FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saint Mary’s Offers Program to Professionals to Lift Language Barriers
Media contact:
Gwen O’Brien
Director of Media Relations
Saint Mary's College
(574) 284-4579
July 20, 2011 (Notre Dame, Ind.)—What’s keeping you from your dreams? For some, it’s a language barrier. The Saint Mary's College Center for Women’s Intercultural Leadership (CWIL) is currently enrolling students in its 15-week English as a New Language (ENL) for Professionals course. The class, which will be made up of 6-10 students, is geared toward adults and professionals at any level of English language proficiency from beginner to advanced. The small group course is designed to help participants improve their English communication capability to be successful in a workplace setting. Classes are personalized to address participants’ everyday English language needs based on their job-specific language and vocabulary.
The instructor, who has many years of ENL teaching experience, helps participants improve their writing, oral communication, English vocabulary and presentation skills. Saint Mary's College students play an important role in the ENL for Professionals class, assisting the instructors as individual tutors. They also provide the opportunity for class participants to practice their English skills with a native speaker.
This is the first year CWIL has offered this program. “In the spirit of the College’s sponsors, the Sisters of the Holy Cross, CWIL promotes human transformation and systemic change, from the local to the global context, by providing challenging, justice-based educational opportunities. How better to effect change than to lift the language barriers that separate different peoples?” said Elaine Meyer-Lee, Director of CWIL.
The next session, August 23-December 8, will meet two evenings a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. The class will not meet on October 18 and 20 because Saint Mary’s will be on Fall Break. Each session costs $500 and is limited to 10 participants, but must have a minimum of 6 students. The class is open to both men and women from any language background.
For more information on these programs, please contact the Saint Mary’s College Center for Women’s Intercultural Leadership at (574) 284-4051, cwil@saintmarys.edu, or www.saintmarys.edu/cwil.
About Saint Mary’s College: Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Ind., is a four-year, Catholic, women’s institution offering five bachelor’s degrees and more than 30 major areas of study. Saint Mary’s College has six nationally accredited academic programs: social work, art, music, teacher education, chemistry and nursing. Saint Mary’s College ranks among the top 100 “Best National Liberal Arts Colleges” in the U.S. News & World Report 2011 College Guide. Founded in 1844, Saint Mary’s is a pioneer in the education of women, and is sponsored by the Sisters of the Holy Cross.