The goal of the English Tutoring Centre (ETC) is to help you develop writing, speaking, reading and listening skills. Our tutors are experts who will help you learn how to learn.
Hours and Locations
Tutoring for the Winter 2025 semester is available online using Microsoft Teams and on campus at Progress, Ashtonbee, Morningside, Story Arts and Downsview campuses. Tutoring is available from Monday, January 20, 2025 until Sunday, April 13, 2025. Our locations are as follows:
| Campus | Location |
|---|---|
| Progress | L2-12 |
| Morningside | 306 |
| Ashtonbee | L2-06 (inside the Library) |
| Downsview | 106 |
| Story Arts | 220-B |
| Online | Microsoft Teams |
Workshops
Our workshops are small group sessions designed to help you strengthen your speaking, pronunciation and presentation skills.
We are currently offering the following series of workshops:
- Let’s Talk – Small groups where you can learn and practice conversation skills that will help you in any situation – formal or informal. This workshop will also include presentation skills.
- Let’s Read – Come and practice your skills in reading, pronunciation, vocabulary, paraphrasing and finding main ideas.
- Let’s Practice – Whatever you need practice with, this group is for you! Essay writing, APA formatting, and grammar. Each week practice a different skill! Practice makes perfect.
- Let's Write - Develop confidence and fluency in your writing through this workshop series! Use mindfulness techniques and new learning strategies to make writing an enjoyable experience.
Workshop topics change each week. Please view our Winter 2025 Workshop schedule for more information on our workshops.
Join the Writing Circle
Are you a writer or do you have an inner writer waiting for a friendly nudge? Come to the Writer's Circle to nurture your writing voice in a comfortable, grades-free space through the practice of free-writing. Share your creative work with the group if you wish and explore more formal publishing possibilities.
🗓 When and Where:
Every Wednesday at 1:30 PM (Winter 2025)
📍 Progress Campus: Room L2-12
📍 Ashtonbee Campus: Room L2-06
New Workshop Series!
Join us this winter for an exciting new workshop series, "Using AI Appropriately for Learning". Designed to elevate your academic skills, this series will help you understand how AI tools work, develop critical thinking, and maintain academic integrity while using AI.
Our workshops cover essential topics, including the basics of AI, ethics and academic integrity, critical analysis of AI-generated results, and prompt engineering. Whether you're new to AI or looking to refine your skills, these sessions will empower you to use AI effectively and responsibly.
| Introductory Modules | 1. Understanding AI: What It Is and How It Works Build an understanding of AI abilities and limitations. Learn to differentiate between generative AI and general AI technologies, and when these tools can be useful. |
2.The Ethics of AI (Academic Integrity) This workshop explores academic integrity policies at our college and connects to best practices for using AI tools for academic purposes. | |
| Skill-Based Workshops | 3. Critically Thinking about AI Results Identify potential bias, misinformation and errors in AI systems. Learn about how AI systems are “trained” and how this impacts their outputs. |
4. Prompt Engineering 101 Learn how to craft specific prompts to improve AI output quality, and use prompts to develop material that is style and content specific. | |
5. Generative AI and Writing 1 – Brainstorming Develop your brainstorming ability using the tools and practice generating supporting ideas for a topic. | |
6. Generative AI and Writing 2 – Editing and Drafting Learn how to prompt the AI to obtain feedback to create unity and clarity in your writing. |
How to get the most out of your tutoring session:
- Tutoring can help develop your communication skills at any stage of an assignment, including after it has been graded. Tutors can help you understand assignment requirements, check if you are on track, or help you reflect on how to improve based on your professor's feedback.
- A good starting point for all tutoring sessions is having a goal. Be ready to tell your tutor what your goals and expectations are for the tutoring session. If you are not sure, the tutor will work with you to develop goals for your tutoring sessions.
- For best results, be ready to access your course materials on eCentennial or bring assignments and textbooks to your on-campus appointment.
- Tutoring is a collaborative process. Be ready to answer questions, reflect on your work and participate actively during the session.
- Tutoring is a process, and it will take time to build your skills. Have realistic expectations about what you can accomplish in one 50-minute session.
What are the rules for using the English Tutoring Centre?
- Tutors are going to guide you; they will not do your work for you. During the session you will be expected to actively engage with your course content and assignments.
- Tutors do not evaluate your papers and cannot estimate what grade you will receive on an assignment. Likewise, tutors do not evaluate the quality of your professor’s instruction. When in doubt, follow your professor's guidelines.
- Our tutors are communications experts; however, they are not content experts for your major. Help for specific topics (e.g., early childhood development, software engineering, nursing, architecture etc.) can be found with the peer tutors at the Learning Centre.
- Your tutor can only speak to you in English.
- IELTS and CELPIP test preparation is not offered at the ETC. Please see Centennial's IELTS website for test preparation info.
- We can assist you with cover letters and resumes which are part of course assignments; however, if you are planning to use the resume and cover letter for job applications, please connect with the Career Centre.
- Tutors will show you HOW to proofread your papers and assignments. Through this, you will develop the skills to confidently check your own work.
- You can book up to 100 minutes of tutoring each week, divided into two 50-minute appointments.
- Tutors are obligated to report any breach of Centennial’s Academic Honesty Policy.
- The English Tutoring Centre fosters a respectful learning environment. Tutors will end a session if guidelines are not being followed or if students are not participating in a respectful manner (e.g., through aggressive or demeaning language, inappropriate remarks, demands or expectations, lack of focus on academic topics etc.).
- Students registered with CALCS may be eligible for additional support, please contact etc@centennialcollege.ca for details.
Missed Appointments
- If you miss your appointment, or show up more than 15 minutes late, your appointment will be considered “missed.”
- After two (2) missed appointments, you will lose access to tutoring services for the rest of the semester.
Contact Us
If you have any inquiries about tutoring services or the English Tutoring Centre, you can reach us at etc@centennialcollege.ca or call 416-289-5000, ext. 56150.