My study

I am a student ________the …. department ________the Rostov State Transport University. I go ________ the University every day. Our lectures begin _______ 8.30 _______ the morning. We have 3 or 4 lectures _______ every day. We stay ________ the University ______ 2 or 3 o`clock ______ the afternoon. We have no lectures _______ Sundays. We study many general and special subjects such as…. The most difficult subject _______me is … .The academic year is divided _______ 2 terms. Each term ends ______ examination session. We have to take several tests, credits and exams. _______the end ______ this term we will have ... credits and … exams. The course of studies lasts _________5 years. _________ successfully passing our final exams we will get the diplomas of the (specialists, engineers)_______ the field of ( social work / tourism). Our graduates can work _____ … enterprises and offices.

Exercise 6. Prepare the topic for conversation «The Rostov State Transport University».

Exercise 7. Get ready to discuss the following subject matters:

• your study,

• your department,

• main transport universities of Russia,

• the systems of education in Russia, the UK, the USA.

Supplementary material biographies of the famous people The plan of speaking on a biography

		Augustine Betankour
1	The dates of life	01.02.1758 – ­14.07.1824
2	The place of birth	the town of Puerto-de-la-Cruz on the Tenerife Island
3	The family background	nobility
4	Education	the Royal School of St. Isidor, the Art Academy, the Paris College of Bridges and Roads
5	Places of work and appointments	In 1788 – the director of the Royal Cabinet of Machines, Spain; In 1801– the General inspector of roads and channels in Spain and the Head of the Transport and Communication system: In 1809–1824 – the Head of the Institute of Transport Engineers in St. Petersburg
6	Marriage, children	Married in 1790, had 4 children: three daughters and a son
7	Great moments of the life	Betankour arrived in Russia in 1807
8	Spheres of activity	Engineering, mechanics, drawing, teaching, inventing, etc.
9	Date and place of death	14.07.1824 in St. Petersburg, he is buried now in Alexander Nevsky Laura

Augustine betankour – the russian spaniard

When we enter the beautiful hall of the Rostov State Transport University we see two marble monuments. One of them is a statue to Augustine Betankour. It is a pity that students and teachers simply pass this monument by, knowing very little or nothing about him. As a matter of fact Augustine Betankour was a remarkable man.

Augustine A. Betankour (Augustine Hose Pedro del Carmen Domingo de Candeliaria y Molina) was born on the 1-st of February 1758 in the family of the provincial officer. But his father was a nobleman, that is why his children could have 6 names.

The Betankours’ family was big: there were 5 sons and 5 daughters in it. They lived in the town of Puerto-de-la-Cruz on the Tenerife Island. All the children, including girls, got a profound education: they were taught mathematics, drawing, rigid subjects, French and English. Augustine studied at the Royal School of St. Isidor, learning algebra, geometry, higher mathematics, mechanics and physics. At the same time he took lessons of drawing in the Art Academy. As the result he made his first invention – the spinning frame – when he was 19, and at the age of 26 he became an academician in drawing.

In 1784 Betankour went to Paris to learn mechanics and hydraulics in the Paris College of Bridges and Roads and then to London – to examine the latest steam machines. After making a model of his steam machine that was then used at all French factories, Betankour became a well-known European engineer.

In 1788 Betankour was appointed the director of the Royal Cabinet of Machines by the decree of the Spanish king Charles III. His duty was to collect the models and drawing of the newest machines and devices in order to enhance the mechanic equipment in Spain.

In 1790 Augustine Betankour married an Englishwoman Ann Jurden. Due to some problems with their religion the family lived in England for ten years.

In 1801 Betankour was appointed the General inspector of roads and channels in Spain and soon he became the Head of the Transport and Communication system of that country. But the intrigues in the government and around the Spanish king forced Betankour to look for some other country where his knowledge and experience could be appreciated. To our luck Russia had become his second homeland.

The tsar Alexander I in 1807 invited Betankour to Russia. At this time he was 50, and for many other people that was the age to start calm and stable living. But for Augustine Betankour the traveling to Russia meant a beginning of a new, glorious period in his life.

At the beginning of the 19-th century Russia with its great territory desperately needed the specialists in water, railway and road transportation. Betankour was given a very complicated task – to create a system of transportation in Russia and to train specialist who would be able to work in it.

During his «Russian period» Betankour made a lot of important inventions: he worked out a project to prevent floods in the town of Tver; he made the design of water-supply to the fountain system in Tsarskoye Selo. One of his greatest contributions into the life of Russia was a Factory of securities in St. Petersburg. Betankour made a whole infrastructure for the people, working at this factory: starting from a kindergarten and school – to working process and samples of the first Russian securities, training courses for the specialists and even an amateur theatre for the workers. Remembering his significance in the development of Russian securities the latest photo paper for electronic devices is called «Betankur». Augustine Betankour worked out a process of mounting the columns of the Isaak’s Cathedral in St. Peterburg, but he did not managed to realize it. Monferan, his scholar, successfully completed the process. That is why we can see the statue to Betankour inside of the Cathedral.

Augustine Betankour made a number of other great inventions which were carried out in the towns of Russia, but the most significant contribution of this great person into Russian history was creation of the Institute of Transport Engineers in 1809. Then during 15 years Betankour was the Head of the Institute. He invited the best European scientists and teachers to train future Russian transport engineers. For example, Dmitry Mendeleev was the Head of the Chemistry Chair. Betenkour personally supervised the process of admission, studying, physical training, the work of the students in the laboratories. He paid special attention to collecting of a specialized literature for the library of the Institute. During first 20 years all lessons were conducted only in French. The students who graduated from the Institute became the well-known Russian engineers, scientists and inventors.

There are many memorial places connected with the life of Augustine Betankour in Russia. Our people remember and honour this great person, who being a Spaniard made so much for his second motherland – Russia.