For the next class discussion search the Internet and find out if there are any similar centers in your country. Share what you discover with your partner(s).

  XI. Write an essay on the problems raised in the article (150-200 words). (See Appendix 2, Section V)

Text G.

Dorm Life Can Be the Biggest Classroom

 September 13, 2019 01:34 AM

 

https://www.voanews.com/student-union/dorm-life-can-be-biggest-classroom

  Before reading:

I.  Brainstorm.

Work in pairs. The heading of the article you are going to read is “ Dorm Life Can Be the Biggest Classroom ”. What do you think it gives information about? Share your ideas with the rest of the class.

Preface

On campus, students usually live in residence halls or dormitories, which are student apartment buildings that are often called "dorms." Among the options are dorms for men- or women-only, freshman-only, and academic-, language-, or theme-focused housing to support diverse student interests.

  Read the text

Dorm Life Can Be the Biggest Classroom

 

For many new students, the biggest life lessons come from living on campus with other young people.

“They may be doing their own laundry for the first time. They may be sharing space with another person for the first time. They may be, in some cases, responsible for making their own meals,” said Nick Lander, associate director of residence life at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas.

New students share sleeping quarters, kitchens, study spaces and bathrooms with many students while they may have come from a family home where they had their own room and spaces.

“So those things kind of happening in a collaborative environment, where there’s support and people they can share those experiences with, I think makes a very positive impact on students,” he said.

Sometimes a requirement

Lander said many schools require new students to live in the dorms, or communal buildings, where they share typically smallish sleeping quarters, toilets and showers. Dining halls are communal and food is usually not specially ordered or prepared for individuals, except for those with dietary restrictions. Some dorms are arranged by gender, college major, social preferences such as eating habits, and even those who want to keep pets.

Research shows that students who live on campus do better academically and learn their way around campus better, Lander said.

Residential students make better connections with professors and other students, too.

New students, typically between 18 and 23 years old, benefit from having others around in the same stage of life and who can help them grow as independent adults.

Help just down the hall

However, living with strangers is not always easy, Lander pointed out. Some first-year students choose their roommates, others opt for random placement. Everyone brings a different level of upbringing to the situation.

And that’s why schools try to offer strong residence-life programs and services, Lander said, such as placing resident assistants, RAs, in each dorm, usually on each floor.

In exchange for free housing, reduced tuition or pay, RAs help dorm residents navigate dorm life. They might connect students with campus resources and fun or informational events. And they are trained to solve disputes and encourage a stable community.

Lander said this experience helps prepare students for the real world.

“When you … have a job and you’re sharing an office space, for example, with another person, or you’re in a relationship, or you have a family, you have to learn how to deal with conflict. You have to learn how to communicate,” he said.

After their first year, students have more flexibility in housing. Having made friends who were strangers at the beginning of their freshman year, they can choose with whom they live. Some move off campus into apartments. Lander said that expands a student’s community beyond campus and into the greater population.

After reading:

Comprehension Check

II. Answer the following questions:

1) Where do the biggest life lessons for many new students come from?

2) What are these life lessons?

3) What do new students have to share?

4) Does the above mentioned make a positive impact on students?

5) What are the results of the research held?

6) Is living with strangers easy? Why? Why not?

7) What do schools try to offer to new students?

8) What does this experience help students to prepare for?

  III. Match the words with their definitions and try to memorize them:

Word/phrase	Definition/meaning
1. Campus	a)n. a large room containing many beds, for example in a boarding school
2. resident life	b)n. the most important subject that a college or university student is studying, or the student himself or herself
3. collaborative	c)n. relating to the first year of a university or college course
4. impact	d)the buildings of a college or university and the land that surrounds them
5. dorm	e)n. a person who you share a room with for a period of time
6. communal	f)n. a student of a school, college, university, etc, who lives or has resided in the state or district of that school, college or university for a set period of time
7. major	g)n. the way in which you are treated and educated when young, especially by your parents, especially in relation to the effect that this has on how you behave and make moral decisions
8. academically	h)n. the ability to change or be changed easily according to the situation
9. residential students	i)the experience of living "on-campus" at a college or university in Canada and the United States. This is usually structured with planned events, a code of conduct and/or ethics, and a relatively large array of staff.
10. First-year student	j)adv. in a way that relates to studying and thinking, not practical skills
11.  roommate	k)involving two or more people working together for a special purpose
12. upbringing	l)n. teaching, especially when given to a small group or one person, such as in a college or university
13. tuition	m)a powerful effect that something, especially something new, has on a situation or person
14. flexibility	n)adj. belonging to or used by a group of people rather than one single person

IV. Fill in the gaps with suitable words given below:

a) communal

b) campus

c) dorms

d) major

Lander said many schools require new students to live in the1)____, or 2)_____buildings, where they share typically smallish sleeping quarters, toilets and showers. Dining halls are communal and food is usually not specially ordered or prepared for individuals, except for those with dietary restrictions. Some dorms are arranged by gender, college3)____, social preferences such as eating habits, and even those who want to keep pets.

Research shows that students who live on 4)_____do better academically and learn their way around campus better, Lander said.

V. Fill in all the advantages/disadvantages of the dorm life into the scheme:

 VI. Match the words with their synonyms:

1) lesson	a) area
2) space	b) setting
3) quarter	c) self-sufficient
4) environment	d) background
5) experience	e) class
6) require	f) need
7) independent	g) one-forth/part

 

VII.Unjumble the words:

Model: velideyr→ delivery

 

1. eranegtrs→

2. etmaomro→

3. nadomr→

4. enditers→

5. supacm→

6. rusesocer→

7. masgorrp→

8. garucenoe→

 

VIII.Make the nouns from the following verbs and make your own sentences with these nouns:

 

1) reduce 2) solve 3) train 4) move 5) learn 6) require

IX. Fill in the gaps with the appropriate form of the words:

However, living with strangers 1)___(to be) not always easy, Lander pointed out. Some first-year students 2)______(to choose) their roommates, others opt for random placement. Everyone3)_____ (to bring) a different level of upbringing to the situation.

And that’s why schools 4)_____ (to try) to offer strong residence-life programs and services, Lander said, such as placing resident assistants, RAs, in each dorm, usually on each floor.

In exchange for free housing, reduced tuition or pay, RAs help dorm residents5)______(to  navigate) dorm life. They might 6)_______(to connect) students with campus resources and fun or informational events. And they are trained to solve disputes and encourage a stable community.

X. Speaking: