Courses at UIC

• ASP 055 Communication Skills for International Graduate Students
  A good place to start for students from any backgrounds. John Hussen, the instructor who had been teaching this course for a very long time, was very enthusiastic. The course is mostly about day-to-day basic conversations.
• ESL 401 Teach Meth/Intl Tchg Assistant
  IMO, this is the best course for improving speaking skills at UIC. The course is designed for TAs but RAs are also welcomed. It is taught in small groups and requires quite a workload of regular taping and oral presentations. I found the feedback is very valuable. The Fall course focuses on TAs who need to get a passing SPEAK test score. The Spring course is a continuation.
• ASP 095 Academic & Professional Wrtg
  A place to learn how to write CV/resume, bio statement, statement of purposes, cover letter, etc.
• ASP 092 Vocabulary Enrichment
  A place to learn GRE vocab though you never learn them enough.
• ASP 050 Spkg/Rdg/Wrtg-ESL
  CAUTION this is a NO-NO for grad students. It is designed for undergrads on limited standing.

Books

• American accent training by Ann Cook is a practical guide for those who want to speak like Americans do.
• On Writing Well by William K. Zinsser is recommended by Mayank, my labmate who was an English major.