Opinions on education

School years

— Speaking

At School

v When did you go to school?

v When and what school did you finish?

v What schools did you go through?

v How many pupils were there in your class?

v Did you wear a uniform? What was it like?

v Was your school far from the house? How did you

get there?

v What was your school like? Describe it.

v How did students know which class to go?

v Was your class ever divided into groups? When?

v When did the school year begin? How long did it last? How long was the school day?

Exercise 1

Recollect your school days. Work in pairs. Tell a partner about a hard-working student in your class and one who couldn’t care less about his/her exams. What do they do now?

Exercise 2

Work in pairs. Discuss your work at school. Use the following phrases:

be a genius; a mark for an answer; a mark in a subject; be a top/bottom student; be at odds with; be bored with; be good/bad at; be obliged; do a lot of swotting; do well/badly; enjoy studying; give/get a mark; have ability/a gift; lead the class in; put in a lot of reading; slave at one’s books; spend a lot of time practising; spend one’s time on books; to swot; to loathe; win all the prizes in the exams; work with relish and application; to be at the top/bottom of the class.

X Listening

Part A

Listen to three people talking about the schools they used to go. Tick the topic each one talks

about. Were the speakers happy at school?

	teachers	homework	punishment	friends	uniform
Louise
Debbie
Jim

Part B

Listen to the cassette again. Decide whether these statements are true or false.

v Louise lived at her school

v Louise liked her uniform

v Jim used to have lunch at school

v Most of Jim’s teachers were old

v Debbie didn’t like her school

v Debbie used to go to a pub with one of her friends

What does Louise remember about her teachers? What does Jim like about his uniform? What does Debbie remember about homework and punishments? Did you have much homework to do? What subjects took most of the time? Did you have favourite subjects? What were they?

— Speaking

How do you feel about the subjects in the box? Use one of these expressions in each answer

(but write more if you want to).

I really enjoy... I’m extremely interested in... I’m fascinated by... I’m quite interested in... I’d like to know more about... I don’t know anything about... I’m not very interested in... I’ve always wanted to learn... I’m not in the least interested in... I don’t like... at all. I’m bored by... I used to think... was boring, but now I’m getting interested in it. I think... is a complete waste of time. I hate... Which subjects were your favourite ones? What did it depend on?

archaeology algebra art biology computer studies dancing geometry history the humanities languages literature maths music philosophy

Exercise 3

Read these sentences spoken by college students. What subject is each person studying?

1. “I’m concentrating on the modernist style and the work of Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright.”

2. “The way we use fertilizers is much more precise than it was 20 years ago.”

3. “Travel and tourism are an important part of this industry.”

4. “We are going to concentrate on Freud and Jung this term.”

5. “I’ve been reading some books on time management.”

6. “Expressionism was really a reaction to the work of the Impressionists.”

7. “We’ve spent a lot of time on foreign policy and how it is affected by domestic issues.”

8. “We are looking at ways that solar energy can be utilized.”

Exercise 4

Here are some school subjects, but the letters are mixed up. What are the subjects?

Example: TREPCUMOS …………… computers

1.	TAHM	………………	4.	NISGEHL	………………
2.	IRTHOSY	………………	5.	RAT	………………
3.	CNECSEI	………………	6.	SIMCU	………………

? Writing

Write about your life at school. Use these prompts and active vocabulary:

uniform teachers discipline

friends subjects homework

punishment knowledge exams

— Speaking

What kind of student were you? (diligent, assiduous, hard-working, lazy, industrious, conscientious, attentive, active, painstaking)

Exercise 5

Were there any rules for attending your school? What were they?

These are the rules for attending school in North America. Indicate whether they are also true

about your school by putting a check mark in the column on the right.

Rule	Also true here
1. Always arrive in class on time or little early.
2. Raise your hand when you want to ask a question.
3. You may speak to the teacher from your desk while you are seated.
4. When you are absent, you must make up the work you have missed. Ask a teacher or a classmate for the work.
5. If you expect to be away from school because of an emergency, tell your teacher in advance, if possible, and ask for the work you will miss.
6. All assignments you hand in must be your own work.
7. Never cheat on a test. (Never look at or copy another student’s paper when you are taking a test).
8. If you are having difficulty with a class, ask the teacher for help. The teacher will be glad to help you.
9. Bring a note from you parent or guardian explaining any absences or tardiness.
10. You may miss school because of personal illness, a death in the family, or a religious holiday. It is illegal to stay home fromschool for any other reason.
11. You must work hard in your courses.
12. Teachers must consider all students equal in the classroom and must judge them only by the quality of their work.

Have you ever broken the rules? If so, then when and why?

— Speaking

Tell about your school experience:

v Was your school a strictly disciplined one?

v Were all your teachers strict disciplinarians?

v How did you manage to keep your marks to a respectable standard?

v Who was reluctant to accept school discipline in your class? Were you among such pupils?

v Did you ever break the school rules? Did you disrupt discipline?

v Did you help a teacher to restore discipline in class?

v Did you have problem children in your class or problem schools in your town/city?

v Who usually went to parent-teacher meetings – your father or your mother?

v Do you think there should be better co-operation between schools and parents?

v How many classmates graduated from school with honours? Were you among them?

Exercise 6

Choose the most important questions (3-5), go round the class and ask as many students as possible. Ask some other questions you consider interesting.

X Listening

Now listen to Graham Grant, an English teacher, who will tell about life in a Japanese school.

Part A

The following words and phrases are in the interview. Check the meaning and the pronunciation in your dictionary.

attitude (n) retire (v) respect (n) competitive (adj) discipline (n) rude (adj) row (n) strict (adj) bow (v) politeness (n)

Part B

Listen to the interview and answer the questions.

v Why is education so important in Japan?

v “Children must do well at school.” Why?

v At what age do they start to work hard?

v What do they do in class?

v What do they do in the evening?

v Do they have a long holiday?

v How do they spend their weekends and holidays?

Part C

Divide into two groups. Each group has four answers to four questions about the interview. Write the questions, then ask the other group to answer them.

Group A		Group B
1.?		1.?
He’s teaching Japanese in England.		Six.
2.?		2.?
They usually stay from the time they live school or university until they retire.		Yes, they do, because they are never bored. 3.?
3.?		Three or four hours every night.
About forty.
4.?		4.?
Because it is rude to question a teacher.		She is probably watching TV.

Part D

What do you think?

v Are Japanese schools like schools in our country?

v Were teachers in your school strict or lenient? Which do you prefer? Which do you

think is better?

v What are the advantages or disadvantages of strict schools?

v In what way are schools in your country and schools in Japan alike?

v How are students’ attitudes toward teachers and school in Japan and Ukraine different?

Exercise 7

What were your most frequent grades? What did it depend on?

Grades are often calculated differently, not only in different countries, but also in the same country. Generally, in the United States, teachers consider the following areas when computing grades:

Tests: formal examination

Quizzes: short tests, sometimes given to students without telling them in advance

Homework: work the students are expected to do individually at home

Class participation: active involvement in the class, shown by asking and answering

questions

Research paper: a written report that requires finding information in the library

Attendance: going to class every time it meets

Promptness: coming to class at exactly the time the class is scheduled to begin and handing

in work when it is due

Attitude: showing interest in the class and respect for the teacher, the subject, and the other

students; also, waiting your turn to speak, not interrupting, raising your hand to ask a question

Are these areas also important in your country? Which ones are not important?

Exercise 8

Schools in the United States and Canada use their own grading system. However, most grades are either letter grades (A, B, C, D, E, F) or number grades. (In some schools the letter or number grade may vary by one or two points.)

Letter Grade	Number Equivalent	Meaning
A	90-100	Excellent
B	80-89	Good
C	70-79	Average	Passing
D	60-69	Poor
F	0-59	Failing

Some schools add a plus or a minus to a grade (for example, B+, A-) to indicate that work in a course was a little above or a little below the grade given. What grading system is used in your country? How does it compare with grading in the United States or Canada?

Exercise 9

Here are the grades a North American student received. What kind of student is he? In which areas does he need to improve?

English	C	Social studies	B
Maths	B	Physical education	A
Science	D	Spanish	F

Exercise 10

Here are some idioms commonly used by students in school. Match each idiom with its meaning.

	Idiom	Definition
	1. Ace it	A. A difficult subject
	2. Bomb the test	B. A lot of work to do
	3. brown-nose	C. To get an A
	4. “Mega” homework	D. Gives many good grades
	5. Blow-off course	E. To fail an exam
	6. Suck up	F. An easy course
	7. Pull an all-nighter	G. A very smart person
	8. Flunk	H. To study instead of sleep
	9. Killer course	I. To fail
	10. Data brain	J. To try hard to please
	11. Hard nose	K. A difficult teacher
	12. Mark on a curve	L. To add points to the grades
	13. Easy grader

Exercise 11

Translate into English

Я закінчила школу 20 років тому. Я досить добре пам'ятаю свої шкільні роки. Це були щасливі дні. Звісно учбовий рік починався 1 вересня і тривав аж до кінця травня, і, як і зараз, поділявся на 4 чверті. Після кожної чверті були канікули, найдовші з яких були зимові - 2 тижні. Протягом учбового року ми ходили в школу 6 днів на тиждень. Учбовий день починався о 8.30 і тривав у старших класах до 3 годин, а в молодших, де було лише 4-5 уроків на день, до 1 години. Раніше ми обов'язково носили шкільну форму. Це була коричнева сукня з білим комірцем і манжетами, а також чорний фартух для дівчат. Хлопці носили коричневий костюм та сорочку. Що до домашнього завдання, я не пам'ятаю, щоб проводила стільки часу за книжками скільки моя дочка зараз. Мені вистачало часу і погуляти, і подивитись телевізор, і пов'язати. Вчителі? Вони були різними. Пам'ятаю свою вчительку з алгебри у 7 класі, яка була дуже суворим та вимогливим вчителем, і всі її боялись. В мене не дуже добре було з математикою і я мала не дуже гарні оцінки. Але до гуманітарних наук я мала хист і цікавилась ними. Особливо подобалась мені література та історія. Такі предмети як праця, співи я вважаю марною тратою часу. Хімія спочатку мені здалась нудною, але потім я нею зацікавилась і взагалі вважаю корисним і доцільним предметом.

PART II

Opinions on education

Дата добавления: 2015-10-30