Unit 3. Family life topical vicabulary

-family; -folks; -household; -tribe; -clan; -descent (to be of the same descent); -descendant; -ancestor; -forefather; -heredity; -hereditary; -sibling; -paternal; -maternal; -next of kin; -nearest and dearest; -one’s own flesh and blood; -in-laws;

-to date smb; -to be smb’s date; -to go out with smb; -to court smb; -boyfriend; -girlfriend; -bridegroom; -bride; -fiancée; -fiancé; -best man; -bridesmaid; -newlyweds; -marriage; -knot; -marriage of convenience; -single; -spouse; -divorced; -divorcee;

-to bring up children; -to raise a child; -to adopt a child; -to foster; -a foster child/brother; -step-mother/father; -half-brother/sister; -a single parent; -separated; -bachelor; -spinster; -old maid;

Equality and prejudice

-to consider smb inferior/superior or as an equal; -to enjoy equal prospects and opportunity; -equality of opportunity; -conventional/unconventional attitudes/beliefs; -acceptable/unacceptable patterns/modes of behaviour;

-to be prejudiced against smb; -to discriminate against; -sexual discrimination; -to be faithful; -to commit adultery;

Reactions

-amazement; -surprise; -astonishment; -horror; -misery; -disappointment; -to be appalled; -to be astounded; -to be disgusted; -ecstatic; -overjoyed; -thrilled;

-to be put out; -to be offended; -to hurt smb’s feelings; -furious; -speechless with anger; -to be taken aback; -to be upset; -to be dismayed; -to be disheartened/moving/touching; -to feel crushed; -horror-stricken;

1. Study the following characteristics of:

   1. Wife and husband: tolerant, considerate, faithful, affectionate to wife/husband/children, hard-working, tidy, home-loving, good-looking, rich, thrifty, quiet, well-educated.

   2. Mother-in-law: willing to baby-sit, attractive, generous, relatively young, well-dressed, rich, good at organizing home, has telephone, has many interests, does not interfere, has other married children, lives nearby.

Put the characteristics in order of priority. Cut them down to the five most important.

2. Answer the following questions using the topical vocabulary.

• What are the usual steps that precede marriage?

• Have you ever witnessed a wedding ceremony? Describe it.

• Under what circumstances can a family foster a child?

• Do you believe house chores should be distributed among the members of the family?

• What would you like to do about the house and what you dislike?

• What would you do if your husband/wife comes home from work tired and irritated?

• If you feel ill treated or hurt by your husband/wife do you think you should have the matter out at once or would you wait till you cool down?

3. Marriage has always been argued about. Below are statements about marriage which express different opinions. Imagine that they are your opinions, and change them into subjective arguments.

   1. Society would not exist without marriage.

   2. Marriage is unnecessary.

   3. Marriage is important for the children.

   4. Marriage keeps couples together.

   5. A marriage license is a worthless piece of paper.

   6. Marriage restricts freedom.

   7. A lot of married people get divorced.

4. One of the main problems of family life is the relations between young, adults and parents. Discuss the problem considering the following.

   1. When do young people usually move out of their parents’ home and start living in their own place? Is it different for sons and daughters? How and why?

   2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of living with parents? What kind of problem do young adults have when they live with their parents?

   3. Should young adults live with their parents until they get married? Why or why not?

   4. Are you living with your parents or relatives now? Would you rather be living in your own apartment? Why or why not?

   5. If you are a parent do you want your children to continue living with you until they get married?

5. Choose one of the following topics and prepare to give your views on it for 1,5 or 2 minutes. You may make notes, but do not try to write out the whole speech.

   1. Husbands and wives who both work should share domestic chores.

   2. Courses on marriage and family matters in secondary school might be helpful in preserving the family.

   3. The problems of having a granny in the family.

   4. Home life feels the stress of social life.

   5. Divorce is mortally wrong and marriage should be preserved at all costs.

   6. Marriages at later ages are more stable.

   7. Love begins at home.

6. Pair work. Read the quotations given below and agree or disagree with them. Your opinion should be followed by some appropriate comment where possible.

   1. Love is just like measles; we all have to go through it. (Jerome K. Jerome)

   2. A good marriage would be between a blind wife and a deaf husband. (Montaigne)

   3. All happy families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. (Leo Tolstoy)

   4. Home is the girls prison and the woman’s workhouse. (G.B. Show)

   5. Marriage is like life in this – that it is a field of battle, and not a bed of roses. (R. L. Stevenson)

7. Work in groups of three and four. Decide which of the following statements you agree with and which statements you disagree with. Discuss these with the other members of your group. Be ready to report your discussion to other groups.

   1. You should always ask your parents for permission to marry.

   2. Children should only leave home after they are married.

   3. You should always be ready to help a member of the family.

   4. The members of a family should live in the same area so that it is easy for them to visit each other.

   5. Old people should be encouraged to stay in old people’s homes rather than with the family.

   6. Family life is less important in the modern world than it was in the past.

8. In many women’s magazines there is a column on personal problems where a journalist running this column tries to answer the readers’ letters. Below you’ll find a woman’s letter to Mr Know-It-All and a stereotyped reply to the letter, imitating the kind of “sensible”, inoffensive advice offered in such columns in women’s magazines.

   1. Read the letter and reply. The expressions in bold type show the ways English people give advice. Note them down.

Dear Mr Know-It-All,

My father-in-law died about 2 years ago. Of course my mother-in-law was very upset and lonely, so my husband invited her to live with us. I don’t know what to do – I’m going crazy. My mother-in-law and I don’t get along very well. She’s a wonderful person and is very helpful to me in many ways, but she thinks she’s the boss in our home. If I try to discipline the children and tell them that they can’t do something, they go running the their grandmother and she tells them they can do it! My husband and I have no privacy. What’s worse is that she constantly criticizes me to my husband behind my back. I’m afraid this is going to break up our marriage. What should I do?

Jean

Dear Jean,

Do you think you could bring yourself to ask your mother-in-law to leave? (May be explaining that now the children are growing up and they need more space).

If you think that the old lady would then be too lonely don’t you think it would be a good idea at least to ask somebody, probably some of your husband’s relatives, to invite her for a couple of weeks. It would somehow release tension in your family and entertain the old lady. I realize it’s much easier to give advice than really tackle the problem, but if I were you I’d think of some regular house chores that would keep her busy. And, Jean, why don’t you try to show now and then that you appreciate her help. However it is very important for your mother-in-law to feel that she is needed in the house, but let her know that the children are your responsibility. Your husband will no doubt be grateful for your effort and things will turn out for the best I hope.