Philadelphia Language Center’s goal is to deliver quality language services to its community with a primary focus on English as a Second Language.

We also offer language services for Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, German, French and Russian.

Our emphasis is usable real world language skills for our students in their target language. We meet these goals by combining book work, exercises and history and cultural activities as well as offering the students the opportunity to study with a professor who is native to their target language.

There are ten levels or steps in Philadelphia Language Center’s English as a second Language program for part time or community students. They are broken into four core levels: Beginner, Transitional Intermediate, Intermediate and Advanced. Philadelphia Language Center offers 500 hours of comprehensive Instruction in English for its part time community learners. This instruction includes conversation, pronunciation, reading, writing, grammar, history and culture. Our first thirty weeks of instruction or first three levels are presented in a bi-lingual format. We currently offer bi-lingual beginner classes to the Portuguese & Spanish speaking communities. Intermediate and Advanced levels are mono-lingual and are offered to students of all primary languages.

• Beginner Levels – beginner levels consist of levels one through three. During these levels students build a basic foundation of English Vocabulary and learn to express themselves verbally and in writing to fulfill their basic health, food, occupational and family needs. *Portuguese to English translation or Spanish to English translation

• Transitional Intermediate – level four serves as a transitional level. During level four students apply grammar rules and vocabularies learned during the first four levels to practical skills such as letter writing and begin reading and analyzing print media.

*Monolingual – no translation

• Intermediate – level five through seven students build vocabulary and increase reading comprehension and speech proficiency’s through the exploration of classical American fiction including: poetry, short stories and one act plays. Students apply these refined skills to their every day lives to improve their careers and communication skills. Students at this level should be comfortable communicating only in English in public. Their vocabulary will afford them the ability to communicate efficiently on a day to day basis. Multi-paragraph essays and formal writing prepare students for advanced writing.

*Monolingual – no translation

• Advanced – level eight through ten students build vocabulary and increase reading comprehension and speech proficiency’s through the exploration of classical American fiction, students will be responsible for reading independently and contributing critically to class discussions. Students will participate in group discussions and debate as they work towards their goal of near native speech. Level ten prepares students for work in English only environments or transfer to a college or trade school.

Philadelphia Language Center offers a full multi-level integrated skills English language program.  Students learn listening, speaking, reading, writing and grammar in all of our core classes.  Our core classes take students from beginner to preparing for the TOEFL or transfer to college or a trade school.

Our program allows all learners the opportunity to learn English for daily use, develop academic skills and learn to apply their English skills to professional settings.  

In addition to our core courses we offer students the opportunity to further develop their English skills while learning more about an area of interest through our special interest classes. These classes include:

• Introduction to Microsoft Windows for ESL learners (includes how to use technology to enhance learning)
• Fluency is a series of courses that focus on speech and pronunciation while expanding the student’s colloquial knowledge.
• Exploring America is a series of courses that encourage increased vocabulary, cultural awareness, offer reading and writing practice and access to authentic practice while learning about US History, Culture, Pop-Cultural and Philadelphia’s rich history.
• Professional English is a sub-program that helps students prepare to use English in business or health related settings.
• Ready for College is a program specially designed for students who plan to transfer to a US college.  Special reading, writing, note taking, academic skills and academic interest courses help students prepare for college success.

In addition to our regular program we also offer separate certificate courses and test preparation courses for ESL learners. Offerings include:

• TOEFL Test Prep
• TOEIC Test Prep
• US Citizenship Test Prep
• IELTS Prep
• TESOL certificate courses
• Translation & Interpretation certificate courses

Placement for all ESL programs involves and interview and computerized test.