Campus Building
The ESL Program is designed to assist students whose first language is not English to become competent in using spoken and written English.
This is an intensive program designed to meet the language needs of
seminarians whose goals include ministry within the context of an American parish, as well as the needs of lay students who wish to acquire the social and language skills to succeed in academic and professional settings. The ESL program is open to adult students who wish to commit themselves to learning the English language. A high school
diploma or equivalent and proof of a current valid VISA are the minimum
requirements for admission. Students enrolling in the ESL program must take
an on-site placement test in the week prior to the first day of scheduled classes.
Placement at the appropriate level is based on test scores and oral communication skills.
The intensive program consists of courses in academic reading, writing,
grammar, listening comprehension, and speaking skills. The language
laboratory is available to students who wish to improve their listening
comprehension and speaking skills outside regular class times. In addition,
students may work at their own pace on ELLIS, a computer assisted language
learning program. During the final two semesters of the ESL program,
preparation classes for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) are
included in the course schedule.
Lay students may enroll in any number of ESL courses at the appropriate level
if the full intensive program does not meet their needs.
Upon successful completion of the ESL program, seminarians are required
to take the TOEFL. Attainment of a score of 550 allows students to enroll in
graduate academic courses at SS. Cyril & Methodius Seminary, while a score of 525 to
550 allows a student to continue in the ESL program as well as take a few
graduate theology classes at the discretion of the Academic Dean in consultation
with the ESL faculty.