TOPIC The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

TOPIC The Ural State Law Academy.

The Urals State Law Academy is situated in Ekaterinburg. Its foundation goes back to April 1931. It was formed on the basis of the Irkutsk State University as a Law Faculty. Later it was reorganized into the Siberian Institute of Soviet Law. In 1934 the Institute moved into Sverdlovsk, got the name of the Sverdlovsk Institute of Law and bore this name till 1992/ Now it is called the Urals State Law Academy.

Till 1976 there was only one faculty at the Sverdlovsk Law Institute – the Law faculty.

In 1976 the following there faculties were set up at the full-time department: the Judge and Prosecutor Training Faculty, the Investigator and Criminalist Training Faculty and the Faculty of Legal Service in the National Economy System. Later two of them were united into the Law Faculty and the Faculty of Legal Service was given a new name – the Business Law Faculty. Besides, a Custom Department was formed.

The Academy has three Institutes at the day department: the Institute of the Prosecutor’s Office, the Institute of Justice and the Institute of Business and Law. Moreover, within the Academy there is also a Law College, an Institute of External Economic Relations, an Institute of Management and Law and an Institute of the Bar.

The Academy is housed in three study buildings with libraries and reading halls where the students are able to get ready for their classes. There are also snack bars of after classes.

The student body of all departments taken together numbers more than 7000 people and several tens of post-graduates. The Academy is headed by Rector and Vise-Rectors (Pro-Rectors). The Study, methodical and research work is guided by the dean’s offices and by different chairs.

The Academy trains judges, prosecutors, advocates, juristconsults, investigators, customs officials and other lawyers. After completing the education our graduates work at courts, prosecutor’s offices, Militia, the Bar and also at state and government bodies of different levels and in legal service of the national economy system.

TOPIC I study English

English is one of a family of languages called Indo-European. The languages of this family, which includes most of the modern European languages, as well as such important languages of antiquity as Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit, all resemble one another in a number of ways, particularly in vocabulary.

We can distinguish three major periods in the evolution of English. The first, called Old English covers the period from the beginnings of the language to about 1100; the second, Middle English, from 1100 to 1500; and the third, Modern English, from 1500 to the present.

The Middle English period was marked by great extension of foreign influence on English.

Naturally, with so enormous a potential vocabulary, an average individual speaker of the English language will master only a relatively small part of it.

Until a few centuries ago there were many natives of what we call the British Isles, who did not speak English. The western land of Wales spoke Welsh; in the farthest north and the islands of Scotland the language was Gaelic; and a similar language, Irish Gaelic, was spoken in Ireland; Manx was the language of the Isles of Man; and Cornish was the language of the south-western tip of Britain.

We are not talking about dialect – localized versions of a language – which often contain alternative words or phrases for certain things, but which are forms of English.

In Scotland the Gaelic Language Society has existed for many years. It’s dedicated to preserving the traditions of the Gaelic songs, verse and prose. And more and more people in the lowlands areas of Scotland, as well as the islands, where Gaelic is still spoken, now want to learn the language.

In Wales the Welsh Language Society was formed in 1962 and it has been fighting to restore Welsh to an equal place with English. In 1967 they won an important victory: Welsh was recognized as being equally valid for use in law courts, either written or spoken.

The older English dictionaries classified words and assigned them labels such as “vulgar”, “dialect”, “colloquial” and “slang”.

Many commonly used words were labelled “vulgar” and in some dictionaries “low”, implying that only the lowest sort of person used such words.

The class of words called “dialects” includes expressions commonly used by certain national groups of people or certain regions of the country.

“Colloquial” was a less severe label, but it identified words and expressions that might be used in informal educated speech with friends at school, but definitely not in formal compositions.

The huge class named “slang” usually meant a word understood by only a select group of people, students for example.

They say that if the colonization of the American continent had taken place a few centuries earlier, American English might have been as different from the British English as French from Italian.

The first English settlers spoke English of the early seventeenth century – the language of Shakespeare and Milton. Most of them came originally from the south and south-east of England.

Until the Declaration of Independence in 1776, over two-thirds of the settlers in what later became the USA came from England. After that date, many other peoples came to make a new life for themselves in the New World. These included Irish, French, Germans, Dutch, Italians, Slavs, and had been taken from Africa as slaves to work on the rice and cotton plantations added words and structures from their own native languages.

Although all these people contributed in various ways to the language which was to become American English, there is one man who can be singled out as the person who did most to give American English an identity of its own. He was Noah Webster (1758-1843), a famous American lexicographer. He is largely responsible for the differences which exist today between British and American spelling.

TOPIC Study work.

The future work of our graduates is not easy so they have to learn hard to be ready for that works and study many different subjects which are important for it: Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Civil Law, Labour Law, International Law, Criminology and others.

Special subjects are not only subjects of the curriculum. The students learn some humane, theoretical, optional and additional subjects, such of History of Russia, Philosophy, Theory of State and Law, History of State and Law, Logics, Foreign Languages and others. These subjects from the subjects’ world outlook and improve the quality of their general education.

Our students are to take tests and exams on each subject included into the curriculum. As the academic year is divided into two semesters, terminal tests and exams are held in January and in June. And then, when all the tests and exams are passed successfully, the students take degree examinations, finals, as they are often called. Those graduates, who have inclination for research may enter the post-graduate course and devote their life to science.

The timetable of lectures, tutorials and seminars is regulated by a study schedule. It provides the students must attend seminars and not miss lectures.

One of the main principles of the Russian educational system is to unite theory and practice. So, during the course of studies our students have practical training (do practical work) at law enforcement organs.

Much attention is paid to the studying of Foreign Languages: English, German and French. Our students have classes in Foreign Languages twice a week, the attendance of which is obligatory. As Foreign Languages are heavy-reading subjects, the students have to work at them hard and devote much time to them.

TOPIC The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

The political unit, for government and administration, is properly called the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Great Britain is situated on the British Isles. They lie to the west of the continent of Europe. The larger of the two big islands is known as Great Britain. The smaller island is Ireland, with Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.

The total area of Great Britain is 244.000 square kilometres. The west coast of the country is washed by the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea, the east coast is washed by the North Sea. Great Britain is separated from France by the English Channel which is 32 km wide in its narrowest part, and 180 km in its widest part. The seas surrounding Great Britain are not very deep.

The surface of England and Ireland is flat, but the surface of Scotland and Wales is mountainous. In Wales, there are the Cambrian Mountains, is highest peak of which is Snowdon. It is 3.560 feet high (nearly 1.000 meters). In Scotland, the main chain of mountains is called the Grampians, its highest peak is Ben Nevis (4.400 feet nigh). The mountainous northern part of Scotland is called the Highlands.

The rivers of Great Britain are short. The Thames, the Severn and the Clyde are the most important. The Thames on which London, the capital of Great Britain is situated, flows into the North Sea and is very deep. There are many beautiful lakes in Great Britain, the largest part of them is in the Lake District in northwestern England.

The climate of Great Britain is typically maritime with frequent rains and strong winds. The Gulf Stream [¢gLlf¢stri:m] makes the climate mild and damp. Frosts are very rare in winter and hot days are very rare in summer.

TOPIC Scotland

In area, Scotland is about 30.000 square miles. Its population is about 5.200.000 people. Scotland was an independent kingdom. In 1707 the Act of Union was passed. This Act incorporated Scotland with England in the United Kingdom, but the Scots kept their own legal system, religion, education and administration, and still keep them now. It is governed from London under a Secretary of State for Scotland who is usually a Scot.

The English language is spoken all over Scotland with a variety of regional accents – Scottish dialects. Among the people of some remote Highlands districts the Gaelic language is still used.

Scotland is a northern land, but it not particularly cold there.

During the nineteenth century much industrial development, based at first on coal mining, took place in the region round Glasgow and Edinburgh. Although Edinburgh is the capital, Glasgow has for a long time been the chief center of commerce and industry.

Scottish towns look very different from English towns. Architectural traditions are quite distinct, and certain styles never appear in England. Two-storey red brick houses of England contrast with grey four-storey apartment houses in Scotland.

The most interesting and beautiful part of Scotland – and of the whole of Britain – is the north and west, of the region commonly called “the highlands and islands”. Great sea-lochs, wild and empty hills, cone-shaped mountains deep valleys attract a lot of tourists. Shooting, fishing and deerstalking are rich men’s sports. Most visitors to modern Scotland come away with an impression that Scotsmen are hospitable, generous and friendly.

TOPIC Northern Ireland

The majority of the inhabitants of this large and beautiful island are Celtic in origin. After the Reformations in England and Scotland, many English and Scottish Protestants were settled in Ireland by English monarch and became the most powerful element in the country because they owned much of the land. In 1801 the union of Ireland with Great Britain took place, and the new political unit was called the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The union was not favourable to the Catholic majority of the inhabitants, who regarded the dominant Protestant minority as foreign invaders and oppressors.

The Protestant and Catholic communities` mutual hostility is a characteristic feature of six counties of Northern Ireland. Serious disorders turned into the real war. In August 1969 British troops were sent to keep order, but terrorist acts continued.

The purpose of the British is to unite the two communities against extremists from both sides. There has been some progress towards this end, but many problems remain unsolved and the danger of a new wave of violence still exists.

TOPIC Wales

Wales has been united with England for seven hundred years, and through all this time England and Wales have formed one single political and administrative unit.

The territory of Wales is about 8.000 square miles. The population of Wales is about 3 m. people.

Central and North Wales are farming regions, while South Wales is the industrial part of the country. It is rich in coal. Cardiff, the capital of Wales, is also a large port.

Wales is a very popular place for spending holidays. Every year, thousands of people take their holidays at the seaside on the North Wales coast or, if they prefer, enjoy peace in villages far from town life. Some people choose Snowdonia. This is a national park around Snowdon, which is ideal for walking or hiking holidays.

Among the best-known Welsh characteristics are certain romanticism and love of poetry and music. The annual bardic festival known as the National Eisteddfod of Wales has a 1.200-year-old history: choral singing of hymns is a national art. Oratory is another. Singers, dancers, musicians and poets come from all over the world to complete for the awards at the festival. They often wear national costumes. At the festivals Welsh girls wear the nationals dress – a tall black hat, a red skirt and a white apron.

Another source of national pride is Rugby football.

In the whole of Wales, 99 per cent of the people can speak English, and the Welsh language, which is a Celtic one and very different from English, is, in fact, declining.