds, collocations
improved use of advanced vocabularies including geography, American people and society, computer and internet terms, environmental terms
learn about American people, races, ethnicities, generations, love and friendship customs, naming customs, family life customs, music, sports, government, and more
learn about American holidays: New Year's, Valentine's, Independence Day, Halloween and Day of the Dead, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukkah
meet some interesting Americans including: musician Wynton Marsalis, Native American surgeon Lori Alvord, US Senator Elizabeth Warren, athlete Apolo Ohno, Google co-founder Larry Page
enjoy some American folklore and scary ghost stories
You'll enjoy improving your English in a fun way!
Feedback from C.J. Shane's former ESL students:
~~~I am happy to be in this class, and I feel lucky to know our teacher. She taught me much knowledge which I didn't know. She is warm-hearted.
~~~We have learned a lot about American culture, American geography, and teaching methods. I like this class. It's really interesting.
~~~Thank you for giving us so much happiness. I feel so lucky to be one of your students. Thank you again for your vivid lessons.
~~~I feel I am so lucky. I have a lovely and friendly teacher. She taught us many interesting things. She taught us many things American. The most important thing I learned is that my oral English is improving and I can express my opinion freely.
Who this course is for:
- American English-American Life is especially useful for those planning on traveling in the U.S., doing business in the U.S., studying in the U.S., and/or those just curious about American English and culture. The class is also very useful for English teachers. This class is for high intermediate and advanced speakers. This class is not for beginning English learners.
Instructor
![C.J. Shane](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 64 64"%3E%3C/svg%3E){kind=avatar}
- 4.4 Instructor Rating
- 14 Reviews
- 82 Students
- 1 Course
Bachelor's degree, University of Texas at Austin; Master's degree, University of Kentucky; International TESL certificate, Center for English as a Second Language, University of Arizona
Director, YingwenTeach, 2002-present (ESL teaching experience in Mexico and China training Chinese English teachers and university students)
Author of nine books, including Voices of New China (2013), and American Community Colleges: The International Student's Guide.
Working studio artist and freelance writer; lifelong gardener, nature lover, hiker and environmentalist; world traveler; fan of jazz music, history books (history of just about anything!) and mystery stories. Dog lover.