XX. Ask 5 questions to the text.

XXI. Compare the University of Minnesota and ASTU.

 

 

APPENDIX

 

I. Watch the video “Astrakhan State Technical University as I see it”. Do your best to understand as much as possible. Study the list of the given words to help you:

 

Campus – университетский городок

self-contained – самостоятельный

quarters – (зд.) здания

faculty – профессорско-преподавательский состав

leisure – досуг

matriculation – зачисление в высшее учебное заведение

day-to-day – повседневный

dormitory – общежитие

the Rector = the Director = the President

a dormitory = a hostel = a hall for residence

gym = gymnastics

 

II. Watch the video one more time. Make use of the text given below. Now, answer the following questions:

 

1. What are three main impressive things about Astrakhan State Technical University?

2. What is a campus?

3. What does the campus of ASTU include?

4. What was the University named first?

5. What does “the preparatory faculty” mean?

6. What is located in the main building?

7. Is there any difference between the words “a dormitory” and “a hostel”?

8. What faculties does the fourth academic building contain?

 

TEXT

ASTRAKHAN STATE TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

AS I SEE IT

 

Hello, and welcome to Astrakhan State Technical University. My name is John Lenghardt, and I am an instructor of English here at the University. I will be your guide for this short tour of the campus of the University.

Let me begin by mentioning a few of my impressions when I first arrived here in the city and at the campus of the University. First I was impressed by the fact that the campus does exist.

What is a campus? A campus is a self‑contained region which includes all the academic, administrative and living quarters necessary for the students and faculty of the University. I was under the understanding that very few of universities in Europe have campuses, thus I was pleasantly surprised that here, at Astrakhan State Technical University, there is a campus.

Secondly, the campus is quite beautiful and impressive. Here you can see quite a few green areas, parks, flower‑beds, and fountain for students and faculty to relax and also have some time for quiet study. The third impressive thing about the campus of the University are the facilities. There are numerous facilities for all academic as well as leisure time for students and the faculty.

Let me begin by relating some history of the University. As I have been told, the University was founded in the year 1930 as a Fishing Institute and it quickly became one of the most respected institutions in the Soviet Union. Since that time the University has grown and now includes many departments and specialities, from the most recent the Law major and other majors including Economics, Accounting, Shipbuilding.

I'd also like to touch upon one of the most interesting aspects of the University and that is the Preparatory department. As I have come to understand, there are only few universities in Russia which specialize in preparing foreign students for study and matriculation here, in Russia, and the Preparatory faculty is one of the most renowned.

Now I'd like to take a brief tour of the University and begin by looking at the main academic building which is located here to my right. The main academic building is truly the heart of the University. Here are located all of the administrative offices necessary for the day‑to-day governing of the University. We can find the office of the Rector or the President of the University as well as the Dean's departments. We also, of course, can find numerous classrooms, which are filled with the most modern and innovative technology, necessary for both theoretical and practical classwork. On the fourth floor we also can find numerous computer laboratories of which students as well as faculty members may take advantage of. On the second floor we find the Red Hall, which is a large and beautifully decorated meeting room, and can be used for all types of meetings and assemblies of the University.

But as I've mentioned, as this is a campus we are concerned not only with the academic aspects but leisure and other interests and thus, the main academic building includes numerous facilities for students and faculty, as well as general public, including a post-office, cafeteria and numerous stalls which sell supplies and books for any of the University community.

When mentioning the facilities of Astrakhan State Technical University we can't but help mentioning the modern gym, which stands right behind me. As I have been told, and as I have noticed it is one of the modern facilities within the city. Here, which is open for both students, faculty members and the public at large, people can relax as well as involve themselves in other proceeds from their academic course work. We can find here basketball and volleyball courts, for example, weight lifting, table tennis facilities, indoor swimming‑pool. And from this point we'll continue on, and look at some other buildings and areas of the University.

As we mentioned previously Astrakhan State Technical University campus includes numerous buildings. We have 6 academic buildings, we also have the gym, which we saw, athletic fields and numerous outdoor shops and cafes. The other important areas of the University are dormitories. ASTU consists of 9 dormitories. The word “dormitory” comes to English from the French language, meaning “to sleep”. In British English they often use the word “hostel”. We, in America, prefer the word “dormitory”, and again there are nine of them. Behind me you can see the ninth dormitory, which is the most recent having been completed only within the last year. It contains all modern facilities necessary for students and faculty members. A number of the dormitories are reserved for faculty. We also have a dormitory for married couples and families, and for the large foreign community, which exists here at the ASTU.

And now we finish our tour of the campus of the University with a view of the fourth academic building, my home away from home. Here, as in most of the academic buildings of the University, we can find a modern library filled with manuals and textbooks for all the major offered at the University. But more important we also see the department of foreign languages, where German, French and English are taught. The specialists of the foreign language department prepare their students for a career both professionally in the sense of theoretical courses, translation, to be able to write a dissertation in a foreign language, or perhaps, to research and publish in a foreign language, as well as practical experience and courses in conversational language.

Thus, we would invite anyone interested in proceeding the English language for what any reason to come to Astrakhan State Technical University and meet with us at any time. That will be the close of our university tour. Good‑bye.

/by John Lenghardt/