Going to College in the usa

Clerk: Why do you want to enter our college? Have you studied our course catalogue?

Foreign Student: Yes, I have. You are a four-year college, and you are state supported. The tuition fee is reasonable. Everything suits me. Then you have a large foreign community.

Clerk: Oh, yes, we have foreign students. Have you passed the Test of English as a Foreign Language or TOEFL as it is often called?

Foreign Student: Yes, my TOEFL score meets your requirements. Here is my “Score Record”. Do I have to take any entrance examinations?

Clerk: Yes, I’m afraid, you do. One of our admission requirements for foreign students is to sit SAT, Scholastic Aptitude Test.

Foreign Student: When is it held?

Clerk: You should contact our foreign student adviser about it.

Foreign Student: Do I qualify for financial assistance?

Clerk: Oh, we must study all your papers very carefully first, before we say. By the way, what would you like to major in?

Foreign Student: If I enter your college, I would like to major in public finance.

Clerk: Generally we offer majors in economics, though there is a course on State and Local Public Services and Finance. But you should read the description of the course, information about departments in our college and curriculum opportunities very carefully to be sure that it is what you need.

Foreign Student: Sure, I’ll do it.

Clerk: Then, we are very strict about students’ attendance, taking exams, credit tests, writing course papers on time.

Foreign Student: If I get accepted it won’t be a problem, I think. What facilities for sport, recreation and entertainment do you offer?

Clerk: Not every university can boast of similar facilities. We have a gym, a swimming pool, different students’ clubs. If you pass your SAT and if you become our student, you won’t regret it.

Foreign Student: It’s nice to hear it. After I get in touch with the adviser and study the curriculum I’ll contact you again, if you don’t mind.

Clerk: Welcome.

Foreign Student: Before I leave, may I look around the college?

Clerk: Certainly, I’ll show you round.

Questions

1. Why does this college attract the young man?

2. What exams are mentioned in the dialogue?

3. What does the young man want to major in?

4. What are the teachers strict about?

5. What can you say about the college and its facilities?

TEXT9. Read the interview. Answer the questions below.

An American View on Russian Education

The following is an interview with Professor James J. Hearn who comes from the USA. Mr. Hearn has worked around the world (the USA, South America, Belarus and other places) and he is currently a visiting professor at the Economic Academy and the Moscow International School of Business.

- What are the main differences in the systems of education between Russia and the USA?

- There is one important difference. In America I feel that students have more opportunity to develop themselves. In Russia many students are intelligent, but they are passive. Russian students are trained not to take initiative. They are good listeners, but most of them are reserved. Last year I had a student, who always took initiative and gave responses to my presentations. And I really appreciated that. Students must be more than just listeners. Education for me is when I present something and then students discuss the topic and share their ideas.

- How can you characterize Russian students?

- Many Russian students write and think well. For me, an average Russian student writes in English as well as American students do. For example, this year I asked my students to write a paper on the film «A Civic Action». And lots of them wrote some really sophisticated and interesting ones. Russian students are educated really well, but they miss the feeling of openness, as they are taught to study in strict discipline.

- Is a foreign professor in Russia restricted in what and how he teaches?

- I feel no pressure here, I feel very free. Nobody has ever criticized me or told me how I should teach. However, I know that I’m in another country, so I try to be tactful in presenting issues. When I speak about my or your country, I try to be fair. I give articles to the students that express the reality from different points of views. Every country has its own understanding of some problems, so I try to be intercultural in discussing the issues with my students.

- Mr. Hearn, in your opinion, have students changed since your days as a student?

- Two things have changed: students today are more worldly – they use the Internet and they know a lot, and the second thing that changed, is that students today have lots of ambitions. Students have many opportunities that, for example, I didn’t have, when I was a student. IT systems are available now and the Internet is very helpful. Students are more global, they have more understanding of cultural differences.

- Speaking about yourself, did your university unite students? Did you make a lot of friends then?

- In America we make friends wherever we are. Classmates are not as close as they are in Russia. We study subjects by individual choice, so the groups always change. It’s not like in Russia, where students study together in the same group for a few years. So I made relations with different people according to where I was: in Law School, in Oxford (where I studied), in California, in Washington, where I’ve lived for 45 years, and on different foreign internships.

- Mr. Hearn, what reforms would you recommend for the Russian system of education?

- I’ve been teaching Russian students for 4-5 years and I noticed that the students who have been overseas come back with a different attitude to life. They become more open, ambitious and talkative. So the first thing I would recommend is to develop more democratic process in classes. Russian students need to develop such skills that would help them to compete in their future life, they have to open their creativity up. One Russian professor told me that Russian students don’t know what is happening in the world as they are not getting the updated information. So the second thing I would recommend is to be more global, to give students more information about the world.

Questions

1. Where does Professor James J. Hearn come from?

2. What countries did he work in?

3. Where did he study?

4. What is the main difference between educational systems of Russia and the USA, in his opinion?

5. How are Russian students characterized?

6. Is the professor limited in his ways of teaching being abroad?

7. What are his teaching methods based on?

8. What changes have happened since his student time?

9. Is it easy for Americans to make friends? Are American groupmates close and united?

10. What reforms does the professor recommend for the Russian system of education?

TEXT 10. Read and translate the text. Make up 10 questions on its contents.