Home and Friends

Home to me, it is my nest, my cave, my comfort zone for heart and soul, my safe haven. Home is also the place where I design my environment to reflect my personality, turning my surroundings into an extension of myself and making them part of me visually as well as ideologically. Home is where I come back to after an outing, and it awaits me with my worn slippers, my comfy recliner and my happy pets. Home is where I know every nook and cranny, every creak and groan, every smell and every patch of light and shadow. My home is my castle. I have the right to make it almost inaccessible to unwelcome intruders and welcoming to those I love and respect.

I have a very small family, it consists only of three people, that are my mom, dad and me, but we’re very friendly. I also have two grannies, but they live in different villages, far from us, so they visit us rather rarely. But sometimes when they pay us a visit on holidays, we get together at the dinner table, we eat tasty dishes and discuss different topics like gardening, politics and of course solve our everyday problems.

My friends play a very important role in my life, because I spend most of my free time with them. I have known them since my childhood, so they are just like brothers to me. We have gone through lots of things. There were different times, of happiness and sadness, but nevertheless we are still together. I can proudly claim that they are friends in deed.

My friends and family, that’s my support. They tell me what I need to hear, not what I want to hear and they are there for me in the good and bad times. Without them I have no idea where I would be and I know that their love for me is what's keeping my head above the water.

Vocabulary

a comfort zone – зона комфорту

a safe haven – притулок

surroundings – оточення

nook and cranny – затишний куточок і щілина

an environment – середовище

an intruder – незваний гість

to pay a visit – наносити візит

to get together – збиратися разом

a childhood – дитинство

to go through – пройти через

to claim – стверджувати

to keeping one’s head above the water – тримати голову над водою

Exercise 7. Answer the questions according to the text:

1. What is home?

2. How many people are in the family?

3. When does the family gather together?

4. What is the support system?

5. Who supports us in bad times?

Exercise 8. Agree or disagree, according to the text:

1. I have a big family.

2. I have two grannies and two granddads.

3. My grandparents live with us.

4. My friends play a very important role in my life.

5. I can proudly claim that my friends are friends in deed.

Exercise 9. Arrange the dialogue replies in the logical order:

• Oh, clear. What do you want to do today?

• I went to the cinema.

• Today I like to watch TV and listen to music. And you?

• Hi, John. I didn’t see you yesterday. Is something wrong?

• I know for sure, they are very talented and successful persons. The students of my group respect them very much.

• I understand, what did you do yesterday?

• See you later.

• Yes, I know that you can give good advice. You keep up friendly relations with everybody. I hear that you are a first-year student, what about teacher’s stuff?

• Hello. No, everything is fine, thanks. I just wanted to have a rest yesterday.

• I’d like to call one of the girls from my group. She has a problem. I discuss with her everything she wants. And I just want to be in touch with her.

• So. I have to go. It was pleasant to meet you.

Exercise 10. Using active vocabulary, answer the questions:

1. What do friends mean to you?

2. What makes a friend be the best friend?

3. What makes you be a good person?

4. Are you in touch with all of your old friends?

5. What would life be like without friends, people around you?

6. Are you afraid of losing your parents?

7. Are friends sometimes more important than family?

8. Do you think you understand your teachers?

9. What can you do for your friends, your parents?

10. If you could choose any friend in the world, who would it be?

*Exercise 11. Discuss the following quotes:

1. “I love mankind ... it's people I can't stand!!” (Charles M. Schulz)

2. “When you stop expecting people to be perfect, you can like them for who they are.” (Donald Miller)

3. “Too many people spend money they earned...to buy things they don't want...to impress people that they don't like.” (Will Rogers)

**Exercise 12. You’ve decided to go to the “English Club”. You are there for the first time. Introduce yourself and tell about your family, friends and people from your surrounding.