Would you like to continue your studies after you finish secondary school?
If the answer is yes, which university would you like to attend and why? If you don't want to go to university, explain why.
Write 5 sentences into your notebook or talk about it with your partner. Check your spelling with the spell check button.
Listen to a radio programme hosting a Croatian student with disability who talks about his education and his future plans. After listening, answer the questions.
REPORTER: Dear listeners, today we are talking to Miroslav, a student from Ogulin, about his experiences with the Croatian educational system. Miroslav has been blind since birth. He is going to share with us what it was like for him to go to the kindergarten, primary and secondary school.... and the obstacles that he had to overcome to get very close to his university degree.
REPORTER: Miroslav, thank you very much for coming!
MIROSLAV: Thank you very much for inviting me and giving me the opportunity to share my experiences with your audience.
REPORTER: What was it like for you to start kindergarten?
MIROSLAV: I have lived in Ogulin since birth and I went to kindergarten there. Well, I don't really remember that period in a lot of details, but I started kindergarten only a year before primary school. There were no personal assistants back then and my mother spent two or three hours with me there, and the rest of the time I worked with a therapist who was trying to prepare me for school. Since I didn't live in a big town, there were no specialized schools for children with disabilities, so I had to learn the braille alphabet in order to be able to read books specially written for the blind. My parents had to order special school books, but everything changed when I got a computer and a screen reader and this really helped me in secondary school and later on, during university. I am now a fourth year student of English and German and I have chosen to study in Rijeka because the University has a programme for students with disabilities which makes our lives a lot easier. We also have the sense of belonging and purpose because we have the same chances as other students. I have used a lot of the services that the University offers, and the most valuable ones are organized transport from my apartment to the University, a student assistant who has been a real friend and support from day one of my life in Rijeka, and an open book scanner which enables me and other visually impaired students to get a digitalized copy of all the books needed for our studies.
MIROSLAV: At first, I was afraid to move to Rijeka because I was used to my town and the people there, I was able to move around the town with the help of Rocky, my dog. The move to Rijeka was a big deal because I wanted to be able to move around by myself and I knew that it would take me some time to get to know the city. Organised transport made things so much easier because I didn't have to worry about getting to University and back home safely. I usually meet my friend Mia, a student assistant who has been my help since day one at the University, and she accompanies me to our joint classes and usually joins me for lunch before I go back to my apartment. I have a lot of friends at the University, some of them are people with disabilities and some of them are regular students and in their company I have never felt like I don't belong there. I have lived in Rijeka for four years now and I really love the city! Thanks to the University and the people there, I feel like a normal student who is anxiously waiting to finish his studies, return to Ogulin and start working in the center for children with disabilities which started work two years ago.
Listen to the radio programme one more time and finish the sentences.
| Present Perfect Simple |
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- we use it for unfinished actions that started in the past and continue to the present:
I have lived in Rijeka for four years. (and I still live there) |
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- to talk about someone's life experience/ experiences (when the person is still alive):
I have used a lot of services that the University offers. |
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- to talk about a finished action with a result in the present:
I have lost my keys! (and now I can't unlock my house) |
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Signal words:
since, for, yet, just, already, ever, never |
| Past Simple |
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- we use it to talk about a finished action in the past:
I started kindergarten only a year before primary school. |
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Signal words:
last, ago, in (2018), ago, when, suddenly |
Choose the correct verb tense in each sentence.
Write the correct form of the verbs in brackets.
Answer the following questions in full sentences.
