Reading and Speaking: Education in the USA (12 years of education)

Age		Type of School
3-4	voluntary	Nursery School

 

5-6

voluntary

Kindergarten or Preschool

 

6-11	compulsory	Elementary (Primary) Schoolat least 5 years (1st -5th grades)
Public (State) Government provides with everything necessary	Private Parents pay tuition payments	Home Schooling (about 300,000 educated by parents)

 

11-14	compulsory	Middle School (Junior High School) at least 5 years (6th-8th grades)
Public (State) Government provides with everything necessary	Private Parents pay tuition payments	Home Schooling
14-18	compulsory	High School at least 4 years (9th -12th grades) At the end of 12th grade- high school diploma 4-5 major subjects core courses + electives per year
Public (State) Government provides with everything necessary	Private Parents pay tuition payments	Home Schooling

 

18 + voluntary	Higher Education
College A school of higher learning that grants bachelor’s degree in arts or science	University A school of higher learning that grants a bachelor’s, master’s degree, and doctorate through different colleges within the university
Junior College 2-year course BA- Bachelor of Arts BS- Bachelor of Science	College Graduate School 4-5–year course 2-3-year course + thesis or dissertation Medical School 4-year course + residency MD-Doctor of Medicine Law School 3-year course JD- Doctor of Jurisprudence
State Universities (state supported)	Private Universities Harvard-Cambridge, Massachusetts, for men mainly, founded in 1636;

Reading and Speaking: Education in Russia (11 years of education)

Age		Type of School
3-5	voluntary	Nursery / Kindergarten

 

6/7 – 9/10	compulsory	Primary School(4 years: 1st-4th forms) In some schools-exams after the 4th form to enter the 5th form.
State Schools Government provides with everything necessary. In some state schools there are fee-paying classes.	Private Schools Parents pay tuition payments

 

 

10-14	Compulsory	Secondary School(5 years: 5th – 9th form). After the 9th form all the students take examinations in the core subjects.
General Secondary School If a student has unsatisfactory results at the end of the year,he will be held back and asked to repeat the year.	Gymnasium Teaching suggests that the students may select (after the 8th form) from among several orientations: Physics & Maths, the humanities, Science and economics.	Specialized School (which specializes in a group of subjects, e.g. Maths and Physics, Biology and Chemistry, Foreign languages)	Private School Until 1990s all schools were run by the state and were free of charge. Now, however some of them are private and charge fees.

 

14-17		Senior School (2 years: 10th-11th forms) After the 11th form all the students take examinations.
General Secondary School / Gymnasium/ Specialized School/ Private School Students continue their education in the 10-11th forms	Technical School	Lyceum or Vocational School (where children are trained for their future jobs-ballet dancers, musicians etc.)

Fact File:

School year: In Russia there are nine-years of compulsory education. All Russian schools are co-educational. The academic year is broken into terms (3 terms) or quarters with three breaks. The schools usually have holidays in Autumn (one week in November), Winter (10-13 days in January), Spring (one week in March) and Summer (two/three months). June is when the 9^th and 11^th forms take their exams.

School week: The school week is five or six days long. Young students have 3 -4 lessons a day while older ones may have up to 7 lessons. Schools in big cities often have two shifts, as their buildings are not big enough to accommodate all the students at the same time.

School subjects: Learning foreign languages is compulsory in all schools. In some schools students can learn 2-3 foreign languages.

Part 2-Writing

Writing 1 (a personal letter)-100-140 words

Letter 1.

This is part of a letter from your English pen-friend.

………Are you getting ready to take the Russian State Exam at the moment? I am, but I'm finding it difficult to speak on a simulated situation. How do you revise? How many hours a day do you spend revising? Have you got any advice you could give me?

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Best wishes,

Jason

Write back to Jason answering his questions.

Letter2.

This is part of a letter from your English pen-friend.

………Do your parents criticize you when you don't do well at school? Mine seem to put me under so much pressure. What can I do? Do you think I should tell them that it's making me unhappy? How can I explain to my parents how I feel? I try my best at school, but I just never seem to get top marks. Should I speak to a teacher?

Write back soon with your advice.

Love,

Georgia

Write back to Georgia answering her questions.

Letter 3

This is part of a letter from your English pen-friend.

……….. My problem is with my French lesson. Most lessons are boring. Sometimes I just have to doodle on my desk or write letters. Otherwise I'd fall asleep. My class mistress forces me to go, because she says, it 'II be good for me. I absolutely hate them! What can I do? Have you got any problems with your lessons?

Write back soon with your advice.

Love,

Mary

Write back to Mary answering her questions.

Letter 4

This is part of a letter from your English pen-friend.

………….Please, help us, because we're in terrible trouble. School discipline is a major worry. There are bullies at my school who hit and kick me and my mates. We are victims of theft. They say we have to give them our lunch money or they will really hurl us. We're frightened of them. What shall we do?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,

Nick

Write back to Nick answering his questions.

Letter 5

This is part of a letter from your English pen-friend.

………..My problem is with my Mum. She thinks I'm everything that's wonderful, beautiful and clever- and she goes around saying so. It makes me feel very uncomfortable. She tells everybody that I'm going to get wonderful exam results and get some fantastic job. The truth is that I'm not very brainy at all and will be lucky just to pass my exams. How can I explain to her that I'm not so clever as she thinks?

Please, help me. I need your advice.

Write back soon with your advice.

Love,

Mary

Write back to Mary answering her questions.