November

Follow the link to read and listen to the poem "November" by by Edward Thomas, an Anglo-Welsh writer (1878 – 1917):

Classic Poetry Aloud

Find adjectives and adverbs in the text and define their degrees of comparison.

First degree courses in the UK

The UK has an excellent reputation for higher education and research. It offers a lot of opportunities to both national and international students at undergraduate and postgraduate level.
Degrees
The degrees vary according to the practice of each university.
First degrees after leaving school are often called undergraduate. Arts, social science and pure science degrees normally last 3 or 4 years because they are designed to follow a very specialized school-leaving qualification. Traditionally university graduates will be awarded the degree of Bachelor of Arts, Science, Engineering, Medicine etc.
Later they may continue to take graduate or postgraduate courses. There is a another higher educational qualification in the UK, known as the Higher National Diploma or HND. It lasts a year less than a degree course – either two full-time or three years as a sandwich course.
HNDs are vocational (or job related), so a student will not find them in purely academic subjects as history or philosophy. They are available in, for example, science subjects, engineering, business studies, hospitality and tourism management.

Comment what do you think?
 Would you like to study abroad?
What degrees are awarded in Russian universities? 

The American education system

Complete the paragraph with the words : it , the former,  that (3),  this, they, the latter, who, which (2) such as.


The American education system requires that students complete 12 years of primary and secondary education before they attend university or college. …(1) may be accomplished either at public schools, or at private schools. …(2) are usually supported and financed by state and municipal governments, while …(3) are operated privately.

Numerous American colleges, schools and universities offer programs …(4) lead to a variety of degrees. …(5) include an associate degree …(6) is given upon completion of a 2-year programme and a bachelor’s degree …(7) normally requires at least four years of full-time college-level coursework. For those college graduates …(8) want to advance their careers higher education institutions offer advanced degrees …(9) a master’s degree or doctorate (also known as PhD) degree.

The master’s degree typically requires two years of full-time graduate school coursework to complete. Unlike students pursuing a bachelor’s degree, students in a master’s degree program will complete courses … (10) are highly focused in their field of study (major) so the students must have already decided on the major before applying to a master’s degree program.

The PhD degree is even more focused and specialized than the master’s degree. Some students will complete a master’s degree before applying to a doctorate degree prog-ram, but …(11) is not always necessary. Completion of a doctorate degree typically takes between three and six years but a student with a master’s degree may take less time to complete his PhD if …(12) is in the same field

British English vs American English

Some students ask questions about differences between between the British accent and North American accent. Watch a video and compare.

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Are you sure this water is pure?
The bar is quite far, we need a car.
The first year you learn a lot of words by heart.
There were four more birds this morning.
Last week I cut my ass on some glass in the bath, so I asked for plaster.
My new secretary is so stupid! She had to look up "inventory" in the dictionary!

Comment what variant of English do you prefer to learn and why?

Cambridge

Cambridge, US is a unique community with a strong mix of cultural and social diversity and technological innovation. Its “Squares” are rich in various international restaurants and cafes as well as unique shopping, theatres, museums, and historic sites.
Located between the academic centers of Harvard and MIT, Central Square is the seat of City government and is home to a rich variety of music clubs, book shops, restaurants and clothing stores. It’s about a 12 minute walk from Kendall Square, which is the home to MIT and the heart of Massachusetts’ high tech and biotechnology industries.
The main site of the MIT is located along the left bank of the Charles River. This provides a wonderful view of the Boston area. Parking in Cambridge can be expensive and hard to find so use public transportation to get to the MIT campus.
The Tech shuttle and Safe Ride shuttle provide free transportation around the MIT. But the latter runs only on weekdays.
(Adapted from http://www.cambridge-usa.org/)

 Take notes under the headings below.

• Location 
• Transport

My biography

Write down a short CV using words and wordcombinations:

My name is

to be born in a small town (big city, a village)

my parents

to be a judge (a doctor, a teacher, an economist …)

at the age of

to attend school

to receive marks

my favourite subjects

to finish school

to enter an institute

to be a first (second …) year student

to pass the entrance exams

to be interested in

to take an active part in

to deal with the problems

to work at

to make a report at

to be a member of

the student’s Scientific society

the conference devoted to

to graduate from.

Useful phrases with a verb 'to make'

If we want to say that someone or something causes us to be in a particular state or to change to another state we use verb to make:

This film always makes me cry.




The smell of fish makes me feel ill.



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The weather is gloomy today . It is raining and this makes me sleepy.
Are you sleepy cause of rain today? Does the weather influence you and make you sad?