Doing Sport and Keeping Fit (Занятия спортом и здоровый образ жизни)

   We live in a polluted world, that is why more and more people are concerned about their health and that is why more and more of them start going in for sport.

   Sport plays an important role in people's life. It is popular among the young and the old. Many people do morning exercises, go jogging and go to the gym. Others prefer watching sports games on TV and listening to sports news rather than going in for sport.

   Physical Education is an important subject in Russian schools now. Pupils have physical training twice a week. Boys and girls play volleyball and basketball during the lessons. School teachers turn pupils' training into enjoyment, not obligation. A lot of different competitions are held at school and many pupils take part in t hem. All participants try to get good results and win.

   There are many kinds of sport in Russia. They are: football, hockey, skating and skiing. Russia is also known for its gymnasts, figure skaters and tennis players.

   As for me, I do sport regularly. I am not a professional, I am an amateur. I play football with my friends and I jog in the morning. But my favourite sport is swimming and I go to the swimming-pool twice a week. This helps me feel fit and healthy. My father used to play football and hockey when he was a teenager but now he prefers watching these sports games on television. My mom likes watching figure skating.

   But keeping fit doesn't mean only doing sport. It also includes the right way of eating. Nowadays it is very popular to go on a diet. On the one hand, it makes you feel better because you avoid eating fatty and unhealthy food, but on the other hand, some people start eating very little and they lose weight and do not look healthy at all.

   You need to get all types of vitamins to keep your body healthy. You should eat fruit and vegetable because they contain a lot of important vitamins and one of them is vitamin C. Fruit and vegetables also have fiber, which is very important for our health.

   A lot of people like spending most of their spare time watching TV or working at computers. Such people ruin their eyes and their muscles do not work well. This way of life is not healthy. There are also bad habits that can damage your health. They include smoking, drinking alcohol and taking drugs. A lot of young people prefer smoking to going in for sport and this is not good.

   I try to lead a healthy life, because I like feeling and happy.

Learning Foreign Languages (1) (Изучение иностранных языков)

   There are many languages in the world. Some of them are spoken in small tribes, others are spread all over the world like English or French.

   There are languages that are extremely difficult to learn, others are very easy. But anyway learning a foreign language is not an easy task and it takes a lot of time and effort.

   People still learn foreign languages and there are some reasons for that. The most important is communication. More and more people travel abroad and the knowledge of a foreign language helps them understand each other. There are also a lot of interesting books and magazines in foreign languages and people read them to get various information.

   If you want to get a good job, you will have to know one or several foreign languages. This is another reason for learning foreign languages. There are languages of international communication and they are English and French.

   The English language is the official language of many international organizations such as the Olympic Committee, the United Nations and others. This is the language of computing, too. Most Internet sites and software are in English. It is the native language of many countries such as Great Britain, the USA, Canada Australia, New Zealand and others.

   A lot of scientific books and articles are published in English. This language is becoming more and more popular and now it is hard to live without knowing it. Moreover, many languages borrow English words and expressions and people use them in their everyday speech. Sometimes people think that English is the most spoken language in the world. However, Chinese is considered to be the most spoken language. The Chinese language together with Japanese and Arabic are believed to be the most difficult foreign languages!

   I learn English at school. I am very glad that I have such an opportunity. Every week we have tests, do exercises and write compositions. We also talk at our lessons a lot. This helps me to improve my English. Now I can read books in English, watch films in English and speak English with foreigners. I am thinking about choosing English as my future career because I am very good at this language.

   I would also like to learn German if I had a chance.