The registration fee is $300 per person per semester plus the cost of your book. | Scholarships are available for those who need help paying the registration fee.

No participant bears the full cost of our programs. Tuition fees are intentionally kept lower than the actual cost thanks to the generosity of our donors and foundations. 

When we notify you of your orientation date, you will be asked if you would like to apply for a scholarship, and you will need to answer several questions about your family's income. We use United Way's ALICE threshold to determine if a participant is eligible for a full ($300) or partial scholarship ($250). Participants can check their eligibility by using the ALICE Budget and Income Status Tool. Participants who fall below the federal poverty level will receive a full scholarship to cover the $300 tuition cost, and those who qualify as an ALICE household receive a $250 scholarship applied to their $300 tuition fee.

• Total of 40 2-hour classes. 

• Assessment to determine the appropriate class level.

• For some levels, conversation classes are included.

• Post-assessment to determine if level advancement is needed is included.

• Some class materials, including online tutorials, are included.

• Class textbook is available for an additional fee of $35. 

We only have ESOL classes at our Rivers Avenue location.
6185 D Rivers Ave. North Charleston, SC 29406

Classes for all levels are offered in the morning and in the evening. 

Monday/Wednesday from 10:00 am-12:30 pm and Tuesday/Thursday from 10:00 am-12:30 pm.

Monday/Wednesday from 6:00-8:00 pm and Tuesday/Thursday from 6:00-8:00 pm.

Saturdays from 9:00 am-12:00 pm. This class consists of 12 sessions, priced at $185, plus the cost of the book, which can generally be used for three sessions. 

No, we start a new round of classes approximately every two months. We rotate the class times that are offered. You will have more options if you are flexible about taking a day or evening class. 

Our certified instructors will administer a spoken assessment designed to gauge how well you speak and understand English. We will place you in the appropriate level class based on your assessment. Because your level determines the class you need, you may not be in the same class as a friend or relative, but you can attend at the same time and at the same location.

Many factors determine how quickly you can learn a new language. It varies for everyone. We offer 5 levels of classes at Trident Literacy beginning with our most basic class and ending with an advanced class. Each class is paced to be completed in 40 sessions which takes about six months. 

Students must be at least 18 years old to register and attend a class. 16 and 17-year-olds can attend with a registered guardian with prior approval from the ESOL director. They are not registered for the class and will not be assessed, but they can listen and participate with you. We do not offer childcare.

Registering for class is a multi-step process, and it takes most students 1-2 months before they begin their English class. The first step is to complete the English for Speakers of Other Languages Registration form. Depending on your availability and where we are in our class calendar, it could be several months before you are offered a space in a class. We prefer to communicate questions and schedule appointments through email or text, so our participants can utilize translation technology. Every person interested in taking a class must complete their own forms and have their own assessment appointment. We cannot accommodate walk-ins.

We are sorry we missed your call or message. We are a nonprofit and operate with less staff than we need, and it happens. We appreciate your patience with us. The most important step is to complete the English for Speakers of Other Languages Registration form and verify that we received your form. We recommend adding our email address to your contact list to prevent our emails from going to your spam folder.  The email address we use is esol@tridentlit.org. If you have completed the forms and received our email reply, you are in our system! We will be in touch. If you are concerned, please feel free to email us at esol@tridentlit.org to ask where we are in our ESL registration process and verify we have your information in our system.

We do not. We have over 50 countries and dozens of languages represented in our student population, making it impossible to staff for that. We rely on translation technology to communicate between our staff and students during registration. Our classes are taught in English in an immersion format. The instruction is geared toward the student's English language ability. That is why the assessment is such an important part of the process. Our ESOL administrators speak some Spanish and Portuguese, but they are not always available and are not fluent. We have many tools to help us communicate with English language learners in person. While it is not necessary, feel free to bring a friend who can help you translate if you have questions that are not answered on this website.