ELI News

Staten Island, New York City
February 2019

The English Language Institute (ELI) and the Center for Global Engagement of the College of Staten Island attended the graduation of hundreds of English as a Second Language (ESL) students at the largest English institution in Vietnam, the Vietnam-USA Society English Centers (VUS) last February.

The College of Staten Island has an important partnership with VUS and is always invited to award certificates to those who take official English exams such as IELTS tests at VUS. Dr. Stephen Ferst, Executive Director of the Center for Global Engagement, and Gonzalo Villena, Director of the English Language Institute, attended this important event, and handed certificates to hundreds of students in Ho Chi Minh City, the capital of Vietnam. The ceremony was held with VUS authorities who were proud of having more than 50,000 ESL students in their branches all over Vietnam.

Dr. Ferst highlighted this partnership with a speech in front of VUS authorities, parents, and students saying that 'the College of Staten Island has been investing in building partnerships with Vietnamese institutions for many years and we are so grateful for the partnership with VUS, which has flourished from the very beginning of our "CUNY Vietnam Project" over twenty years ago.' The graduation ceremony awarded more than 800 students who received IELTS, PET, and KET certificates and graduating from VUS.

ELI in South Korea

ELI attended the largest educational fair in Latin America

ELI will have more than 3,000 students online

ELI in Japan

The director of the English Language Institute (ELI), Gonzalo Villena, visited some partners in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan, last July and August, in order to strengthen the partnership with more institutions interested in sending their students to New York City to learn English and study a major at the College of Staten Island (CSI).

One of the first activities was talking to more than 50 Japanese students that are looking to study a bachelor's degree in the United States and need to brush up their learning skills in English first. Mr. Villena spoke about the 'adventure' of studying abroad and not feeling afraid of living alone abroad. Some of these students have already applied to CSI and will improve their English at ELI next year.

ELI also visited Osaka, in the south of Japan, to one of its most important partner universities, Hannan University. ELI and Hannan University have worked together helping Japanese students improve their English level. Many Hannan students have already studied at CSI and they are already working in Japan using the English they learned at ELI. Currently, ELI has three Hannan students who have come for two semesters or a complete year at CSI. The meeting ELI had with the international office at Hannan also included the international students who were interested in ELI and they will probably travel to New York City soon.

ELI also had the honor to visit one of the most important universities in Japan, Chuo University, in the eastern part of Tokyo. This modern and very international university in Japan receives around 1,000 international students every year and it is in highest positions in the Japanese university rankings. Chuo's international team is working on sending a big group of students to ELI soon. We are very proud of working with such a prestigious institution! 

Thanks to all the Japanese institutions that welcomed ELI and we hope to see you soon in New York City!

Spring 2020: English classes started at CSI

The English Language Institute started the Spring semester with students from all over the world. They will study at the College of Staten Island for one semester with classmates from 16 different countries.
 
Staten Island, New York
The English Language Institute (ELI) at the College of Staten Island (CSI)/The City University of New York (CUNY) started its Spring semester term last January 21, 2020. The international office of CSI, the Center for Global Engagement, welcomed students from all over the world with an orientation session and an English placement test. These students will learn English until mid-May and many of them will return to their home countries, apply to CSI, or apply for a better job.

The ELI director, Gonzalo Villena, held a welcome and orientation session where he explained all the academic features of the program and the benefits they could get while learning English at the largest CUNY campus. “Our students will have the best experience of their lives, learning English with a university environment and living in New York City”, ELI director highlighted.

This Spring, ELI received students from 17 different countries, which makes classes more fun since students will force themselves to speak in English and learn from everybody’s culture. Students are from Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Germany, Guatemala, Israel, Ivory Coast, Japan, Jordan, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Peru, Russia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, and Ukraine. They will have an intensive English program with 18 hours of class per week, with different courses such as reading, writing, grammar, conversation, and a TOEFL test preparation. At the end of the semester, they will take the TOEFL ITP test, which is valid to apply to any CUNY school degree.
ELI congratulates all these students for coming from far away to have the best time in New York City and extends the best wishes during this semester at the College of Staten Island.
 

ELI welcomed students from 13 different nationalities

Staten Island, New York City

January 2019

The Spring term at the English Language Institute (ELI) at the College of Staten Island/CUNY started with a large group. Thirteen nationalities represented the ELI orientation last January 25 when ELI classes started. Staff from the Center for Global Engagement (the international office of the College of Staten Island) and the English Language Instittute welcomed all the students at the largest CUNY campus.

The first exercise in class was standing up and asking their classmates what their hobbies were and where they were from. ELI teachers, David Bridston and Alina Laboy, started their session with an ice-break exercise in order to meet each other. It was exciting to see students from complete different regions or cultures talk to each other. A student from Colombia talking to his new friend from Jordan and a student from Ukraine with a new classmate from Peru made the classes fun and interesting since they spoke about their favorite typical dishes or the city where they were born.

English classes started January 25, 2019 with a placement test and orientation session, explaining which facilities they could use at the largest CUNY campus, which has 204 acres, with a large collection of books at its library and large green areas with sports facilities around. Students also have free loop and shuttle ferry buses at their service if they want to go to another building or go to Manhattan with the free Staten Island Ferry ride. 

ELI teachers
ELI has one big secret for its success: ELI teachers. Students just love them. David Bridston, Alina Laboy, and Keerti Arora, are experienced and certified teachers who love teaching, and especially, taking care of their students' success. Classes are intensive with 18 hours per week, but they make sure students have fun, smile, play and learn, and have a great experience with field trips and extra activities that let them learn English in a fun setting. 

Many ELI students want to apply to the College of Staten Island, apply to its more than 80 majors, or other CUNY schools, while other students come for one semester to improve their English skills (speaking, writing, reading, and listening) and return to their home countries to continue with their studies. They meet with other students who are Staten Island or New York residents looking for job opportunities. Overall, the goals are diverse and our teachers make everybody learn in a useful and fun way.

Great diversity
This group started with more than twenty students. The diversity that will take place at ELI classes will be exciting since this Spring term ELI welcomed students from Albania, Bolivia, China, Colombia, Gabon, Japan, Jordan, Libya, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine. 

The English Language Institute belongs to the Center for Global Engagement, which is the international office at the College of Staten Island (CSI)/The City University of New York (CUNY), and it has expanded the number of students with its Intensive English Program where students spend between 18 and 22 hours per week learning English. However, learning English at CSI adds the campus experience since they have access to university life with conferences, lectures, sports activities, student clubs, and more.

New students can still join this group since ELI welcomes students every week. Classes will be available until May 22, and we are sure you will be able to learn or improve your English in a quiet area like Staten Island but still close to Manhattan.

English Language Institute
College of Staten Island/CUNY

ELI at LinkedIn - New York Headquarters

ELI students visited the headquarters of LinkedIn during the usual academic field trips ELI organizes for its students. LinkedIn is the largest professional social media giving employment-oriented services with more than 630 million members in 200 countries.

The English Language Institute at the College of Staten Island organized an unforgettable academic field trip to the largest professional social media, LinkedIn, located at the Empire State Building in Manhattan. ELI students had an interesting meeting with LinkedIn representative Allie Schwartz, Client Solutions Manager, Manager Solutions, at LinkedIn headquarters in New York City.

Schwartz talked to ELI students about the marketing strategies and digital solutions LinkedIn uses to attract new members and how LinkedIn helps young professionals to develop their careers and look for better job opportunities.

ELI students attended this academic field trip with their teacher, Mr. Drew Bostinto, who encouraged his students to ask questions previously prepared in class, making students practice their English in a real setting. Students asked questions about how large LinkedIn was, how useful LinkedIn was to find a job, how they could create an attractive professional LinkedIn profile, among other questions.

Students who enjoyed this amazing experience learned how important a good résumé is once they apply to a university and look for a job. ELI students who participated in this field trip were from Albania, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Korea, Japan, and Peru.

ELI students always have academic field trips that help students learn English in a different environment outside the classroom in order to see the language in context and in a fun way. Students value these kind of activities since it helps some overcome their fear to talk or the shyness to ask to people who are not their teacher or classmate.

Once again, we congratulate our students who participated in this field trip during the summer 2019 and we look forward to seeing more students take advantage of these field trips to amazing places in New York City while learning the language at the English Language Institute at the College of Staten Island.