English as a Second Language (ESL) Coaching
Jump To: Appointment Booking | Coaches Schedule | English Group Conversation | Additional Resources
ESL coaching can help you build confidence in your English speaking skills, improve fluency and develop cultural understanding. Coaches can also help with pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar. You can book one-on-one appointments for more personalized support or join an English Conversation Group to practice speaking in a small group led by an ESL coach.
Appointments: Important Information
- You can book a maximum of two ESL appointments per week. This limit applies to all appointments, whether online or on campus, and across all ESL coaches. For details, please visit our FAQ.
- To cancel a coaching appointment, use the cancellation link found in the confirmation email or the Coaching Cancellation Form.
- Coaching appointments become available one week in advance at midnight.
- If no appointments appear in the booking window, all available appointments have been booked. Please check back later as additional appointments may become available if there are cancellations.
ESL Coaches Schedule
Online Schedule
| Time | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| 8:00-9:00 | John | John | |||
| 9:00-10:00 | John | ||||
| 10:00-11:00 | Edythe | John | |||
| 11:00-12:00 | Edythe | John | |||
| 12:00-1:00 | Edythe | John | |||
| 1:00-2:00 | |||||
| 2:00-3:00 | John | ||||
| 3:00-4:00 | John | ||||
| 4:00-5:00 | |||||
| 5:00-6:00 | Edythe | Edythe | Edythe | ||
| 6:00-7:00 | Edythe | Edythe | Edythe | ||
| 7:00-8:00 | Edythe | Edythe |
On-Campus Schedule
| Time | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| 8:00-9:00 | John | John | |||
| 9:00-10:00 | John | John | |||
| 10:00-11:00 | John | John | |||
| 11:00-12:00 | Edythe | ||||
| 12:00-1:00 | John/ Edythe | Edythe | |||
| 1:00-2:00 | John/ Edythe | Edythe | |||
| 2:00-3:00 | |||||
| 3:00-4:00 | |||||
| 4:00-5:00 | Shaun | Shaun | |||
| 5:00-6:00 | Shaun | Shaun |
Drop In: English Conversation Group Sessions
Online: English Conversation Group
- Registration opens 24 hours in advance.
- No booking limit: You can attend as many sessions as you want. Attending an ESL Conversation Group session does not count towards the weekly ESL appointment limit.
- Important Update: Online appointments are now on Microsoft Teams. Review instructions here: How to join a Microsoft Teams meeting?
- Cancellations: If you need to cancel a coaching session, use the cancellation link in your confirmation email. If you do not have your confirmation email, cancel using the Coaching Cancellation Form.
On-campus: English Conversation Group
- Registration opens 24 hours in advance.
- No booking limit: You can attend as many sessions as you want. Attending an ESL Conversation Group session does not count towards the weekly ESL appointment limit.
- Cancellations: If you need to cancel a coaching session, use the cancellation link in your confirmation email. If you do not have your confirmation email, cancel using the Coaching Cancellation Form.
Additional Resources
Punctuation
- Punctuation (University of Toronto): Detailed explanations of punctuation marks and their usages.
- Grammar and Punctuation (The Learning Portal): Guidelines and an activity on how to use commas, semi-colons, and colons.
Punctuation Index (Purdue Online Writing Lab): Use this index from the Purdue Online Writing Lab to find information about sentence punctuation patterns, and how to use different types of punctuation.
Parts of Speech
- Prepositions and Articles (The Learning Portal): Explanations, tip sheets, and activities on prepositions and articles.
- The Parts of Speech: The First 4 (Simon Fraser University Student Learning Centre Blog): 4 functions of words: nouns, pronouns, adjectives and verbs.
- The Parts of Speech: The Last 4 (Simon Fraser University Student Learning Centre Blog): This blog covers Adverbs, Prepositions, Conjunctions and Interjections.
Sentence Structure
- Paragraph Writing (The Learning Portal): Information on different types of paragraphs and how to write them
- Parallelism (The Learning Portal): Instructions and an activity on parallelism.
- Sentence Clarity (Purdue Online Writing Lab): Information about writing clear sentences.
- Sentence Error Correction – Revising Your Essay (The Learning Portal): Activities and explanations of types of sentences and run-on sentences.
Vocabulary
- Language Guide: Interactive vocabulary tutorials in which you can scroll over images to hear words spoken aloud.
- Merriam Webster’s dictionary: Free, online version of the widely used dictionary. Features Word of the Day and trending words.
- Thesaurus.com: Searchable online thesaurus featuring synonyms, antonyms, and related words.
Parts of Words
- Prefixes (EAP Foundation)
- Prefixes and Suffixes – Proofreading Your Essay (The Learning Portal): Common prefixes and suffixes and their meanings.
- Suffixes (EAP Foundation)
Pronunciation
- Basic Pronunciation Rules:
- Sound Chart and Phonemes (sounds):
- Minimal Pairs (used to practice pairs of words with similar sounds):
- Intonation and Stress in Words and Sentences:
- Common Pronunciation Difficulties with “S”:
Exam Preparation
Miscellaneous
- englishpage.com: Explanations and exercises on parts of speech, vocabulary, and other minor errors.
- Grammar Bytes!: Resources for major grammar errors (comma splice, subject-verb agreement, fragments, etc.)
- Mechanics (Purdue Online Writing Lab): Information and guidance on sentence clarity, parts of speech, parallel structure and more.
- Grammar (Purdue Online Writing Lab): Information and guidance on articles, adverbs, verbs, and more.
- Teaching Tenses to ESL Students: An overview of English verb tenses for ESL students.