Self-improvement doesn’t have to mean reciting a perfectly pronounced “the rain in Spain falls mainly in the plain,” or balancing a book on your head while you practice your posture. Here are a few of the more interesting continuing education offerings available this summer that are designed to make you a better person, or at least more interesting at cocktail parties:

New York University offers a one-session hypnosis class designed to help students kick their smoking habit. The $50 course includes behavior modification and guidelines to reduce withdrawal symptoms, prevent weight gain, and deal with stress. The CUNY Graduate Center one-ups that class, promising to hypnotize students so they emerge two-and-a-half hours and $35 later ready to both quit smoking and lose weight.

If even the thought of making ice cubes leaves you scratching your head, check out “How To Boil Water: Cooking for Beginners Only,” offered in five sessions for $430 at the New School. The class, which will meet at The Inn on 23rd St. at Chelsea, is limited to a dozen students who will learn the proper use of kitchen equipment, menu planning, and basic cooking techniques. Students prepare and eat a meal served with wine at each session.

Before you sign up for that class, though, make sure your table manners are up to snuff with “Dining Etiquette for Adults: Let Sara Perfect Your Table Manners” also at the New School. This practical and fun one-session course teaches students how to banish boorish behavior at the dinner table, whether dining with friends or business partners. Students are served a meal at Ye Waverly Inn, and then gently critiqued on their table manners. The course costs $90, plus a $40 materials fee.

If the mere idea of jet-setting gives you white knuckles, “Conquer the Fear of Flying” at Hunter College this summer. Presented in three sessions by an airline pilot and aviation safety inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration, the $75 course will include discussions of basic aerodynamics, navigation, air traffic control, pilot training, and security to ease passenger fears. Also included will be statistical comparisons of the safety of air travel compared with other modes of transportation.

Before your mother begs you for a grandchild one more time, take comfort with other single people at “Living Single: By Chance or by Choice,” a day-long session offered for $130 this summer at NYU. The class is for both men and women, and topics include relating to couples and choosing whether or not to join the dating scene. Reading materials spark reflection and help students gain the confidence to fly solo.

Or, those with significant others can strengthen their bond at “A Couple on Coupling” at NYU. Drs. Peter and Pola Rosan jointly-teach this three-session course, which provides students an education in the art of being a couple. Among the lessons to be learned are ways to create a sense of trust, tolerance, celebrating differences, playing with touch to keep romance alive, and gaining a sense of “we” by transcending the sense of “me.” The class costs $275, is open to both individuals and couples, and participants must bring a journal to each session.

Of course, personal development is a lifelong process. Beauty experts say that women should update their makeup style every few years to keep their look current and respond to changing skincare needs. Brooklyn College offers a class to guide older women through makeup updates. Participants will learn how to tailor their skincare to their individual needs and how to do an easy makeup application.

And finally, no amount of self-improvement is complete without some new moves. Shimmy on over to Hunter College for six sessions of “Belly Dance Basics” ($99) to learn the fluid movements of this Middle Eastern dance. The instructor promises a friendly and supportive atmosphere, and you might just end up with better abs. And whose self-improvement wish list doesn’t include that?