ELI Students and Teachers Enjoy the ELI Social Hour 2023!

ELI students and teachers attended the semi-annual ELI Social Hour on 10/30/2023, which featured a spooky Halloween theme. Everyone was engaged in discussion activities and played language-related games!


Thank you to everyone for creating a fun and relaxing environment for the event!

Sohyeon Lee presents a workshop on the use of ChatGPT for Academic Writing in ELI classes

ELI instructor, Sohyeon Lee, has been presenting a free workshop on the AI system, ChatGPT, in each of the ELI writing classes throughout October and November.

The workshop showed ELI students how they could ethically use ChatGPT to help improve various aspects of their papers in progress, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of using this tool.

Sohyeon is one of new ELI instructors during Fall 2023, who has been teaching ELI 73.

A big MAHALO to Sohyeon for putting together an insightful and timely workshop!

Krissa Guevarra selected for the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Program

Congratulations to Krissa Guevarra who has been awarded the prestigious Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship! Krissa will be teaching in South Korea in 2024. We congratulate her on representing UH Manoa, the SLS department, and the ELI in this outstanding accomplishment!

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is the nation’s largest study abroad fellowship program, facilitating cultural exchange through direct immersion in a host country and interaction with a local community. The English Teaching Assistant Programs place Fulbright grant recipients in classrooms around the world to assist local English teachers while serving as cultural ambassadors for the United States.

Laura Bacchus presents Grammarly workshop to ELI classes

ELI instructor Laura Bacchus presented a free workshop on the online editing tool, Grammarly, in various ELI classes this April.

The workshop showed ELI students how they could use Grammarly to help edit their papers, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of using this tool.

This workshop helped students by walking them through the editing process of a paper with and without the use of Grammarly.

Laura, an ELI instructor who has been with use for years, most recently taught ESL 100 in the Fall of 2022.

Thank you Laura for the helpful and informative workshop!

Learn how to use Grammarly to improve your writing at this free workshop!

Grammarly is a free online editing tool that can help you improve your English writing, whether you’re writing papers for your classes, drafting an email to your professors, or just making a social media post!

ELI instructor Laura Bacchus is hosting this free workshop on April 5th, from 11:30 am to 12:45 pm at Moore Hall 153B.

You can register for the workshop at the following link: https://forms.gle/1u8w54XM2JZPzB4x6

ELI student Yuki Kawahara wins PACE innovation award

Congratulations to Yuki Kawahara, who recently participated in the UH Breakthrough Innovation Challenge competition held by the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship (PACE) and was one of the winners!

The UH Breakthrough Innovation Challenge is an entrepreneurial competition where participants pitch their innovative business idea to a panel of judges for a chance to win cash prizes. The Challenge pairs competitors with business mentors and teaches students to research market opportunities, seek customer validation, and determine the commercial potential of their idea. Furthermore, students hone their presentation and communication skills.

Yuki, an ELI 80 student, gave a live pitch of her business idea to a judging panel and a live audience. She presented an innovative pitch on “Changing Japanese Higher Education.” The presentation was followed by a Q&A session with the judges.

The results were decided by a judging panel of four, which included Zachary Kim, co-founder and chief technology officer of Float; Jill Nakatsu, director of academic affairs for the UH Mānoa College of Engineering; Cindy Matsuki, SBIR manager with Innovate Hawaii; and Mark Tawara, founder of BrightLight Digital. Each judge was given a thumbs up emoji paddle, which they would use to raise for a “Yes” vote. Each thumbs up was worth $250, giving contestants a chance to win up to $1,000. Every contestant walked away with at least $250.

The 2022 ELI (Halloween) Coffee Hour

On October 28th, the English Language Institute hosted its annual Coffee Hour to celebrate Halloween and provide students the opportunity to converse with each other in a relaxed environment!

This fun social event included coffee, drinks, and snacks, as well as activities like board games, a tarot reader, a guessing game, and conversation starters.

For more information or to inquire about future coffee hours, please contact uhmeli(at)hawaii(dot)edu!

ELI and HELP students featured in Ka Leo article

A new article in the Ka Leo, UH Manoa’s student newspaper, talks about the University’s exchange student program. Written by ELI student Yi-Ting Liu, the article also features statements by Kenji Yoshizaki, who is also enrolled in the ELI, and Juli Ji, an exchange student enrolled in the Hawaii English Language Program (HELP).

You can read the full article at the Ka Leo website, link below:

https://www.manoanow.org/kaleo/centennial/current/doshisha-students-arrive-more-japanese-exchange-students-on-their-way-1930s/article_fc4137a4-4174-11ed-ad0c-2b9533e97795.html

COVID-19 & International Student Services Updates (UPDATED for Fall 2022)

The English Language Institute (ELI) is working hard to ensure your needs are being met as best and safely as possible. You can find updates specific to the ELI and for the Mānoa campus below:

ELI Course Delivery: ELI and ESL courses are currently planned to be fully in-person, with select sections of our advanced courses (ELI 80, 82, 83, and ESL 100) available in a fully online synchronous format (everyone logs on at the same time). For more information, refer to the Fall 2022 Class Availability.

Please also refer to your instructor’s syllabus when class starts; different classes will have different requirements. For more guidance and Best Practices for learning online, visit UH Online’s Guide for Remote Learning in Fall 2020.

ELI Placement Test: The ELI Placement Tests will be mandatory for Fall 2022. There are three dates available: Tuesday, August 16; Thursday, August 18; and Tuesday, August 23. Please note the August 23 date is after the semester starts, and is reserved for students who have flight/visa issues and cannot make the first date. All students should plan ahead to be here for the first two test dates.

Should there be a need for the ELI to cancel the Placement Test, placements into ELI courses will be based on a review of all relevant data provided: standardized English test scores and subscores (such as TOEFL, IELTS, Duolingo, or Cambridge English Tests), SAT or GRE scores, transfer credits and GPA, etc. Placements, as well as any cancellation notices, will be emailed to your hawaii.edu email.

  • For those with “ELI Placement Test” or “ELI Placement Test, no writing” in your ELI hold: Please fill out the ELI Placement Test Form. Your registration hold will be removed thereafter (usually within three business days), and more information about the test will be provided after your form is submitted.
  • For those with “Take ESL 100 for FW” or “confirm w/ELI” in your ELI hold: Please email us at uhmeli@hawaii.edu.

COVID-19 Updates: UH Mānoa updates their COVID-19 page with relevant information as it’s available, and will email your hawaii.edu address. You can continue to check this page for the most up-to-date information relevant to your situation.

The vaccination/negative test requirement was rescinded as of March 26, 2022.

International Student Services (ISS) Updates: ISS should be in direct contact with you, but you can also find information on this ISS web page.

If you have questions about your ELI requirements, please feel free to email us at uhmeli@hawaii.edu or call (808) 956-8610.

Please be advised that your individual academic programs (for example, your BA/BS major or your Masters/Doctoral department) may have additional guidance related to your studies and the COVID-19 pandemic. For questions related to your degree program, registration for classes other than ELI classes, etc., please check with your major advisor.

Congratulations on finishing Spring 2020 & CR/NC Option for A-F Graded Courses

Congratulations on finishing this abnormal semester! Our ELI teaching staff made the transition to online classes after Spring Break pretty seamlessly: we thank our teachers and students for being flexible and #ManoaStrong!

Once grades are officially rolled on Wednesday, May 20 (~4:30PM HST), students have the option to change their A-F grades to CR/NC. This period will end, and grades will be finalized on Friday, May 22, 4:00PM HST. If you have questions about this option and how any changes will affect your progress, please contact your major advisor ASAP or Priscilla Faucette @ faucette@hawaii.edu. This mainly affects ESL 100 students, but all ELI students are advised to talk to their advisors if you have any questions about your grades from this semester.

Finally, check out our teachers and students in our classes online!

All people depicted in these photos have given their permission to be on the ELI website.