ELS offers two Intensive English Programs of study to meet your needs: General English and English for Academic Purposes.  ELS offers a Semi Intensive and American Explorer program for those students who wish fewer than 30 hours a week of English study.  Now you can decide what you want to study and select the program that best fits your needs and goals. Both intensive programs of study use the proven communicative approach to language learning. This approach makes for lively, interactive classes with a wide range of activities. These will challenge your abilities and allow you to have fun while developing all language skills. Courses for both programs meet for 30 lessons per week, so you are certain to learn quickly. With these programs of study to choose from, you tell us where you want your English to take you, and we will help get you there.

No matter which program a student selects, ELS will provide placement testing upon arrival, and place the student in one of our 12 proficiency levels (Levels 101 through 112). Depending on the program, each level consists of 15 to 30 class hours weekly of teacher-led instruction. Each session is four weeks in duration. Each level includes class work, individualized tasks in the Language Technology Center, homework, quizzes, written essays and a final level test. Classroom participation is an important part of our program. At the end of each 4-week session, those students who have successfully met the requirements for that level will progress to the next ELS level of study and immediately begin the new session. Students can begin their ELS program on any one of the 26 starting dates each year and can choose to study for any number of 4-week sessions. Those students who complete Level 112 of the intensive English for Academic Purposes program will receive our Level 112 Certificate of Completion. This official document is accepted as proof of English proficiency for admission at more than 650 colleges and universities in the USA and Canada.

Booming with economic and commercial activity, Charlotte has all the advantages of one of the nation's most rapidly growing metropolises. Yet the people are warm and friendly, and many areas of the city retain their small-town flavor and community spirit. ELS/Charlotte is located in the Park Selwyn Office Building in the South Park community of the city. The Center is located off-campus between the Queens University main campus and its new Sports Complex and is just minutes away from upscale South Park Mall and the clean and modern Uptown City Center. Students can enjoy a wide range of professional sports and entertainment events year-round. As the largest city on the U.S. east coast between Washington DC and Atlanta, Georgia and being the 2^nd largest financial center in the U.S. (New York City is #1), students find plenty of options to occupy their free time. ELS students have free access to all Queens University campus facilities which include gymnasium, tennis courts, computer lab, library, health/wellness center, fitness center, indoor swimming pool, coffee house, snack bar, and playing fields.

ELS/Charlotte is ideally situated between the Appalachian Mountains, just 2 hours to the west, and sparkling Carolina beaches 3.5 hours to the east. The area’s year-round moderate climate encourages outdoor activities. The city and surrounding region offer a wide variety of cultural activities from pop music concerts to museums and professional sporting events like Charlotte Bobcats NBA and Carolina Panthers' NFL games. There are activities year-round including rafting, kayaking and biking at the U.S. National Whitewater Center, uptown entertainment at the new NASCAR Hall of Fame, Epicenter Entertainment Complex, and Time-Warner Arena venue, water sports at nearby Lakes Norman and Wylie, and hiking, camping and winter sports in the nearby mountains.