Topic 1: About myself and my family.

“The family is one of nature's masterpieces.”

“A happy family is but an earlier heaven.”

1. Read and memorize the following words and word-combinations.

name (first name)	ім’я
patronymic (middle name)	по-батькові
surname (second name)	прізвище
namesake	тезко
be born	народитись
birthday	день народження
birthplace	місце народження
husband	чоловік
wife	жінка
mother-in-law	свекруха, теща
father-in-law	свекор, тесть
sister-in-law	невістка (дружина брата)
brother-in-law	зять (чоловік сестри)
daughter-in-law	дружина сина, невістка
son-in-law	зять (чоловік доньки)
stepmother	мачуха
stepfather	вітчим
a widow	удова, удовиця
a widower	удівець
a bachelor	парубок, неодружений
single	неодружений чоловік, неодружена жінка
married	одружений, одружена
aunt	тітка
uncle	дядько
cousin	двоюрідний брат, кузен; двоюрідна сестра, кузина
nephew	племінник
niece	племінниця
twins	близнюки
to take after	піти в кого-небудь
to divorce	розлучення
ex-wife / husband	колишня жінка / чоловік
to be proud of smb	гордитися ким-небудь
to dedicate	присвячувати
diligent	старанний
to introduce	представляти, знайомити
to be fond of	захоплюватись
to take part in	брати участь у
competition	змагання
to be good friends with	бути хорошими друзями
to be good at smth	уміти щось добре робити
fiancée	наречена
fiancé	наречений
remote kinsman	«десята вода на киселі»
to be engaged	бути зарученими
residential area	приватний сектор

2. Text a. My family.

Before I start speaking about my family let me introduce myself. My name is Alex Petrenko. Alex is my first name and Petrenko is my surname. I am seventeen. I have left school this year and I'm going to be a student. I was born in Odessa, so Odessa is my native town.

I am not tall, dark-haired and blue-eyed young person. I like to wear jeans and T-shirts. I like pop, rock and classical music. My hobbies are sport and reading.

My family is not large but very friendly. It lives in one of the residential areas. My parents have two more kids besides me. Thus I have got a father, a mother, an elder brother Oleg and a younger sister Helen. I also have got grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins.

First I am going to talk about my father. I am very proud of him because he is a sportsman. When he was young he was fond of sports, especially cycling and he decided to be a coach. Now he spends a lot of time with children, teaching them how to get good results and success riding a bicycle. He is a broad-shouldered, tall man with dark hair and grey eyes. His name is Alexander Ivanovich, he is forty-seven. He is very experienced and there are many pupils in his sportschool. There are even some sportsmen in his team who took part in Olympic Games. But we can hardly find him at home because he often has different competitions in other towns. When he is not busy we spend our time all together. We go to the zoo, cinema, theatre or cafe.

Now a few words about my mother. Her name is Alla Igorevna. She is three years younger than my father. She is a teacher of music at school. My mother is a slim and pretty woman. She has fair hair and blue eyes. She is always elegant. She has a lot of work at school, but she tries to dedicate as much time as possible to me and my younger sister. My mother is very good at cooking and we help her with the housework.

My sister Helen is nine. She is a schoolgirl. My mother spends much time with her, but she is not a naughty child. She always does everything by herself. She is accurate and diligent. But I think she is rather funny. She has golden curly hair and blue eyes and she looks like my mother. We are good friends with my sister. We share our thoughts and have our own secrets.

My brother is five years senior, so he is twenty-two already. He is a designer by profession. He is married; his wife is a telephone-operator. He has two children – a son and a daughter, they are twins. They are lovely little kids with golden hair and dark blue eyes.

My grandparents are pensioners, but they are still full of life and energy.

My parents have been married for twenty-three years. They have much in common but they have different views in music, books and films. As for our education and upbringing they have the same opinion. Sometimes it is difficult for me to get their point of view, I try to prove my idea, but a little later it comes out that they were right. I can't say that my parents are too strict, but nevertheless they always take control of me. Sometimes it's just unbear­able. But I love my family very much. I think that family is important in a person's life, because there is nobody in the world closer than the family. Come what be, they always help and understand us.