II семестр. Our Time–Table.

We are first-year students of the Actor’s Department. We are busy for 8 or 10 hours almost every day, because we have rehearsals in the afternoon after classes, even our day off. Our time-table is rather convenient. We have theoretical subjects in the morning and special subjects after the lunch break. Our classes are over at half past four, but on Fridays we have lectures till 7 o’clock in the evening.

At the lesson.

1. It is 9 o’clock in the morning. The professor comes into the classroom. The music lesson begins. One student goes to the piano. He opens the sheet music. He begins to play a sonata by Beethoven. He plays well. The professor listens to the student. He likes this music. He wants to teach his student to play the sonata very well. He sometimes stops the students and shows how to play this or that passage in it. The student listens to his teacher attentively.

2. Henry is a bad student. He doesn’t come to the lectures in time. He doesn’t like to study at all. He doesn’t do his homework every day. At the lessons he doesn’t listen to the teacher attentively. He doesn’t look at the blackboard, he looks at the window. He doesn’t know many simple things and he doesn’t understand the lectures. He doesn’t work hard.

We study at vgik.

My friends and I study at the cameramen’s department of the Cinema Institute. We learn to make films. We study many subjects. Our professors teach the students how to make documentary and feature films. We study many theoretical subjects and we learn to do practical work. We learn to shoot and cut our films. Our students usually do all the creative and technical work during the production of their short films. The teachers criticize our work when we make mistakes and they are glad when we make progress. We know that the film studios of our country need good film-makers. We understand it very well and try hard to master our profession.

III семестр

A Few Words About Education in Russia (р.262)

Young people in our country have every opportunity to study and to get a higher education. At present one can see a lot of changes in Russia's traditional system of education. There ap­peared a great number of private educational institutions (uni­versities, institutes, colleges, schools) where you have to pay for your education.

Young people have a wide choice of state-controlled and pri­vate education.

The state education in Russia is free of charge. Students can find all the books necessary for their studies in the libraries and reading-rooms of their institutes. They can also make experi­ments, carry out research work and different kinds of practical work in the laboratories and workshops of their institutes.

To enter an Institute you have to take entrance examinations which are rather difficult. Students are able to study in evening and day-time departments. A student who does not work and attends a day-time department is called a full-time student. A student who combines work and studies and attends an evening department is called a part-time student.

The training of specialists at our institutes combines theo­retical studies with practical work and industrial training. At the end of each term students are to submit their course (term) papers or designs.

If the students do well, they get scholarships. To pass the examinations successfully students have to work hard dur­ing the academic year. They may fail in the examinations if they miss classes, and do not study regularly. Students must take ex­aminations and credit tests in time. Sometimes they are allowed to take them in advance.