Family traditions

1. Let’s talk about family. What role does it play in each person’s life? The family is very important as a unit in our society. Nothing else but family can be an emotional center of people's life. Every mother feels great affection for her children and tries to bring them up in a proper way. Understanding between the members of the family and consideration for others are very important in family relationship. Tenderness, warm-heartedness and respect must always be present in the family to make it friendly. A lot of activities help members of the family to be on friendly terms: discussing all the family plans together, going on trips hikes together, visiting museums, theaters, exhibitions and exchanging opinions about them, sharing the same joys and sorrows.

Now I’d like to tell you about my family. Our family is not large. We are a family of four: my father, my mother, my younger brother and I.

My name is Olga. I am seventeen. I am a school leaver. My younger brother is ten. He is a pupil of the fifth form. He looks like our father. As for me everybody says I look like my mother. I am an ordinary girl of 17.

Our family lives in Vitebsk. We have a nice three-roomed flat on the fourth floor of a multistoried building. My mother is about 40. She looks pretty well. My mother is an economist. The firm she works in deals with trading.

My father is an engineer in computers. He is considered to be an experienced engineer. We are very proud of him.

My younger brother also has his duties about the house. He helps mother to set the table and wash the dishes. On Saturdays Dad joins us in our work about the house. He likes to make or repair something. We don't have such problems as misunderstanding between the members of the family. I think that it is due to the age of my parents and their character.

2. Do you have your own family traditions? In my view, traditions don’t need to be expensive. So in our family it is usually a walk in the park or a lazy Saturday morning sipping coffee and chatting.

3. What will you ask your British friend about his/her family? Have you got a big family? Have you got any family traditions? Do you like to spend your free time with your family?

4. What can you advise people who want to have a close and happy family? First of all I can advise for anyone to try to understand the feelings of your parents and show respect to them. Even if you don’t agree with their thinking, try to make them understand politely, don’t use harsh words with them which may hurt. It’s important to celebrate your parents’ and grandparents’ birthdays. It will make them realize that you care for them.

5. Why are there many one-parent families? How does the state help such families? It’s sad that families are getting smaller these days. One-parent families are those where one of the parents is no longer part of the family unit. Of course such families have support on behalf of the state. There are special financial programs to help the families with low income. Children may have free meals at school or they may have an opportunity to go to a summer camp.

3. FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS

1. Let’s talk about your family. What is family for you? The family is very important as a unit in our society. Nothing else but family can be an emotional center of people's life. Every mother feels great affection for her children and tries to bring them up in a proper way. Understanding between the members of the family and consideration for others are very important in family relationship. Tenderness, warm-heartedness and respect must always be present in the family to make it friendly. A lot of activities help members of the family to be on friendly terms: discussing all the family plans together, going on trips hikes together, visiting museums, theaters, exhibitions and exchanging opinions about them, sharing the same joys and sorrows.

Now I’d like to tell you about my family. Our family is not large. We are a family of four: my father, my mother, my younger brother and I.

My name is Olga. I am seventeen. I am a school leaver. My younger brother is ten. He is a pupil of the fifth form. He looks like our father. As for me everybody says I look like my mother. I am an ordinary girl of 17.

Our family lives in Soligorsk. We have a nice three-roomed flat on the fourth floor of a multistoried building. My mother is about 40. She looks pretty well. My mother is an economist. The firm she works in deals with trading.

My father is an engineer in computers. He is considered to be an experienced engineer. We are very proud of him.

My younger brother also has his duties about the house. He helps mother to set the table and wash the dishes. We don't have such problems as misunderstanding between the members of the family. I think that it is due to the age of my parents and their character.

2. Are there any things that you do with your parents together? It’s a pity, but my parents and I are usually very busy during the weekdays and we seldom have a chance to spend time together. Sunday is the day when we can sit at a table and talk over everything that happened during the week. Eating together makes us feel close and we often have our most frank conversations at these times.

3. What will you ask your British friend about his/her family relationships? Have you got close relations with your parents? How often do you have misunderstandings with your parents? What do you usually do to solve the problems in your relationships?

4. What can you advise a person who wants to have a close and happy family? First of all I can advise for anyone to try to understand the feelings of your parents and show respect to them. Even if you don’t agree with their thinking, try to make them understand politely, don’t use harsh words with them which may hurt. It’s important to celebrate your parents’ and grandparents’ birthdays. It will make them realize that you care for them.

5. Nowadays an average family has one child. From your point of view, how many children should there be in the family? It’s sad that families are getting smaller these days. I think it’s so great to have a sister or a brother. To my mind there should be two or three children in a family. You will never feel lonely in a big family. These are people who are committed to one another.