Hyun Geun Joo, 27, stepped into a South Korean classroom confident about an upcoming English exam.
Dreaming of his entrance into New York University’s graduate school, he took the TOEFL, or the Test of English as a Foreign Language, exam.
“NYU requires, at minimum, a score of 100 (for admission),” he said.
He said he ended up with a score of 94.
Wishing to attend graduate school in the United States, the aspiring sports management director, a college graduate, realized that he “needed improvement in English.”
Through word of mouth, he was led to the American Language Center at UCLA, a division of UCLA Extension that offers intensive English courses to assist foreign students in professional pursuits.
In four months, he said he has seen a marked improvement in his English and feels confident that he’ll cross the 100-point threshold.
Officials at the American Language Center say the program’s popularity is due to its reputation as a quality program and its affiliation with UCLA.
Last year it attracted 3,000 students from 40 countries, said Tara Neuwirth, the academic director of the Academic Intensive English and English Communications programs.
“A lot of our students are returning students and refer their friends and relatives to us,” Neuwirth said.
The program offers seven levels of general English and three levels of communication skills. During any given quarter, representatives from South Korea, China, Japan, Turkey, Belgium and Chile among others join the English language program, she added.
UCLA’s extension program predates the university itself, founded in 1917 as a Los Angeles extension to the University of California, said Extensions Public Affairs manager Brian Bell.
Following UCLA’s establishment in 1919, UCLA Extension assumed its current identity offering practical and personal enrichment courses including the popular English as a Second Language Courses.
Today the program offers 4,300 classes a year servicing 47,000 students from the Southland and beyond, Bell said.
“A majority of our students are working professionals who want to change their careers,” he added. “We have a lot of professionals who want to shift their careers and want knowledge and training in new areas.”
Joo said he believes his positive experience learning English is a testament to the professional nature of UCLA Extension as a whole.
“I think it is a great course at UCLA Extension. I think it’s very systematical, and the teachers are methodical,” Joo said.
The more than 80 certificate programs are approved by UCLA’s Academic Senate and follow the quarter system. Classrooms in the UCLA campus, downtown Los Angeles and other areas in Southern California offer programs including paralegal training, interior design, computer information system and technology management courses according the UCLA Extension’s Web site.
But Bell says it’s more than just a vocational school, as graduate students take advantage of the academic courses UCLA Extension also offers courses through its humanities department.
“If students need to take extra classes as a prerequisite for graduate school, we give them the avenue to do that,” Bell said.
He said many courses are transferable to many universities and UCLA extension is a hybrid institution that incorporates vocational training along with academic courses similar to UCLA Extension’s mother school.
One of the more popular courses is the English as a Second Language program, which attract some students who are drawn by the UCLA brand.
“Everyone around the world knows about UCLA. It may not be easy for them to enroll in UCLA, but they can still get some exposure to the campus and student life by taking some of our English language courses,” Bell said.
Pornpisut Saenprasit, a 23-year-old student from Thailand, said her Thai professor influenced her decision to come to Westwood.
“I talked to my teacher, and he said I should do UCLA because it’s famous and it’s really good,” she said.
In four months, she said her English has improved, and her time in the United States has opened her eyes to the business opportunities available.
“I want to work in a foreign company, and I think that English is important,” she said.
“I think the campus and community is very good. People are kind; they have a lot of knowledge.”
During her first time in the United States she said her exposure to a modern country has inspired her to improve her native land through her business education.
“I eventually want to work in Thailand and help the country become developed,” she said.