Topic 1 the world a part of which you have become

“To achieve the goal you need to be going.”

You will learn here:

• that university is a special world;

• how to analyze and render a text;

• about university, faculty and chair structures;

• about the etiquette of academic interaction behaviour.

You will be able to:

• use the vocabulary on the topic;

• read, understand and render mini-texts on the topic;

• read and understand tables, charts and figures;

• find necessary information in texts of different types;

• get information and exchange it in different communicative situations;

• speak about your faculty and university;

• render the texts on the topic from Russian into English.

The number of words and word expressions - 250

 Vocabulary building

1.1. Read (listening simultaneously if necessary) the dialogues, define the communicative situation (who, with whom, where, when, and on what occasion is communicating) by filling in table 1.1.

Table 1.1.

Number of the dialogue	who	with whom	when	on what occasion
1
2
3
4
5
6

 № 1

– Jane hi, glad to see you at the university campus. I bet you are a student already.

– Hi, Kate! Yes, I have entered the Belarusian State University, the Institute of Journalism, the Communication Department this year.

– Great! So we’ll be colleagues. I am doing my 3d year at the Communication Department here too. The only difference is that it is at the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences. And we study in the same building, you know.

– Well then, it’s very good. So we’ll keep in touch. And what’s your major?

– PR management. And you?

– After graduation I’d like to work with some advertising group. So I guess I’ll specialize in this field.

 № 2

– Good afternoon, could you tell me how to get to the Department of International affairs? I am from Poland and I am being here on Erasmus program.

Good afternoon, it is in our administrative building, you can easily see it from here. Ground floor, room 110. Ask an Erasmus coordinator.

– Thank you! All the best!

– Good luck!

 № 3

– Andrew, what are we having tomorrow?

– Have you forgotten? Colloquium on argumentation at the 1^st class.

– Yes, I have. And what is worse, I have lost my timetable.

– I have its e-version, I’ll send it to you first thing in the evening I am home, if you want, of course.

– Of course I do, thank you very much.

 № 4

– Good morning professor, are we gathering at the Dean’s office?

– Good morning. I believe today is an open meeting of our Academic Council, representatives of the Student’s Association and our library stuff are invited. So the meeting will take place in room 119.

– Thank you.

– See you there!

 № 5

– What are you doing this evening?

• I have no plans for tonight.

– But not me. I’ve got a huge home task. Not sure if I manage to do it by tomorrow.

– And what is it?

– Tomorrow we are having English. And so there are words to learn and a text to retell and the text is really difficult to grasp. When I first looked it through, I could hardly make head or tail of it. I need to sit closer with it. Plus a report on the topic that I cannot find in the Internet. So I’ll have to find the material myself.

 № 6

– Today I have delivered a 20-minute lecture to the students in the course of my scientific supervisor. And you? Have you already had an experience in lecturing?

– Of course, I have. This is a routine practice for a 2^nd year post-graduate.

– Was it difficult for you?

– Of course not, as it was on the topic of my dissertation. Though there were several not very pleasant minutes when the students asked me questions. Some of the students can be quite smart, you know, and you need to have a good reaction and use all your background knowledge not to fail.