As a student in an English-speaking university, you’ll need to speak in many situations, both formal and informal, planned and spontaneous. In this course, you’ll get advice for speaking in many different situations. You’ll learn how to prepare for an academic discussion with classmates and how to lead a discussion effectively. You’ll learn about how to work smoothly in group projects—a popular type of assignment in many university classes—and what to say in small talk with classmates or others. You’ll learn how to give an unplanned, impromptu speech and also how to plan and deliver a formal presentation in class. Speaking in any of these situations can be a bit intimidating, but if you know what to do and practice whenever the opportunity arises, it will become easier, and you can become a more confident and successful speaker.

Writing is a vital skill in university classes, whether you’re majoring in history or business management, economics or engineering. In this course, you’ll learn how to write effectively in different academic formats, especially essays and longer research papers. You’ll learn how to choose a topic for a paper, how to find reliable resources for writing it, and how to organize your ideas in a way that communicates clearly and fits the expectations of your professors. You’ll learn about the importance of correctly citing sources in your writing and university norms regarding academic honesty. Communicating clearly in writing is an important key to success both in university work and in your future career. As with any other skill, the more you practice, the more easily and skillfully you’ll be able to do it.

In this course, you’ll learn about many important skills to support your study, including time management, discovering your own learning styles, and reading more effectively and increasing your vocabulary. You’ll hear some guidelines for studying effectively in online or remote classes, which are becoming more and more popular in university-level education. You’ll also improve your skills in listening to lectures and taking good notes to help you as you study for tests. Finally, you’ll hear about expectations for participating in lecture classes and tips for communicating with professors and making friends with classmates. Being a university student can be a rich, rewarding experience if you have the skills you need to succeed both in your classwork and in getting along with others. This course will help you gain some of those skills.