Welcome to Bridge ESL Academy for TOEFL

SHERLEN'S Pre-TOEFL classes

Our program is designed to strengthen your English language skills, focusing on grammar, vocabulary, fluency in speaking, and enhancing your reading, writing, and listening abilities.

Developing strong foundations for your language skills has the potential to significantly reduce the time required for TOEFL exam preparation.

Build the foundational skills

Introducing Bridge ESL Academy

Discover the Unique Advantage of Bridge ESL Academy for TOEFL

The premier school specializing in Pre-TOEFL Skills, led by an Expert Coach with unmatched experience in ESL teaching and TOEFL preparation across 35 nationalities.

Building a Strong English Base Prior to TOEFL Preparation:

Improving English skills first is key for students aiming to do well in the TOEFL exam.

This initial focus helps them build a strong foundation in the essentials of English, such as grammar, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. These elements are crucial for success in the TOEFL.

By mastering the basics of English, students set themselves up for a smoother TOEFL preparation process. They’ll find it easier to understand more complex topics and apply their knowledge effectively during the exam.

Send a message if you are interested in taking classes

Sherlen’s Bridge ESL Academy
for English Foundational Skills

Step into a World of English Learning at Sherlen’s:

Our program isn’t just about general English; it’s a comprehensive approach that utilizes TOEFL-style materials to ensure you are not only improving your English language skills but also getting accustomed to the format and challenges of the TOEFL exam itself.

We’re proud to say that our program is the only one that does this—mixing deep learning of English with the exact kinds of questions and exercises you’ll find in the TOEFL. Specific exam strategies are not taught at this stage.

The academy has 5 focuses to improve your English for TOEFL

1

Grammar

Grammar automaticity refers to the ability of learners to use grammatical structures accurately and fluently without needing to consciously think about the rules. This is particularly important for the TOEFL exam, where time constraints and the need for accuracy place a premium on automatic command of grammar.

2

Writing

Our pre-TOEFL writing curriculum focuses on laying a strong foundation for constructing coherent and structured essays, starting with basic paragraph organization to ensure a solid grasp of essay writing fundamentals. We aim to elevate our students’ writing capabilities, setting a strong foundation for their TOEFL preparation.

3

Speaking

We will practice TOEFL speaking scenarios by offering exercises that mirror the speaking segment of the TOEFL, enabling students to practice articulating opinions or providing summaries of brief lectures with class discussions. There will be accent reduction exercises for clear English and also pronunciation drills.

4

Reading

Begin your TOEFL journey with our Reading Essentials Package. We’ve carefully created this program to help you get ready for the reading part of the TOEFL test. Our plan is to make sure you start with the basics and then move up to more challenging topics, always focusing on the kind of questions and readings you’ll see on the TOEFL.

5

Listening

In Sherlen’s TOEFL Academy, we recognize the importance of a strong foundation in listening comprehension for mastering the English language. Our Foundational English Listening Skills Class is meticulously designed for students at the beginning of their English learning journey, focusing on building their listening abilities before advancing to the more rigorous TOEFL listening materials

Focus 1

GRAMMAR

Customized Lessons: Lessons on TOEFL-specific grammar rules, helping students understand complex sentence structures, tenses, and usage that frequently appear in the exam.

Practice Exercises: Incorporate a variety of grammar exercises that mirror the types of questions seen on the TOEFL, allowing students to apply rules in a context similar to the exam.

Grammar automaticity: We prioritize grammar automaticity through a systematic approach of repetition and reinforcement exercises.

 

Focus 2

READING

Get into action with support

Discussion and Analysis: We will use reading materials as a basis for discussion and analysis, improving critical thinking skills and the ability to analyze texts in English, which benefits all sections of the TOEFL.

After completing the Reading Essentials Package, you’ll be well-prepared for the TOEFL reading section, with:

  • A stronger understanding of vocabulary and grammar, crucial for reading complex academic texts.
  • The ability to identify main ideas and details quickly, which is key to understanding passages and answering questions correctly.
  • Improved skills in analyzing texts and a larger academic vocabulary, helping you feel more confident in your reading abilities.

Focus 3

Speaking

TOEFL Speaking Practice: Students will practice articulating opinions or providing summaries of brief lectures with class discussions similar to questions in Task 1, 2, 3 and 4. The focus of the Pre-TOEFL Speaking section is not teaching exam strategies, but preparing students for Task 1, 2, 3 and 4 speaking tasks.

Pronunciation Practice: Emphasize the pronunciation of challenging sounds and intonation patterns critical for clear communication, which is essential for the speaking section.

Shadowing: Shadowing is a language learning technique that involves students listening to a speech segment and simultaneously repeating it loud as accurately and quickly as possible. Students practice using audio recordings from authentic TOEFL speaking tasks or lectures they may encounter in the exam. This ensures that the vocabulary, idioms, and sentence structures they are mimicking are directly relevant to their test preparation.

Focus 4

WRITING

  1. At Sherlen’s Bridge ESL Academy, we start teaching writing by showing students how to put their ideas into simple paragraphs, making sure they know how to begin writing essays.
  2. We teach students to make a clear main point in their writing, showing them how to explain their ideas well for the TOEFL exam.
  3. Our lessons include fun vocabulary games, helping students learn new words so they can say what they mean more clearly in their essays.
  4. In our classes, students learn how to check their own work for mistakes, making their writing better and easier to understand.
  5. We give students practice with easy writing topics first, so they get used to writing quickly and well, just like they will need to do in the TOEFL.
  6. By looking at good example essays together, students learn tips on how to improve their writing, getting ready for the writing part of the TOEFL

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Focus 5

LISTENING

      • Gradual Introduction to Listening Content

        • Simplified Listening Exercises: We start with audio materials that use basic language and a slower pace, allowing students to ease into English listening without feeling overwhelmed.
        • Stepwise Progression: As students grow more comfortable, we gradually introduce them to more complex listening exercises, ensuring a smooth transition to the demands of TOEFL listening sections.

        Core Listening Skill Development

        • Mastering the Gist: Students learn to grasp the overall message of audio clips, focusing on understanding the main idea without getting bogged down by intricate details.
        • Key Point Identification: Our lessons emphasize recognizing and noting key points and supporting details, a crucial skill for effective listening comprehension.
        • Skills Practice: Through summarizing audio segments, students practice articulating what they’ve heard, enhancing their listening recall and speaking skills.

About me

HI, I’M SHERLEN
And it breaks my heart to see you, the non-native English professional, not working at the level you deserve in the US only because of language barriers.

It is my job to find solutions for your English language needs.

I’m an English teacher with 15 years of experience and an exam coach who helps students get unstuck and finally learn the effective strategies to be successful in achieving high scores in TOEFL-IBT exam. I also specialize in teaching accent reduction to achieve natural-sounding, clear English.

My qualifications

  • Graduate Certificate in Teaching English as a second language from Northern Illinois University.
  • Worked as an ESL Instructor at Elgin Community College (Chicagoland area), City Colleges of Chicago and University of North Carolina, English Language Training Institute.
  • Extensive experience teaching TOEFL at LangSolution.
  • Worked with many exam students from Brazil, Mexico, Japan, Thailand, Egypt, India, China, Iran, Vietnam, Turkey, Cuba and Russia. I have experience in understanding how each nation’s native language interferes with the English language.

Send a message if you are interested in taking classes

TOEFL Essentials Boost

Intensive package

About LANGSOLUTION

Sherlen Tanner English Exam Coaching is your place to finally learn how to take the TOEFL test, achieve a 26+ in speaking, and learn the dynamics of accent reduction, TOEFL test-taking and TOEFL test-prep skills, reading, writing, and English language fluency and mastery all under the guidance of an exam coach and her team.