1) Discuss the necessity of learning English in pairs or small groups
1. Why is it important to know English in Russia today?
2. Why is it possible to say that English is the world language?
3. Why is knowledge of English crucial for your sphere of science/future work?
4. Do you think you have enough knowledge of English for communication with a native speaker or for professional needs?
2 ) Visit the website given below to listen to a podcast. You will hear two students who are discussing their English lessons and their preferences in learning the language
http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/prof_mp3/Learning_English.mp3
3) Listen to the conversation again and fill in the gaps.
Sam: I'm not 1. _________________ in the present perfect! I need to 2. ___________ more words. It doesn't really matter if my tenses aren't quite right as long as people understand me.
Jo: She did give us some new words though.
Sam: I know but she didn't 3. _____________ any of them on the board. She was too busy talking.
Jo: I wrote them in my book if you want to copy them. I know that if I don't write new 4. ___________________ down I'll never remember them.
Sam: Thanks. I'll give your book back to you tomorrow. If I don't see a word written down I can never 5. _______________ it either and I need to write it down myself to help my 6._________________.
Jo: What about the phonemic chart? Did you find that useful?
Sam: Yes, although I found it really 7. _________________ to hear the difference in the sounds she made.
Jo: Yes, I'll need to practise them too. If we use the chart every lesson though I think it might help you to
remember new words. If you can 'see' the 8. _______________ you need to make it might be
9. ________________.
Sam: Yeah, I think you're right. Maybe you should be my 10. _____________________ !
5) Discuss the following questions in pairs or small groups
1. What do you think about your English lessons? Speak about your English classes at school / university? What lessons are better/worse? Why do you think so?
2. What would you improve in your English classes?
3. Would you like to read/speak/write/listen more?
M
any
breakthroughs have been made with the help of foundation grants.
Sometimes
it is necessary we get financial support to make a scientific
discovery.
Read
a short article about grants and discuss it in pairs or small groups.
Grant
Grants are funding programs created by one party (Grant Makers), often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a recipient, often (but not always) a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. Most grants are competitive, although some are awarded through non-competitive and/or less-competitive processes.
When applying for a grant, the applicant prepares a well thought-out document, known as a proposal. The proposal clearly and concisely states why a project is being proposed, what will be accomplished, who or what and how the project will provide a needed benefit or change and, of course, how much is being requested. Most grants are made to fund a specific project and require some level of compliance and reporting. The Grant Writing process involves an applicant submitting a proposal (or submission) to a potential funder, either on the applicant's own initiative or in response to a Request for Proposal from the funder. Other grants can be given to individuals, such as victims of natural disasters or individuals such as people who seek to open a small business. Government grants, which you don’t have to repay back, are available for almost anybody. These are money programs that are offered to you by your county and state which you never have to repay. Project related funding to governments, business, communities and individuals is often arranged by application either in writing or on-line.
Tips for finding your grant:
Here are some tips to help you search for your own free government grant:
Use the internet to search the government grants available to you. When you enter the free money related keywords the search engines take your search words and then find documents and return websites that are related to that keyword you searched for.
When searching for free government money information, you should try to search for a variety of terms related to free government grants, such as applications, free scholarship, housing grants. Fine tune your keywords while using the search and use specific keywords.
It would take long to see all the grants from the government available to you, so the more specific your keywords to narrow your search, the better the results.
By searching you can find information about receiving free grant money for yourself. Just by spending a little time online doing some research you could be on the way to receiving a nice check in the mail.
Answer the questions
1. What does the notion “grant” mean?
2. What are the ways of finding a grant?
3. Why would you like to apply for a grant? Why not?
4. What kind of grant would you like to apply for?
Optional task: You are a young promising scientist. You are going to conduct a very important scientific research but the only problem you have is lack of money. You are going to participate in the grant competition together with your colleagues. It’s necessary you compose a project proposal to take part in this grant competition. Read the information of the second part of the textbook “Academic writing practice” about writing a grant and compose the first part of proposal – cover sheet.