Pronunciation
This course helps students whose first language is not English develop their overall intelligibility and confidence in speaking. The course covers:
- Word stress
- Sentence stress
- Thought groups (using the voice to group words into meaningful phrases)
- Intonation
- Production of individual sounds
- Controlling pronunciation while speaking
- Recovering from communicative breakdowns
- Being understood during spontaneous speech
Participants will identify personal pronunciation challenges and work on individual assignments to address these issues. They will also learn and implement strategies to improve their overall oral communication. They will work on presentation skills and public speaking, and discuss formal and informal topics. Extensive individual feedback on pronunciation will be provided by the instructor.
3 points / 0 credit.
Meets evenings twice per week.
Open only to students in ALP level 6 or higher. All new applicants must take the ALP's online placement test before admission.
Dates and Prices
Tuition and fees are subject to Board of Trustee approval and may change.
For a full explanation of fees, see below.
Explanation of Part-Time Fees*
Important note: All part-time students studying in Fall and Spring are required to have Columbia Health Insurance and pay the Health and Related Services Fee. See below for details.
Medical Insurance: All part-time ALP students studying the Fall and Spring are required to have Columbia Medical Insurance, Those with comparable U.S. health insurance may submit a waiver request to avoid the health insurance charge. Visit the Columbia Health website for complete information.
Health and Related Services Fee: All ALP students are required to pay the Columbia Health and Related Services Fee.. This fee covers access to Columbia health services such as medical, counseling, wellbeing, sexual violence response and disability services. The Health and Related Services fee is mandatory, even if students successfully apply for a health insurance waiver.
SPS Activity Fee: this covers SPS expenses relating to orientation, handbooks and events.
Instructional Support Fee: this covers class materials and expenses such as playbooks, novels, newspapers, photocopying, theater tickets, museum or event entry.
Technology Fee: this covers SPS technology expenses, including access to online course management software, Canvas, and tools used to develop online course content.
Textbooks: this is an estimate. Instructors assign books at the beginning of the session and students must buy them. Students are not billed for textbooks.
*Note: not all fees are refundable if students withdraw from the course. For a full explanation see the Withdrawal and Tuition Refund page of the ALP website.
Application Information
To apply you will need:
- Completed online application form.
- Nonrefundable application fee: U.S. $150.00 for online applications, payable by credit card only. No application will be processed without this fee. Matriculated Columbia Students: there is no application fee for Matriculated Columbia Students.
Part-time courses do not qualify you for a student visa.
If you are currently living outside the U.S., you must have a student visa to enroll in the ALP. In order to qualify for the student visa, you must enroll in a full-time program (18 hours or more per week).
The tuition and fees quoted are for ALP registrants only. Those students registering through other divisions of Columbia will pay at the per-point rate of their home schools.
ALP points/credits information:
ALP is a non-degree, non-credit program. ALP classes and programs use points to bill students, not credits. See above for the number of points the class bills.
Columbia Employees
Columbia University employees may be eligible to receive Tuition Exemption Benefits and/or the Reduced Employee Rate.
To review your eligibility and coverage, go to CUBES, the CU Benefits Enrollment System, and log in with your UNI and password, then select Tuition.
For information about all of the available tuition benefit programs visit the Tuition Programs page of the Human Resources website.
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Learn more about American Language Program at Columbia University, or contact the program advisor.
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