Interchange: Studying abroad

Every year, many students go abroad to study. These are some of the things they have to think about. Look at the questions below and then add three more to each list.

 

2.3.1 Getting ready

a) What subjects are good ones to study abroad?

b) Which countries are good places to study these subjects?

c) How can you get more information about studying abroad?

d) Where can you get information about scholarships?

e) How do you enroll in a foreign school?

f) What are the main things you have to do before you leave?

g) What things will you need to take with you?

h) ……………………………………………………………

i) ……………………………………………………………

j) ……………………………………………………………

 

2.3.2 After you're there

a) Where can you stay when you first arrive?

b) What kinds of things will you have to buy?

c) How can you get information about housing in the city?

d) Is it better to stay in a dormitory or with a family? Why?

e) Where could you get extra help in studying the language?

f) …………………………………………………………….

g) …………………………………………………………….

h) …………………………………………………………….

 

2.3.3 Group work

 

Now discuss the questions. One person is the group secretary and takes notes.

 

2.3.4 Class activity

 

Compare your answers.

 

Practice your writing skills

 

2.4.1 You are studying in Cambridge at present and two friends from your country are coming to visit you next month. During their visit they would especially like to spend a few days in Edinburgh and you are planning to go with them. A travel agency has given you the following information. Read it carefully. Then write a letter to your friends, giving them some information about the three different ways of travelling to Edinburgh. Suggest which you think is the best way and explain why.

Edinburgh

Cambridge London

	Cambridge to Edinburgh - 540 km

 

CAR

Car hire; £40 a day plus petrol and insurance.

 

TRAIN

Cambridge dep. 07.00 07.56 09.00

Edinburgh arr. 12.15 13.38 14.12

Return fare: £90 (Friday and Saturday)

£75 (all other days)

30% off with a young person's rail card.

 

COACH

Cambridge dep. И.ОО 18.08 22.30

Return fare: £60 (Friday and Saturday)

£45 (all other days) 30% off with a young person's coach card.

Write a letter of between 120 and 180 words in an appropriate style on the opposite page. Do not write any addresses.

 

Translate into Russian in the written form

Types of university

There are no important official or legal distinctions between the various types of university in the country. But it is possible to discern a few broad categories.

2.5.1 Oxbridge

This name denotes the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, both founded in the medieval period. They are federations of semi-independent colleges, each college having its own staff; known as 'Fellows'. Most colleges have their own dining hall, library and chapel and contain enough accommodation for at least half of their students. The Fellows teach the college students, either one-to-one or in very small groups (known as 'tutorials' in Oxford and 'supervisions' in Cambridge). Oxbridge has the lowest student/staff ratio in Britain. Lectures and laboratory work are organized at university level. As well as the college libraries, there are the two university libraries, both of which are legally entitled to a free copy of every book published in Britain. Before 1970 all Oxbridge colleges were single-sex (mostly for men). Now, the majority admit both sexes.

 

2.5.2 The old Scottish universities

By 1600 Scotland boasted four universities. They were Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and St Andrews. The last of these resembles Oxbridge in many ways, while the other three are more like civic universities in that most of the students live at home or find their own rooms in town. At all of them the pattern of study is closer to the continental tradition than to the English one - there is less specialization than at Oxbridge.

 

2.5.3 The early nineteenth-century English universities

 

Durham University was founded in 1832. Its collegiate living arrangements are similar to Oxbridge, but academic matters are organized at university level. The University of London started in 1836 with just two colleges. Many more have joined since, scattered widely around the city, so that each college (most are non-residential) is almost a separate university. The central organization is responsible for little more than exams and the awarding of degrees.

2.5.4 The older civic ('redbrick') universities

 

During the nineteenth century various institutes of higher education, usually with a technical bias, sprang up in the new industrial towns and cities such as Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds. Their buildings were of local material, often brick, in contrast to the stone of older universities (hence the name, 'redbrick'). They catered only for local people. At first, they prepared students for London University degrees, but later they were given the right to award their own degrees, and so became universities themselves. In the mid twentieth century they started to accept students from all over the country.

2.5.5 The campus universities

 

These are purpose-built institutions located in the countryside but close to towns. Examples are East Anglia, Lancaster, Sussex and Warwick. They have accommodation for most of their students on site and from their beginning, mostly in the early 1960s, attracted students from all over the country. (Many were known as centres of student protest in the late 1960s and early 1970s.) They tend to emphasize relatively 'new' academic disciplines such as social sciences and to make greater use than other universities of teaching in small groups, often known as 'seminars'.

2.5.6 The newer civic universities

 

These were originally technical colleges set up by local authorities the first sixty years of this century. Their upgrading to university status took place in two waves. The first wave occurred in the mid 1960s, when ten of them (e.g. Aston in Birmingham, Salford near Manchester and Strathclyde in Glasgow) were promoted in this way. Then, in the early 1970s, another thirty became 'polytechnics', which meant that as well as continuing with their former courses, they were allowed to teach degree courses (the degrees being awarded by a national body). In the early 1990s most of these (and also some other colleges) became universities. Their most notable feature is flexibility with regard to studying arrangements, including 'sandwich' courses (i.e. studies interrupted by periods of time outside education). They are now all financed by central government.

 

Listening

2.6.1 Listen to the recording and answer the questions

 

1 Why did the football coach want the dean to let the student enter college without an examination?

2 What question did the dean ask the student?

3 What was the student's answer?

4 What did the dean do then?

 

2.6.2 Listen to the recording and choose the correct answers to these
questions

 

1 Did the students in this story know in advance when a new girlfriend was
going to visit one of their friends?

a. Yes, they did.

b. No, they didn't

 

2 What did they usually do then?

a. They changed all the student's furniture around.

b. They removed the student's furniture from the room.

 

3 What would the girlfriend find when she arrived?

a. She would find that the chairs were too uncomfortable to sit on.

b. She would find that there were no chairs.

 

4 What did Ted Jones decide to do when he heard about this?

a. He decided to lock his door.

b. He decided to take his door away.

 

5 What did his girlfriend find when she arrived?

a. That all the furniture had been taken away.

b. That the door of Ted's room was missing.

 

2.6.3 Listen to the recording. Draw lines from the words on the left to the correct words on the right. Then write out the five complete sentences

 

1 George and Carol 2 One of the medical lectures 3 Smoking 4 The professor 5 The skeleton

a) advised the skeleton to stop smoking and give up students. b) put a cigarette in the skeleton's mouth. c) was used for medical lectures. d) was disapproved of by the professors. e) was about bones.

Discussion

 

2.7.1 Think about these questions (with your partner). Present your ideas to the class

2.7.1.1 Here are the ten subjects which, according to the national
curriculum for England, must be taught in the first three years of
secondary education: English, Mathematics, Science, Technology,
History, Geography, a modern foreign language (French is the most
common), Art, Music and Physical Education (PE). Is there
anything here that surprises you? Do you think any other subjects
should be included? Are these the main subjects taught in your
country?

 

2.7.1.2 What would you say¹ are the successes and failures of the Russian
educational system? What thing, if any, does it appear to do well,
and what areas does it seem to neglect or do badly in?

 

2.7.2 Practice your communicative skills

You meet (receive) students from Britain (the USA) at your university. You describe the structure of the university, the system of higher education in Russia. You talk about the life of students.

Dialogues

2.8.1 Read the dialogues. Act them out making necessary changes and additions

A - I see your university is a rather new one.

- Yes, it was founded twenty years ago becoming the twelfth higher educational establishment in the city.

- How many faculties are there in your university and what is the total
number of students involved in all forms of studies?

- About eight thousand students study in eight faculties.

- Do students in Russia pay tuition?

- Some forms of education are free of charge. Students of higher and
secondary specialized educational establishments get grants. Though
nowadays there are a lot of new educational forms, for instance,
business schools, where tuition is paid by the students.

 

В - What subjects do students take at the university?

- It depends on the faculty and the year they are in.

- Well, let's say the first year at the faculty of language and literature.

- Among the subjects studied in the first year are: linguistics,
languages(Russian, Latin and foreign), literature, ethnography, political
sciences, physical training.

 

С - Your institute has a large campus.

- Yes, rather. Here is the administrative building. Father and behind it
there are four teaching blocks. The library and the students' hostel are
on your left.

- Yes, the institute was planned and built as a single separate complex on
the outskirts of the city.

 

D - How do university students spend their summer holidays?

-In different ways. Some return home, some stay at the students' camp for a few weeks, some join together in building teams and go to the countryside and some work at restaurants.

- What about sports, hobbies, music and dance?

- Well, I think those things always come first.

- Thank you for your reception. You've shown and explained to us a lot
of things. You must be tired, let's call it a day (закончим на этом). We’ll meet this evening at the club, shan’t we?

 

E - Did you pass all your session exams?

- Yes. I could hardly manage them. I was sure I would fail at least two of them.

- The trouble is you can’t work all day and play all night.

- But I don’t. I sat up late and worked at night for the last two weeks.

- Studying all night isn't good either. You need your rest, too.

- I took a short sleep every few hours.

- Well, well. You should be serious about your studies at the university.
It isn't a playground, you know.

F - I enjoyed yesterday's lecture very much. The speaker really knew his
subject, didn't he?

- Yes, he covered it from A to Z, giving the audience convincing
arguments and examples.

- We're lucky we can listen to such lectures- people who aren't afraid to
come out with new ideas.

 

Refresh Your Grammar

2.9.1 Noun

2.9.1.1 Give the plurals of the following nouns

 

cow, glass, story, tomato, box, mouse, child, wish, friend, parent, piano, key, tooth, lorry, bus, monkey, house, way, clergyman, leaf, sheep, stepdaughter, datum, youth.

 

2.9.1.2 Complete these sentences with a singular or a plural verb

 

a) The children…... ready to school. (is getting/are getting)

b) My brother …….in the army. (is/are)

c) The cake ……delicious. (smell/smells)

d) The mice …….the cheese. (has eaten/have eaten)

e) The books we bought…….. expensive. (was/were)

f) Did you notice the picture that …….on the wall? (was hanging/were hanging)

g) The young man you met …….to college with my sister. (go/goes)

h) The letters you posted…… wrongly addressed. (was/were)

i) The woman they were meeting…telephoned to say she can't come. (has/have)

j) Mary and Peter, the couple I met last week, …invited us to dinner. (has/have)

 

2.9.2 Article

2.9.2.1 Where you find a noun phrase with a singular count noun but no determiner, put in a or an

 

a) In English a noun phrase with a singular count noun can hardly ever stand
on its own.

b) We have just bought new house with large garden.

c) My brother is teacher and I have cousin who works with young children as well.

d) Would you like biscuit or piece of cake?

e) I spoke to official and he gave me very good advice.

 

2.9.2.2 Explain the use of the

 

Three learned Christian monks were travelling through Turkey hoping to meet the wisest man in the whole country. The monks explained that they wanted to meet him because they each had a question to ask him. The sultan sent for Nasreddin Hodja who came to the palace at once. The first monk stepped up and asked his question.

'Where is the centre of the earth?' 'At this moment the centre of the earth is exactly below the front right foot of my donkey.'

'How can you possibly know that?' asked the monk.

'If you measure the earth carefully you will find that I am correct replied Hodja.

The second monk stepped up and asked his question.

'How many stars are there in the sky?'

'As many as there are hairs on my donkey,' replied Hodja. 'As you will see if you count them.'

The third monk came forward. 'How many hairs are there in my beard?' he asked.

'That is easy said Hodja. 'As many as there are hairs in the donkey's tail. If you do not believe me step forward and we can pull out the hairs from your beard and the hairs from the donkey's tail one by one and count them.'

The third monk was not very keen on this idea so he had to admit he was beaten, so every one could see that Hodja was the wisest man of all.

 

2.9.3 The verb “to be”

2.9.3.1 Fill the gaps with “to be” in Present Indefinite

 

a)... these women old?

b) My teacher... a professional person.

c) Ann... absent today

d) These... knives and forks.

e) His son.....ill.

f) What colour... those desks?

g) What... this? This...a dean's office.

h) Who... they? They... students.

 

2.9.3.2 Read and translate these sentences

 

a) I was busy yesterday.

b) We were at the students¹ concert last night.

c) My elder brother missed the last lecture because he was ill.

d) She was very tired after classes.

e) Students were glad to move into a new dormitory.

f) He was at Oxford university a year ago.

g) It was an interesting trip.

h) He was a gifted person.

 

2.9.3.3 Transform sentences from 9.3.2 into the Future Indefinite. Make
necessary changes

 

2.9.4 The verb “to have”. Translate into Russian

a) Students of our university have all facilities for study.

b) We had an interesting seminar on literature yesterday.

c) How many classes do you have every day?

d) Will you have to stay at the university for a while?

e) We didn't have any special task for today.

f) It's so nice to have such a professional help.

g) When will you have the final exam?

h) Did you have holidays last month?

Supplementary

Имеется определенная трудность в передаче на английском языке ряда терминов, относящихся к отечественной системе высшего образования. Так, не совсем удачно использование слова institute, поскольку в Великобритании в значении институт оно практически не используется. Весьма близко по смыслу к институту слово college, однако далеко не каждый college в Англии или США - высшее учебное заведение. Поэтому при общении на английском языке следует, опираясь все же на термин institute, давать объяснения или дублирующие варианты. Например: педагогический институт pedagogical in­stitute/college of education/teacher training college, политехнический институт polytechnic(al) institute/polytechnical college, технологический институт technological institute/college of (advanced) technology, медицинский институт medical institute/medical school, архитектурный институт institute of architecture/college of architecture, сельскохозяйственный институт agricultural institute/argicultural college, строительный институт institute of building/college of building/institute of civil engineering, экономический институт institute of economics/college of economics.

Для перевода на английский язык слова училище чаще всего используется слово school. Например: педагогическое училище pedagogical school, художественное училище art school, театральное училище drama school, профессионально-техническое училище (ПТУ) vocational (technical) school.

При переводе на английский слова техникум можно использовать словосочетание technical college или polytechnic.

Если вуз или техникум носит имя известного лица, то соответствующие наименования на английском языке имеют следующий вид: The Shevchenko University, Kiev; The Grekov Art School, Odessa; The Patrick Lumumba University, Moscow (но можно и Lumumba University). В англоязычной речевой практике США наименования университетов и колледжей употребляются без артикля, например, Harvard University, Tuft University, Columbia University, Goucher College. Названия британских университетов с топонимическим компонентом также употребляются без артикля, например, Oxford University, Cambridge University, London University.

Русское слово курсы как учебное заведение переводится school. Например: language school/school of languages. Можно использовать и слово courses: The Courses of Foreign Languages.

London School of Economics Лондонская высшая школа экономики (отделение Лондонского университета).

2. Он учится в университете. He's at university. Она учится в колледже. She is (studies) at college. Я окончил колледж в 1982 г. I left college in 1982. Как у него дела (с учебой) в университете? How's he getting on (doing) at university? Обратите внимание на отсутствие в этих фразах артикля перед сущест­вительным, обозначающим учебное заведение.

Словосочетания типа your (my, our) university, our (my) town, our country и тд. не характерны для английской речевой практики. Англичане предпочитают в этих случаях употреблять фактическое наименование объекта (вуза, города и тд.) либо сочетать существительное с указательным местоимением (ср.: Cambridge University, this college, this country, etc.).

Student’s Day